stinking functionalists

Charles Brown CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us
Wed Oct 6 09:02:20 PDT 1999


Purely contingent on what ? Random mutations ? Is "preordained" the logical equivalen of your "teleology" ?

But once a trait arises as an expression of genes, it's recurrence is not contingent, but determined. There is no need for positing God/Goddess for this.

The notion that a trait arises within an organism and is passed on to the next generation as result of the needs of the parent organism is LaMarckian , not Darwinian.

I don't see how Darwinian analyses make any teleological error, as you describe it. It is just not a common problem for Darwinists.

Charles


>>> Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> 10/06/99 11:03AM >>>

"Mr P.A. Van Heusden" wrote:


> None of this means that the existence of a trait means that that trait
> is a 'response' to natural selection.

This is the essential point to keep in mind to avoid teleology -- the equation of natural selection with some Nature God/Goddess. The appearance of a trait is purely contingent; its *preservation* a matter of selection and/or piggy-back riding on other traits.

Carrol



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