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Evolution, old and new; or, in full name Evolution, old and new; The theories of Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, and Lamarck, as compared with that of Mr. Charles Darwin. is a novel on the scientific discoveries of the time regarding theories of Evolution, published by Samuel Butler in 1879.


Content

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In his work, he mostly agrees with the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin, but challenges it by claiming that Darwin had dealt with only the easy part of the problem: "survival of the fittest", which Butler accepts, only acts on the results of the variation within species. Butler is concerned with the origin of that variation, which Darwin merely describes as random. The aim of the book is showing that; Charles Darwin is altogether wrong, and Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, and Lamarck were biologically and philosophically more accurate, therefore are a superior view of the nature and causes of evolution in the organic world. [1]

Furthermore, the book provides an overview of the authors mentioned in the title, as well as many more authors that are mostly unknown to present naturalists. It includes references to the lifestyle of the great naturalists at the time, alongside numerous quotations from their works.

Past life

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Samuel Butler is best known for his utopian satire Erewhon, his posthumous novel The Way of All Flesh, and his translations of Homer. He examined Christian orthodoxy, evolutionary thought, and Italian art, and made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey that are still consulted today.

Critics

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His work in biology and evolution has been criticized heavily by scientists. They were negatively reviewed in Nature by George Romanes and Alfred Russel Wallace, where it is stated that Butler's views on evolution had no basis from science [2] [3] . Furthermore, Butler admitted to being writing entertainment rather than science and his writings were not taken seriously by most professional biologists [4] [5] [6] [7] [8].

Views on Evolution

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“I have always admitted myself to be under the deepest obligations to Mr. Darwin's works; and it was with the greatest reluctance, not to say repugnance, that I became one of his opponents. I have partaken of his hospitality, and have had too much experience of the charming simplicity of his manner not to be among the readiest to at once admire and envy it. It is unfortunately true that I believe Mr. Darwin to have behaved badly to me; this is too notorious to be denied; but at the same time I cannot be blind to the fact that no man can be judge in his own case, and that after all, Mr. Darwin may have been right, and I wrong. At the present moment, let me impress this latter alternative upon my mind as far as possible, and dwell only upon that side of Mr. Darwin's work and character, about which there is no difference of opinion among either his admirers or his opponents.” -Butler, S. April 21, 1882


Although rejecting Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, Butler accepted evolution. [9] In his book Evolution, Old and New (1879) he accused Darwin of borrowing heavily from Buffon, Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck, playing down these influences and giving them little credit[10][11] [12].

Samuel Butler is often considered as a neo-lamarckist. Lamarckism, or Lamarckian inheritance, also known as "Neo-Lamarckism", is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. This idea is also called the inheritance of acquired characteristics or soft inheritance.

References

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  1. ^ WALLACE, ALFRED R. "Evolution, Old and New". Nature. Retrieved 28.08.2020. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Wallace, Alfred Russel. (1879). Evolution, Old and New. Nature 20, pp. 141–144.
  3. ^ G. J. Romanes (1881), Unconscious Memory. Nature 23, pp. 285–287.
  4. ^ Pauly, Philip J. (1982). Samuel Butler and His Darwinian Critics. Victorian Studies. Vol. 25, No. 2. pp. 161-180.
  5. ^ Simpson, George Gaylord. (1961). Lamarck, Darwin and Butler: Three Approaches to Evolution. The American Scholar. Vol. 30, No. 2. pp. 238-249.
  6. ^ Peter J. Bowler (1983). The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolutionary Theories in the Decades Around 1900. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-8018-2932-1
  7. ^ Simpson, George Gaylord. (1961). Lamarck, Darwin and Butler: Three Approaches to Evolution. The American Scholar. Vol. 30, No. 2. pp. 238-249.
  8. ^ Holt, Lee Elbert. (1989). Samuel Butler. Twayne Publishers. p. 44
  9. ^ Mark A. Bedau, Carol E. Cleland. (2010). The Nature of Life: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives from Philosophy and Science. Cambridge University Press. p. 344-345
  10. ^ C. Leon Harris (1981), Evolution: Genesis and Revelations: With Readings from Empedocles to Wilson. State University of New York Press. p. 279. ISBN 0-87395-487-4
  11. ^ Mark A. Bedau, Carol E. Cleland. (2010). The Nature of Life: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives from Philosophy and Science. Cambridge University Press. p. 344-345
  12. ^ Peter J. Bowler (2003), Evolution: The History of an Idea. University of California Press. p. 259. ISBN 0-520-23693-9.
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