"selection was developed mainly in the works of Richard Dawkins, W. D. Hamilton, Colin Pittendrigh and George C. Williams. It was mainly popularized and expanded by Dawkins in his book ""The Selfish Gene"" (1976). According to Williams' 1966 book ""Adaptation and Natural Selection"", Williams argued that ""[t]he natural selection of phenotypes cannot in itself produce cumulative change, because phenotypes are extremely temporary manifestations."" Each phenotype is the unique product of the interaction between genome and environment. It does not matter how fit and fertile a phenotype is, it will eventually be destroyed and will never be duplicated. Since 1954, it"
"most common, simple, and profitable choice. More generally, the objection has been made that ""The Selfish Gene"" discusses philosophical and moral questions that go beyond biological arguments, relying upon anthropomorphisms and careless analogies. ""The Selfish Gene"" was first published by Oxford University Press in 1976 in eleven chapters with a preface by the author and a foreword by Robert Trivers. A second edition was published in 1989. This edition added two extra chapters, and substantial endnotes to the preceding chapters, reflecting new findings and thoughts. It also added a second preface by the author, but the original foreword by Trivers"
"a strange faith which ought not to be taken for granted as part of science. In an interview with ""The Independent"" in September 2007, she argued that Dawkins' views on evolution are ideologically driven: ""The ideology Dawkins is selling is the worship of competition. It is projecting a Thatcherite take on economics on to evolution. It's not an impartial scientific view; it's a political drama."" In April 2009 Midgley reiterated her critical interpretation of ""The Selfish Gene"" as part of a series of articles on Hobbes in ""The Guardian"". In her 2010 book ""The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish"
"entitled the ""Dawkins Dogma"" contains parts of the arguments put forward within the book. ""The Selfish Genius"" has been criticized in ""The Economist"" for failing to fully understand Dawkins' selfish gene metaphor, with the reviewer claiming Dawkins accommodates proposed alternative evolutionary mechanism Elsdon-Baker suggests within her own ideas. However a generally positive reception has been seen amongst proponents of group selection and Philip Ball wrote a largely positive review in ""The Times"" that acknowledges she is right to ""call time on a Whiggish view of the history of evolution"". ""Popular Science"" author Brian Clegg reviewed the book and described it"
"Oxford and following Hamilton's death in 2000, Dawkins wrote his obituary and organised a secular memorial service. b. The debate ended with the motion ""That the doctrine of creation is more valid than the theory of evolution"" being defeated by 198 votes to 115. Richard Dawkins Clinton Richard Dawkins, (born 26 March 1941) is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book ""The Selfish Gene"", which popularised"
"to prominence in 1976 following the release of ""The Selfish Gene"", increasingly figured in British irreligion with the release of his 1986 work ""The Blind Watchmaker"", in which he argued in favour of evolutionary natural selection as opposed to intelligent design and creationism. In the 21st century, New Atheism became a popular topic of debate, support and critique in the United Kingdom. Dawkins' 2006 book ""The God Delusion"" and Christopher Hitchens' 2007 book ""God Is Not Great"" were considered emblematic works of the era among British authors, and Dawkins advocated for the Brights movement. The Atheist Bus Campaign was inaugurated"
"The view was popularized by George Williams's ""Adaptation and Natural Selection"" and Richard Dawkins's best seller ""The Selfish Gene"". Dawkins summarized a key benefit from the gene's-eye view as follows: ”If we allow ourselves the license of talking about genes as if they had conscious aims, always reassuring ourselves that we could translate our sloppy language back into respectable terms if we wanted to, we can ask the question, what is a single selfish gene trying to do?” - Richard Dawkins ""The Selfish Gene"" In 1980, two high profile papers published back-to-back in ""Nature"" by Leslie Orgel and Francis Crick,"
""""" and Richard Dawkins' ""The Selfish Gene"" were published in 1975 and 1976 respectively, just a few years after Trivers' seminal papers. Both bestselling authors openly acknowledged that they were popularizing Trivers' ideas and the research they spawned. Likewise for the much-talked-about books on evolutionary psychology in the 1990s—""The Adapted Mind"", """", ""Born to Rebel"", ""The Origins of Virtue"", ""The Moral Animal"", and my own ""How the Mind Works"". Each of these books is based in large part on Trivers' ideas and the explosion of research they inspired (involving dozens of animal species, mathematical and computer modeling, and human social"
"Richard Dawkins Clinton Richard Dawkins, (born 26 March 1941) is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book ""The Selfish Gene"", which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term ""meme"". With his book ""The Extended Phenotype"" (1982), he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far"
"of ""The Origin of Human Nature: A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution"" (2008) opposes neo-Darwinism and the selfish gene theory as he claims they are materialistic. He also opposes creationism for being dogmatic and instead advocates spiritual evolution. In Vajrayana, spiritual evolution is equivalent with the development of the three bodies of Trikaya. Theories of spiritual evolution are important in many Occult and Esoteric teachings, which emphasise the progression and development of the individual either after death (spiritualism) or through successive reincarnations (Theosophy, Hermeticism). Spiritualists reacted with uncertainty to the theories of evolution in the late 19th and early 20th"
"Richard Dawkins' 1976 book ""The Selfish Gene"". Dawkins cites as inspiration the work of geneticist L. L. Cavalli-Sforza, anthropologist F. T. Cloak and ethologist J. M. Cullen. Dawkins wrote that evolution depended not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmission—in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution. Although Dawkins invented the term 'meme' and developed meme theory, the possibility that ideas were subject to the same pressures of evolution as were"
"argue that by the application of Occam's razor, sufficient explanation of the phenomena of evolution is provided by ""natural"" processes (in particular, natural selection), and the intervention or direction of a ""super""natural entity is not required. The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins considers theistic evolution a superfluous attempt to ""smuggle God in by the back door"". A number of notable proponents of theistic evolution, including Kenneth R. Miller, John Haught, George Coyne, Simon Conway Morris, Denis Alexander, Ard Louis, Darrel Falk, Alister McGrath, Francisco J. Ayala, and Francis Collins are critics of intelligent design. Young Earth creationists including Ken Ham criticise"
"ideas in ""The Selfish Gene"", and developed them in his own work. In June 2012, Dawkins was highly critical of fellow biologist E. O. Wilson's 2012 book ""The Social Conquest of Earth"" as misunderstanding Hamilton's theory of kin selection. Dawkins has also been strongly critical of the Gaia hypothesis of the independent scientist James Lovelock. Critics of Dawkins's biological approach suggest that taking the gene as the unit of ""selection"" (a single event in which an individual either succeeds or fails to reproduce) is misleading. The gene could be better described, they say, as a unit of ""evolution"" (the long-term"
"the walls of its containers."" The anthropologist Donald Symons, in ""The Evolution of Human Sexuality"" (1979), accused Lorenz of inadequately documenting his major thesis. The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins described Lorenz in ""The Selfish Gene"" (1976) as a ""'good of the species' man"". He criticises ""On Aggression"" for its ""gem of a circular argument"" that aggressive behaviour has a ""species preserving"" function, namely to ensure ""that only the fittest individuals are allowed to breed"". In Dawkins's view, the idea of group selection was ""so deeply ingrained"" in Lorenz's thinking that he ""evidently did not realize that his statements contravened orthodox"
"of the existence of a creative deity is problematic."" Evolutionary argument against naturalism The evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN) is a philosophical argument asserting a problem with believing both evolution and philosophical naturalism simultaneously. The argument was first proposed by Alvin Plantinga in 1993 and ""raises issues of interest to epistemologists, philosophers of mind, evolutionary biologists, and philosophers of religion"". The EAAN argues that the combined belief in both evolutionary theory and naturalism is epistemically self-defeating. The argument for this is that if both evolution and naturalism are true, then the probability of having reliable cognitive faculties are low. The"
"below). Mayr said he was an atheist in regards to ""the idea of a personal God"" because ""there is nothing that supports [it]"" As a traditionally trained biologist, Mayr was often highly critical of early mathematical approaches to evolution such as those of J.B.S. Haldane, famously calling such approaches ""beanbag genetics"" in 1959. He maintained that factors such as reproductive isolation had to be taken into account. In a similar fashion, Mayr was also quite critical of molecular evolutionary studies such as those of Carl Woese. Current molecular studies in evolution and speciation indicate that although allopatric speciation is the"
"Adaptation and Natural Selection Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought is a 1966 book by the American evolutionary biologist George C. Williams. Williams, in what is now considered a classic by evolutionary biologists, outlines a gene-centered view of evolution, disputes notions of evolutionary progress, and criticizes contemporary models of group selection, including the theories of Alfred Emerson, A. H. Sturtevant, and to a smaller extent, the work of V. C. Wynne-Edwards. The book takes its title from a lecture by George Gaylord Simpson in January 1947 at the Princeton University. Aspects of Williams' book were"
"and Elliott Sober) suggest that there are many phenomena (including altruism) that gene-based selection cannot satisfactorily explain. The philosopher Mary Midgley, with whom Dawkins clashed in print concerning ""The Selfish Gene"", has criticised gene selection, memetics, and sociobiology as being excessively reductionist; she has suggested that the popularity of Dawkins's work is due to factors in the Zeitgeist such as the increased individualism of the Thatcher/Reagan decades. In a set of controversies over the mechanisms and interpretation of evolution (what has been called 'The Darwin Wars'), one faction is often named after Dawkins, while the other faction is named after"
"of evolutionary theory to the evolution of cultures. In 1976, two developments in cultural evolutionary theory set the stage for DIT. In that year Richard Dawkins's ""The Selfish Gene"" introduced ideas of cultural evolution to a popular audience. Although one of the best-selling science books of all time, because of its lack of mathematical rigor, it had little effect on the development of DIT. Also in 1976, geneticists Marcus Feldman and Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza published the first dynamic models of gene–culture coevolution. These models were to form the basis for subsequent work on DIT, heralded by the publication of three"
"in which Dawkins describes the continued relevance of the gene's eye view of evolution and states that it, along with coalescence analysis ""illuminates the deep past in ways of which I had no inkling when I first wrote ""The Selfish Gene""..."" In April 2016, ""The Selfish Gene"" was listed as number 10 on ""The Guardian""'s list of the 100 best nonfiction books, by Robert McCrum. In July 2017, the book was listed as the most influential science book of all time in a poll to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Royal Society science book prize, ahead of Charles Darwin's"
"pages 79–132. Howison characterized Royce's God: George Holmes Howison George Holmes Howison (29 November 1834 – 31 December 1916) was an American philosopher who established the philosophy department at the University of California, Berkeley and held the position there of Mills Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity. He also founded the Philosophical Union, one of the oldest philosophical organizations in the United States. Howison's philosophy is set forth almost entirely in his volume entitled ""The Limits of Evolution, and other essays, illustrating the metaphysical theory of personal idealism"" (1901, 2nd ed.: 1905). Scrutinizing the idea of evolution"
"intelligent design theology). Shanks argued that the intelligent design movement is rooted in bad science, bad theology and a radical right-wing social agenda. His views may be found in his book, ""God, The Devil and Darwin"". Shanks conducted numerous public debates with creationists and advocates of intelligent design, including Duane Gish, William Dembski, Paul Nelson (creationist) and Michael Behe. Shanks is an advocate of methodological naturalism and has argued against drawing supernatural conclusions on the basis of either biological complexity or puzzles in cosmology concerning the fine-tuned universe. In addition to evolution, Shanks emphasized the role played by self-organization in"
"Evolutionary argument against naturalism The evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN) is a philosophical argument asserting a problem with believing both evolution and philosophical naturalism simultaneously. The argument was first proposed by Alvin Plantinga in 1993 and ""raises issues of interest to epistemologists, philosophers of mind, evolutionary biologists, and philosophers of religion"". The EAAN argues that the combined belief in both evolutionary theory and naturalism is epistemically self-defeating. The argument for this is that if both evolution and naturalism are true, then the probability of having reliable cognitive faculties are low. The idea that ""naturalism"" undercuts its own justification was put"
"evolutionists attempted specific solutions, including the Catholics John Augustine Zahm and St. George Jackson Mivart, but tended to come under attack from both the theological and biological camps. and 20th-century thinking tended to avoid proposing precise mechanisms. The American botanist Asa Gray used the name ""theistic evolution"" in a now-obsolete sense for his point of view, presented in his 1876 book ""Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism"". He argued that the deity supplies beneficial mutations to guide evolution. St George Jackson Mivart argued instead in his 1871 ""On the Genesis of Species"" that the deity, equipped with foreknowledge, sets the"
"as polemical as the one between Dawkins and Gould. Dawkins sees evolution as a competition between gene lineages, where organisms are vehicles for those genes. Gould, a palaeontologist in the tradition of George Gaylord Simpson, has a different perspective. For example, he sees chance as very important, and views organisms as being more important than genes. Their broader world views also differ, for instance they have very different beliefs about the relationship between religion and science. This begins with a discussion on genes and gene lineages (chapter 2). Dawkins' view on the nature of evolution, as outlined in ""The Selfish"
"views selection as working on many levels, and has called attention to a hierarchical perspective of selection. Gould also called the claims of ""Selfish Gene"" ""strict adaptationism"", ""ultra-Darwinism"", and ""Darwinian fundamentalism"", describing them as excessively ""reductionist"". He saw the theory as leading to a simplistic ""algorithmic"" theory of evolution, or even to the re-introduction of a teleological principle. Mayr went so far as to say ""Dawkins' basic theory of the gene being the object of evolution is totally non-Darwinian."" Gould also addressed the issue of selfish genes in his essay ""Caring groups and selfish genes"". Gould acknowledged that Dawkins was"
"The God Delusion The God Delusion is a 2006 best-selling book by English biologist Richard Dawkins, a professorial fellow at New College, Oxford and former holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. In ""The God Delusion"", Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. He is sympathetic to Robert Pirsig's statement in """" (1991) that ""when one person suffers from"
"gene is the object of selection, usefully completes and extends the explanation of evolution given by Charles Darwin before the basic mechanisms of genetics were understood. According to the ethologist Alan Grafen, acceptance of adaptionist theories is hampered by a lack of a mathematical unifying theory and a belief that anything in words alone must be suspect. According to Grafen, these difficulties along with an initial conflict with population genetics models at the time of its introduction ""explains why within biology the considerable scientific contributions it [""The Selfish Gene""] makes are seriously underestimated, and why it is viewed mainly as"
"mainstay of creationist, intelligent design, orthogenetic and other criticisms of evolution. It has been labeled a fallacy by Richard Dawkins in his two books ""The Blind Watchmaker"" and ""Climbing Mount Improbable"". Dawkins argues that the existence of God, who under theistic uses of Hoyle's argument is implicitly responsible for the origin of life, defies probability far more than does the spontaneous origin of life even given Hoyle's assumptions, with Dawkins detailing his counter-argument in ""The God Delusion"", describing God as the Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit. Junkyard tornado The junkyard tornado is an argument used to deride the probability of abiogenesis"
"verbally violent review of ""The Ant and the Peacock"" (1991) by Helena Cronin. He attacked Cronin for explaining human altruism as natural! He accused Cronin of errors, omissions, tricks, falsities, rhetorical flourishes, etc. But all these things are typically Gould's ways of writing books!"" Oeijord notes that Cronin was just presenting ""the new consensus in evolutionary biology—the gene-selectionist approach"" to which Gould simply had to fight back; but ""two scientific giants"", John Maynard Smith and Daniel Dennett defended Cronin against Gould's charges. The English evolutionary anthropologist Camilla Power, in ""A reply to Helena Cronin"", described Cronin as ""authoress of 'The"
"popularised by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book ""The Selfish Gene"". The aim of the book is to ""clarify certain issues in the study of adaptation and the underlying evolutionary processes."" Though more technical than a popular science book, its target audience is not specialists but biologists in general and the more advanced students of the topic. It was mostly written in the summer of 1963 when Williams utilized the University of California, Berkeley's library. Williams argues that adaptation is ""a special and onerous concept that should not be used unnecessarily"". He writes that something should not be assigned a"
"Darwin's view at the time was of God creating life through the laws of nature, and even in the first edition there are several references to ""creation"". Baden Powell praised ""Mr Darwin's masterly volume [supporting] the grand principle of the self-evolving powers of nature"". In America, Asa Gray argued that evolution is the secondary effect, or ""modus operandi"", of the first cause, design, and published a pamphlet defending the book in terms of theistic evolution, ""Natural Selection is not inconsistent with Natural Theology"". Theistic evolution became a popular compromise, and St. George Jackson Mivart was among those accepting evolution but"
"to ‘the laws of correlation of growth’ – that is, to the fact that the internal structure of living organisms imposes limits and direction to evolution"". He criticises the second part of the book for raising correlated traits as a new issue when ""Biologists have long known about the problem"" and have dealt with it: Ruse makes the following suggestion for the motivation for the book: The evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne describes this book as ""a profoundly misguided critique of natural selection"" and ""as biologically uninformed as it is strident"". In a review in ""Science"" Douglas J. Futuyma concluded: Adam"