Category:
Research Papers
Sub-Category:
Ecology - Life/Social Sciences
Date Published:
July 24, 2025
Keywords:
catastrophism, deductive argument, hypothetico-deductive model, inductive argument, natural sciences, Malthusian dynamic, Newtonian science, philosophy of science, physical sciences, social statistics, structure of natural selection, uniformitarianism,
Abstract:
This article examines the main methodological elements of Darwin's theory of natural selection, introduced and exhaustively documented in his major evolutionary publication: The Origin of Species. The philosophy of science in Darwin's time is briefly analyzed, especially the philosophy of science of Herschel and Whewell, Darwin's two contemporaries. In addition to reviewing Darwin's scientific education and interest in the natural sciences (the geology and biology of his time), the influence of the philosophy of science on the preparation, development and presentation of the Origin of Species is discussed. And naturally the hypothetico-deductive argumentative plot that supports his theory of natural selection, constructed according to the canons of Newtonian science, although far from the formal rigor of the Principia, which is still common in contemporary naturalistic publications, given the extreme complexity of biological systems.
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