Evolution is the change in the characteristics of a species over time.
Questions tagged [evolution]
102 questions
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Why aren't creationism and natural science on the same intellectual level?
In the infamous creation museum a strategically very shrewd exhibit, where a scientist and a biblical scholar both study the same fossils, is being presented:
The sign says
“different scientists can reach very different conclusions, depending
on…
vonjd
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Did Charles Darwin say anything on why life was formed in the first place?
To be viewed from the perspective of epistemology and/or the philosophy of science.
Preamble:
Darwin, like scientists of his day, often spoke of “Laws” that inevitably cycle forth the results implicit in their form.
Question:
In what ways did…
Jayant
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Is the theory of evolution a good basis for an argument against freewill?
In the theory of evolution, humans do not occupy any privileged status compared to other living beings, they are at one end of a continuous (although not necessarily monotone) spectrum of creatures.
Very basic creatures such as viruses, single cell…
Alexander S King
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How does the theory of evolution make it less likely that the world is designed?
The theory of evolution, in many people’s eyes, seems to be evidence against a designer God. But why?
Some may point out to the fact that random mutations and natural selection help explain the diversity of organisms. However, why should this reduce…
thinkingman
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Is it possible that evolution brought human kind morality?
I've heard this (rather odd imho) statement that evolution, by the need of survival, dictated humans to uphold moral codes in order to survive, thus gaining a moral system.
Now, to my understanding, the need to survive wouldn't dictate how to…
Yechiam Weiss
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Are dualism and the theory of evolution compatible?
From an evolutionary point of view there is a continuous gradient of intelligence (in the larger sense of the term), from lower life forms with no intelligence at all to higher life forms that exhibit consciousness and mental states. Presumably this…
Alexander S King
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As a result of human progression in science (specifically medicine), have we created ourselves a plateau in the evolutionary process?
It is assumed, for the purpose of this question, that Charles Darwin, in the 19th Century, formulated the concept of "Survival of the Fittest". Penned in his book "The Origin of the Species", which is internationally renowned, the theory is that…
m-smith
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What is the utility of consciousness if free will is an illusion?
Introspectively speaking, it seems to me obvious that free will is illusion. Thoughts just emerge from background causes, and actions are just thoughts about actions that we have more thoughts about committing to bringing into being (more or less…
natojato
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What was Nietzsche's Position on Darwin and his theory of Evolution by Natural Selection?
I will preface this question by saying I have not read Nietzsche extensively. The one exception is his 'Genealogy of Morals', a recent read of mine, twice actually.
I always assumed Nietzsche's ideas of "the will to power" and the "Ubermensch"…
Waterman
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How would Kant have responded to Darwin's conception of human evolution?
How would Kant have responded to Darwin? That is, how would Kant's theory on the individual as being comprised of a unity of consciousness (in his critique on pure reason), with the theory of Darwin's conception of man as a product of…
patrick
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Does Darwin owe a debt to Hegel?
I just realized that Darwin's theory of evolution is very much historicist, and resembles Hegel's notion of an arc of history: evolution is progressive and moves with purpose in an almost dialectical fashion (e.g. several individuals compete until…
Alexander S King
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How does Darwin's Theory of Evolution complicate a reading of Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals?
Darwins Theory of Evolution states that the evolution of life underlies processes like selection, reproduction and variation. I think, essentially he says, that the occurences of any ability or property are completely random and the survival of some…
x squared
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Why are homologies evidence for evolution instead of common design?
I have seen some creationists arguing that when evolutionary biologists use homologies (anatomical or genetic) as evidence for evolution, they are committing the fallacy of affirming the consequent. So both evolutionists and creationists would agree…
user8083
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Is Dawkins arguing that a cause must be greater than its effect?
On the one hand, Dawkins is a rather vocal exponent of evolution. Evolution, to me, appears to hold that greater complexity can arise form lesser complexity (unless we want to argue that the causes conspiring to increase the complexity of a…
Robert LeChef
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Where can one find the most fully developed version of EAAN with the four-part defense of premise 1?
Having just completed Alvin Plantinga's book Where the Conflict Really Lies, I was a bit surprised to learn that he now takes a different approach to defending premise 1 of the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (EAAN) than he has in the past.…
DicePower
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