From: GERALD LEVY (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Mon Nov 05 2007 - 08:11:57 EST
>It is true that some modern darwinists like Gould emphasise chance and >contingency, but it is not clear that this was appreciated in the 19th c >and many current darwinists are critical of Goulds position ( cf Dennet) Hi Paul C: I think Darwin himself understood this well. Indeed, it was his voyaging at sea with FitzRoy with stops at the Galapogos, Patagonia, Tahiti, etc. that led him directly towards further scientific studies which ultimately were presented in _The Origin of Species_. How could he not marvel at the variation of species in the Galapagos and not ponder about the special contingent circumstances on those islands that led to that variation? A belief inevitability was certainly a concept which was widely believed in by philosphers of his time (no doubt, influenced by their religious conceptions), but Darwin (like Marx) had a very weak acceptance of that ahistorical , simplistic, and mechanical concept, imho. But, I am by no means an authority on the life and thought of Darwin .... In solidarity, Jerry
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