The Framework for Evolutionary Theory

Abstract

The scientific aspect of the debate over evolution centers on questions concerning its mechanism: Is natural selection the sole factor responsible for the origin and transformation of species, or are other factors required as well? What is the genetic basis for evolution? What is the rate of species formation — does evolution proceed gradually or does it admit of rapid speciation as well? These and related scientific questions do not exhaust the subject of evolution. The scientific theory of evolution is informed by philosophy, which serves to clarify its theoretical framework by analyzing concepts — such as quantity and quality, continuity and novelty, and substance and change — which are essential to it, and which it shares with other sciences. What I term the “philosophical framework for evolutionary theory” replies to questions including the following: Is the evolutionary process continuous or discontinuous? Is evolution exclusively quantitative or does it admit of qualitative change as well? Is evolution a purely natural process, or does it also require assistance from a divine source? Is the scope of evolution limited to the biological or is it universal, operating in all domains of reality?