Life as Its Own Designer Darwin's Origin and Western Thought
It has been nearly 150 years since Darwin published On the Origin of Species, and his theory of natural selection still ignites a forest of heated debate between scientific fundamentalists on the one hand and religious fundamentalists on the other. But bo
- PDF / 2,044,199 Bytes
- 216 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 26 Downloads / 190 Views
BIOSEMIOTICS VOLUME 4 Series Editors
Marcello Barbieri Professor of Embryology University of Ferrara, Italy President Italian Association for Theoretical Biology Editor-in-Chief Biosemiotics Jesper Hoffmeyer Associate Professor in Biochemistry University of Copenhagen President International Society for Biosemiotic Studies
Aims and Scope of the Series Combining research approaches from biology, philosophy and linguistics, the emerging field of biosemiotics proposes that animals, plants and single cells all engage in semiosis – the conversion of physical signals into conventional signs. This has important implications and applications for issues ranging from natural selection to animal behaviour and human psychology, leaving biosemiotics at the cutting edge of the research on the fundamentals of life. The Springer book series Biosemiotics draws together contributions from leading players in international biosemiotics, producing an unparalleled series that will appeal to all those interested in the origins and evolution of life, including molecular and evolutionary biologists, ecologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers and historians of science, linguists, semioticians and researchers in artificial life, information theory and communication technology.
For further volumes: www.springer.com/series/7710
Anton Markoš · Filip Grygar · László Hajnal · Karel Kleisner · Zdenˇek Kratochvíl · Zdenˇek Neubauer
Life as Its Own Designer Darwin’s Origin and Western Thought
123
Ass. Prof. Anton Markoš Dr. Filip Grygar Dr. László Hajnal Dr. Karel Kleisner Ass. Prof. Zdenˇek Kratochvíl Prof. Zdenˇek Neubauer Charles University Fac. Sciences Dept. Philosophy & History of Science Viniˇcná 7 128 44 Praha 2 Czech Republic [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4020-9969-4 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-9970-0 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-9970-0 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926826 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Since pre-Socratic times Western thought has been shaped by the tension between two rival epistemic frameworks, each aiming for the most adequate and comprehensive understanding of our world. As far as it can be traced, the schism started with Xenophanes (born around 570 BC). Offended by inconsistent, contradictory and amoral Homeric descriptions of gods, he introduced the concept of one, immovable, rational and moral deity, from which all the rules of our world emanate and which stands in opposition to the mere “just-so” stories of myth. These two kinds
Data Loading...
