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Explanation, Prediction, and Confirmation pp 203–222Cite as

The Arrival of the Fittest

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Part of the book series: The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective ((PSEP,volume 2))

Abstract

In one of his early sketches from the Russian Revolution Jaroslav Hasek tells the story of a more zealous than competent Red Army commander who sought to foster literacy among the peasants in the area where he was stationed by posting a written notice ordering them to learn how to read within three days. Those inhabitants of the county still illiterate after this period were to be shot. Had the local Bolshevik commissar (Hasek) not crossed the commander’s plans, the proposition, “All adult inhabitants of the county are literate,” might have become true, and its truth would have been explainable by appeal to a sort of selection. Some people believe that adaptation by means of natural selection proceeds more or less along the lines of Colonel Jerochymov’s program of literacy by firing squad. Selection, they believe, explains only the survival but not the arrival of the fittest.

“Natural selection may explain the survival of the fittest, but it cannot explain the arrival of the fittest.”

(Hugo De Vries)1

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg, Schulgasse 6, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    Peter McLaughlin

Authors
  1. Peter McLaughlin
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Correspondence to Peter McLaughlin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. History & Foundations of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Dennis Dieks

  2. , Faculty of Humanities, University of A Coruña, Dr. Vazquez Cabrera street, w/n, Ferrol, 15.403, Spain

    Wenceslao J. Gonzalez

  3. PO Box 90153, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Stephan Hartmann

  4. , Philosophy School of Social Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, Montserrat

    Thomas Uebel

  5. Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz, 78464, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Marcel Weber

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McLaughlin, P. (2011). The Arrival of the Fittest. In: Dieks, D., Gonzalez, W., Hartmann, S., Uebel, T., Weber, M. (eds) Explanation, Prediction, and Confirmation. The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1180-8_14

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