Unity and Disunity in Evolutionary Biology: Deconstructing Darwinism

In major areas of research concerned with science it is not uncommon to see that historical studies are accompanied by the rise of complementary or contradictory historiographies. With time, it seems, scholars discover new approaches to studying topics, thus questioning old concepts, traditions, periodizations and historical labels. Apparently, this has not been the case in evolutionary thought. In that area, prevailing historiographic labels such as ＂Darwinian Revolution＂, ＂Eclipse of Darwinism＂, and ＂Modern Synthesis＂ have been in place and largely uncontested for nearly 50 years. These labels seem to work as irrefutable, and often hidden, premises of many historical reconstructions, philosophical analyses, and scientific conceptualizations.

This volume aims to address this situation, opening new avenues of thought by revisiting the traditional historiography and laying the groundwork for a ＂new historiography＂ which considers the intertwined threads that compose evolutionary biology. In particular, it is worth noting evolutionary studies have been marked by the tension between unification attempts and the proliferation of approaches, methodologies, and styles of thinking. As the contributors to this volume illustrate, research traditions have branched off throughout history, before and after Charles Darwin. The resulting complexity challenges traditional conceptual categories, throwing a somewhat different light on a more recent label like the ＂Extended Evolutionary Synthesis＂.

More than 40 years after the now classic The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology (1980), edited by Ernst Mayr and William Provine, the contributors to this volume aim to reevaluate how best should evolutionary biology be conceived today.

Richard G. Delisle owns a PhD in paleoanthropology (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and a PhD in philosophy (University of Montreal, Canada). He teaches evolutionary biology and history/philosophy of science in the programs of archaeology, philosophy, and liberal education at the University of Lethbridge (Canada). His research interest focuses on the multidisciplinary quest of understanding evolutionary studies under the intimate light of its past and current developments.

Maurizio Esposito owns a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science (University of Leeds). He teaches History and Philosophy of Biology in the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). His research interests focus on the historical development of life sciences as well as its social and philosophical implications.

David Ceccarelli owns a PhD in Historical, Social and Philosophical Sciences (University of Rome ＂Tor Vergata＂). He has taught History of Science at the University of Rome ＂Tor Vergata＂ and at the University of Florence. His research interests focus on the history and historiography of evolutionary biology, the history of evolutionary social theories and the visual history of life sciences.