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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Darwinian'
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Ogilvie, Caroline. "Socialist Darwinism : the response of the Left to Darwinian evolutionary theory, 1880-1905." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.270838.
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Historiographically, Darwinian evolutionary theory in its application to political thought has generally been seen more as the domain of conservative and liberal, individualist and laissez faire apologists. The language of nature, in which individual struggle for existence resulted in the survival of the fittest, implied a natural process of progression, which human society could but emulate. However, such an analysis ignores the responses of those on the left of the political spectrum. Far from seeing little that was conducive to socialism in Darwinian evolutionary theory, many socialists embraced Darwinism. Unlike their political counterparts, they did not literally transfer the three central Darwinian tenets - natural selection, survival of the fittest, and struggle for existence - to human society. Instead, they attempted to explore fully Darwin's ideas and to reinterpret or to extend them for a social application, which took into account the essential difference between man and animal: viz. rational consciousness. This thesis specifically examines the response of two leading groups on the left, the Marxists and the Fabians, and it gauges how they utilised Darwinian theory to justify particular aspects of a socialist creed. It is shown that, although the Marxists' approach to Darwinism differed from that of the Fabians, ultimately neither strictly dichotomised man from animal on the basis of the development of mind. This however was not the case with the socialist and co-discoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace, who is also examined. It is clear from the extensive range of primary source material consulted, which includes the main Marxist and Fabian periodicals, that socialists consistently had recourse to Darwinian theory not only for scientific justification of the process of human development in the past, but also for validation of a future socialist society. There was therefore a genuine intellectual fusion that created Socialist Darwinism.
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Whittle, Patrick Michael. "Why egalitarians should embrace Darwinism: a critical defence of Peter Singer's a Darwinian left." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Social and Political Sciences, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8036.
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Despite most educated people now accepting Darwinian explanations for human physical evolution, many of these same people remain reluctant to accept similar accounts of human behavioural or cognitive evolution. Leftists in particular often assume that our evolutionary history now has little bearing on modern human social behaviour, and that cultural processes have taken over from the biological imperatives at work elsewhere in nature.
The leftist view of human nature still largely reflects that of Karl Marx, who believed that our nature is moulded solely by prevailing social and cultural conditions, and that, moreover, our nature can be completely changed by totally changing society.
Ethical philosopher Peter Singer challenges this leftist view, arguing that the left must replace its non-Darwinian view of an infinitely malleable human nature with the more accurate scientific account now made possible by modern Darwinian evolutionary science. Darwinism, Singer suggests, could then be used as a source of new ideas and new approaches that could revive and revitalise the egalitarian left.
This thesis defends and develops Singer’s arguments for a Darwinian left. It shows that much modern leftist opposition to evolutionary theory is misguided, and that Darwinism does not necessarily have the egregious political implications so often assumed by the egalitarian left – even in such controversial areas as possible ‘biological’ differences between the sexes or between different human populations.
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Bhattacharya, Sumangala. "Wuthering Heights: A Proto-Darwinian Novel." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1993. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500893/.
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Wuthering Heights was significantly shaped by the pre-Darwinian scientific debate in ways that look ahead to Darwin's evolutionary theory more than a decade later. Wuthering Heights represents a cultural response to new and disturbing ideas. Darwin's enterprise was scientific; Emily Brontë's poetic. Both, however, were seeking to find ways to express their vision of the nature of human beings. The language and metaphors of Wuthering Heights suggest that Emily Brontë's vision was, in many ways, similar to Darwin's.
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Chandler, Jake. "Belief and its warrant : a Darwinian perspective." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.424897.
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Fisher, Carl Francis. "Early Darwinian commemoration in Britain, 1882-1914." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2017. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/269789.
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This dissertation recounts the commemoration of Charles Darwin in Britain from his death in 1882 to his birth centenary in 1909. As a broadly chronological and episodic history, individual memorials are considered in themselves, in relation to others, and in their national and local contexts. In this way, they are shown to have been informed by contemporary scientific and wider cultural developments, previous memorialisations, and – consonant with a more recent historiographical turn to ‘place’ – local imperatives alongside those arising further afield. Consequently, memorialisers and observers are shown to have acted not merely as unreflective publicists or passive consumers, but as interpreters of Darwin’s memory who brought their own concerns to his commemoration. Darwin’s funeral, at Westminster Abbey, was widely accepted as a national endorsement of his social respectability, and, by extension, that of a burgeoning scientific profession which organised it. Further to this first posthumous elevation, and appropriation, of Darwin, subsequent presentations were informed by contemporary literary developments, and particularly the sudden decline in the posthumous reputation of Thomas Carlyle, which reflected changing attitudes to long-established ‘heroic’ tradition. As such, the production, reception and mobilisation of Darwinian biography (primarily his Life and Letters and its subsequent editions and sequels) recognised these recent literary concerns and further contributed to Darwin’s elevation as a personal and scientific exemplar. The ways in which Darwin’s reputation was elaborated and used are recovered at a range of sites of Darwinian significance, most notably Edinburgh, Cambridge, Shrewsbury, Oxford and London. Encompassing metropolitan, provincial, institutional and civic commemoration, accompanying periodical reportage, commentary and memorialisation is also considered. Common to the majority of these productions, Darwin’s theory of natural selection was criticised, contradicted or ignored. Nevertheless, the esteem in which the celebrated naturalist was held was to grow in inverse proportion to the reputation of his famous theory. Against this background, an extended memorial season peaked in the summer of 1909 at the Darwin Celebration at the University of Cambridge. That grandiose occasion echoed and developed themes which were well recorded in preceding commemorations, both ceremonially and in the periodical press. Consequently, man and work were brought into closer relation with a widely-expressed interest in the origins of his apparently exceptional abilities and character. The great naturalist was celebrated as a hereditary, as well as a moral and intellectual, exemplar. This development was supported by the new findings of Mendelian biology and Darwin’s memorial association with advancing eugenic activism. For the first time attending to his early ‘afterlife’ in Britain, this account traces the interaction of Darwin’s commemoration not only with the emerging biological sciences, but also with wider preoccupations concerning secularisation, democratisation and reform across the decades either side of the turn of the twentieth century. Ultimately, Darwin’s early memorialisation can be apprehended as a scientific activity in itself, contributing to professional, disciplinary and theoretical developments in the biological sciences.
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Saillant, Said. "Darwinian humility : epistemological applications of evolutionary science." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113776.
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Thesis: Ph. D. in Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2017.<br>"September 2017." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>I use evolutionary science - its tenets and theory, as well as the evidence for it - to investigate the extent and nature of human knowledge by exploring the relation between human cognition, epistemic luck, and biological and cultural fitness. In "The Epistemic Upshot of Adaptationist Explanation," I argue that knowledge of the evolution by natural selection of human cognition might either defeat, bolster, or preclude the epistemic justification of our current beliefs. In "The Evolutionary Challenge and the Evolutionary Debunking of Morality," I argue that we lack the evidence to know whether human moral knowledge evolved or exists. In "Human Morality: Lie or Heirloom?," I argue that, contrary to the popular conception of their descent, human moral belief systems might ultimately be the result of ancient parental deception. The project unfolds against the backdrop of Darwinian naturalism, that all living beings on Earth are related by descent with modification and that natural selection has been the main (but not exclusive) means of modification. The central lesson is that human knowledge attribution is more epistemically demanding than previously thought because to self-ascribe knowledge with justification we must justify the assumption that certain unconfirmed evolutionary hypotheses are correct. The ultimate hope is to give epistemology a Darwinian update and, in consequence, human knowledge its proper place in nature.<br>by Said Saillant.<br>Ph. D. in Philosophy
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Zacharias, Sebastian. "The Darwinian revolution as a knowledge reorganization." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/17145.
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Die Dissertation leistet drei Beiträge zur Forschung: (1) Sie entwickelt ein neuartiges vierstufiges Modell wissenschaftlicher Theorien. Dieses Modell kombiniert logisch-empiristische Ansätze (Carnap, Popper, Frege) mit Konzepten von Metaphern & Narrativen (Wittgenstein, Burke, Morgan), erlaubt so deutlich präzisiere Beschreibungen wissenschaftlicher Theorien bereit und löst/mildert Widersprüche in logisch-empiristischen Modellen. (Realismus vs. Empirismus, analytische vs. synthetische Aussagen, Unterdeterminiertheit/ Holismus, wissenschaftliche Erklärungen, Demarkation) (2) Mit diesem Modell gelingt ein Reihenvergleich sechs biologischer Theorien von Lamarck (1809), über Cuvier (1811), Geoffroy St. Hilaire (1835), Chambers (1844-60), Owen (1848-68), Wallace (1855/8) zu Darwin (1859-1872). Dieser Vergleich offenbart eine interessante Asymmetrie: Vergleicht man Darwin mit je einem Vorgänger, so bestehen zahlreiche wichtige Unterschiede. Vergleicht man ihn mit fünf Vorgängern, verschwinden diese fast völlig: Darwins originärer Beitrag zur Revolution in der Biologie des 19.Jh ist klein und seine Antwort nur eine aus einer kontinuierlichen Serie auf die empirischen Herausforderungen durch Paläontologie & Biogeographie seit Ende des 18. Jh. (3) Eine gestufte Rezeptionsanalyse zeigt, warum wir dennoch von einer Darwinschen Revolution sprechen. Zuerst zeigt eine quantitative Analyse der fast 2.000 biologischen Artikel in Britannien zwischen 1858 und 1876, dass Darwinsche Konzepte zwar wichtige Neuerungen brachten, jedoch nicht singulär herausragen. Verlässt man die Biologie und schaut sich die Rezeption bei anderen Wissenschaftlern und gebildeten Laien an, wechselt das Bild: Je weiter man aus der Biologie heraustritt, desto weniger Ebenen biologischen Wissens kennen die Rezipienten und desto sichtbarer wird Darwins Beitrag. Schließlich findet sich sein Beitrag in den abstraktesten Ebenen des biologischen Wissens: in Narrativ und Weltbild – den Ebenen die Laien rezipieren.<br>The dissertation makes three contributions to research: (1) It develops a novel 4-level-model of scientific theories which combines logical-empirical ideas (Carnap, Popper, Frege) with concepts of metaphors & narratives (Wittgenstein, Burke, Morgan), providing a new powerful toolbox for the analysis & comparison of scientific theories and overcoming/softening contradictions in logical-empirical models. (realism vs. empiricism, analytic vs. synthetic statements, holism, theory-laden observations, scientific explanations, demarcation) (2) Based on this model, the dissertation compares six biological theories from Lamarck (1809), via Cuvier (1811), Geoffroy St. Hilaire (1835), Chambers (1844-60), Owen (1848-68), Wallace (1855/8) to Darwin (1859-1872) and reveals an interesting asymmetry: Compared to any one of his predecessors, Darwins theory appears very original, however, compared to all five predecessor theories, many of these differences disappear and it remains but a small original contribution by Darwin. Thus, Darwin’s is but one in a continuous series of responses to the challenges posed to biology by paleontology and biogeography since the end of the 18th century. (3) A 3-level reception analysis, finally, demonstrates why we speak of a Darwinian revolution nevertheless. (i) A quantitative analysis of nearly 2.000 biological articles reveals that Darwinian concepts where indeed an important theoretical innovation – but definitely not the most important of the time. (ii) When leaving the circle of biology and moving to scientists from other disciplines or educated laymen, the landscape changes. The further outside the biological community, the shallower the audience’s knowledge – and the more visible Darwin’s original contribution. After all, most of Darwin’s contribution can be found in the narrative and worldview of 19th century biology: the only level of knowledge which laymen receive.
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Meissen, Emily P., Kehinde R. Salau, and Jim M. Cushing. "A global bifurcation theorem for Darwinian matrix models." TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622524.
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Motivated by models from evolutionary population dynamics, we study a general class of nonlinear difference equations called matrix models. Under the assumption that the projection matrix is non-negative and irreducible, we prove a theorem that establishes the global existence of a continuum with positive equilibria that bifurcates from an extinction equilibrium at a value of a model parameter at which the extinction equilibrium destabilizes. We give criteria for the global shape of the continuum, including local direction of bifurcation and its relationship to the local stability of the bifurcating positive equilibria. We discuss a relationship between backward bifurcations and Allee effects. Illustrative examples are given
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Dollimore, Denise Ellen. "Darwinian evolutionary ideas in business economics and organization studies." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/14978.
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This thesis is a study of the use of Darwinian evolutionary ideas in business economics and organization studies. Mindful of the explosion of evolutionary rhetoric in the socio-economic domain over the last three decades and informed by the modern generalized Darwinian perspective, the research has been focused on the evaluation of the precise nature and extent of use of Darwinian ideas in three of the most influential evolutionary accounts in these disciplines. Notably, Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982), Hannan and Freeman’s Organizational Ecology (1989), and Howard Aldrich’s Organizations Evolving (1999). It is a work of comparative theory. Also since 1980, theoretical and conceptual advances in evolutionary theory confirmed the generic nature of Darwinian theory and provided generalized terms for its articulation. Whilst some major criticisms of Darwinism are easily dismissed, significantly scholars have shown that Lamarckian acquired character inheritance must be accommodated within the meta-theoretical framework of Darwinism. This study shows that whilst the damaging rhetoric of ‘Social Darwinism’ continues to discourage widespread active engagement with Darwinian theory, the pervasive implicit or ‘covert’ adoption of Darwinian ideas by social scientists nevertheless clearly endorses its general nature, confirms a Darwinian social ontology and underlines the inevitability of Darwinism in the socio-cultural domain. Following a detailed exposition of general Darwinism, this study presents a forensic comparative evaluation of the evolutionary theories under study, highlighting theoretical gaps and inconsistencies, and demonstrating their resolution within the Darwinian framework. Through the systematic application and dissection of these disparate theories, one of which is labelled ‘Lamarckian’, the analysis shows the deep extent to which they all are Darwinian. And furthermore, underlining the promise of the Darwinian system for yielding further results, the study clearly illustrates the importance of the explicit adoption of modern Darwinian concepts for helping scholars to understand the complex evolutionary processes they seek to explain.
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Moynihan, Margaret. "Selective thinking : intersections of naturalism, capitalism and Darwinian evolution /." Available to subscribers only, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1559857561&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1509&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Kerr, William Fraser. "Darwinian social evolution as a theory of social change." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31066.
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This thesis investigates the use of a reconceptualised social evolutionary theory for understanding and explaining how and why societies change, specifically looking at this question through the frame of nationalism. The thesis is split into three parts: in the first part I first examine older forms of social evolutionary theory (conceptions from Marx, Spencer and generalized evolutionary accounts) and critique them on the grounds that they are too ‘progressive’ in character, suffer from teleology and have a notion that all societies change linearly, i.e. pass through the same set of stages. After this I elaborate on a reconstructed version of social evolutionary theory, taking it along more Darwinian lines: that the process should be understood as contingent and non-linear, where cultural variants and social intuitions change in response to selective pressures brought about by environmental conditions. To reconstruct social evolution I draw mainly on accounts from Runciman (2009), Hodgson and Knudsen (2010), Sperber (1996), Hull (1988) and Richerson and Boyd (2006). In the second part of the thesis I look at four different theories of social change and utilize Darwinian social evolutionary theory to critique them. The four in question are: Immanuel Wallerstein (world-systems theory); Michael Hechter (rational-choice theory); Michael Mann (sources of social power); and Ernest Gellner (functionalism). These four theories were chosen as they either have, or represent, different theories of social change, and also because they are all concerned to some extent with the rise of the nation-state and nationalism. The main argument in this section is that Darwinian social evolutionary theory can incorporate elements of these theories whilst also going beyond them in explaining and understanding why societies undergo changes. In the case of Mann and Gellner I also note that they are, to a certain extent, implicitly relying on a social evolutionary account, and that drawing this out more explicitly helps provide greater theoretical solidity to their arguments. In the final part of the thesis I apply the theory to two case-studies, looking at the rise of nationalism in Britain (with a focus on England) and Japan. In both cases I examine each development of nationalism historically, using Darwinian social evolution to assess why nationalism emerged at the point that it did in each case, and not before. A final synthesis chapter then looks comparatively at the two cases and applies Darwinian social evolutionary theory to address the question of why nationalism generated in England/Britain, but did not in Japan and why the nationalist movements took the forms that they did. The chapter centres on three main themes, the role of war in forming identities, the role of variation in generating institutions, and the role of lineages in creating continuity in discontinuity. Finally it address the question of why nationalism became the dominant movement and not something else. Together this demonstrates demonstrate the usefulness of the framework for addressing questions concerning social change, in providing a different perspective and insights from other theories of social change. A final chapter summarizes and concludes the thesis, as well as pointing to new directions that research could develop.
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Peddie, Bill. "Alienated by Evolution: The Educational Implications of Creationist and Social Darwinist Reactions in New Zealand to the Darwinian Theory of Evolution." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2286.
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This investigation explores the reactions to Darwinism in the format and informal education of New Zealand society. The subsidiary purpose is to look at some implications for formal education. Many of the reactions have focussed on distortions of the Darwinian theory of evolution with the form of reaction to Darwinism being centred on different views of humankind. The various group interests have caused different aspects of Darwinism to be highlighted particularly when groups feel their interests are under threat. Using aspects of an "HS3" historical survey technique i.e. the history of the public reaction to an aspect of science and science teaching, key features of this debate are set in context. This context is then used to show that creationist objections and social Darwinian interpretations share many characteristics with their overseas counterparts. A philosophical analysis of the positions taken supports a charge that New Zealand creationist science is partly non science, and partly bad science. It is also shown that confusion has been created when groups have debated issues from different perspectives including cultural perspectives. In particular there has been a lack of communication as various creationist groups, using different research bases, and political, economic and legal institutions, have adopted generalist conservative positions, highlighted metaphysical and ethical considerations and drawn on creationist science literature to support the science of their case while pro-evolutionist groups have adopted specialist liberal or progressive positions, concentrated on the logic and epistemology of the debate and have drawn on mainstream science literature. Finally some implications have been drawn from this analysis of the different reactions, and recommendations have been made for future teaching of evolution and related concepts.
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Graff, Ann-Barbara. "Cultural displacement and dislocation, darwinian fictions of empire, 1850-1900." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ49880.pdf.
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Ohler, Paul Joseph. "Edith Wharton's "evolutionary conception" : Darwinian allegory in her major novels /." New York : Routledge, 2006. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb40149832g.
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Wu, Catherine Kar Yin. "Darwin's new clothes: the Neo-Darwinian meta-logic cultural evolution." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28161.
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This thesis examines the current impasse in cultural evolutionary theory, in which the insertion of morality into cultural evolution has compromised the discontinuous, multiscalar principles of neo-Darwinism, creating a moral-evolutionary continuum. I draw on post-structuralist criticality to displace the exclusionary implications of the anthropocentric explanatory continuum, and on the flaws of post—structuralism to clarify the logical necessity of discontinuous, multiscalarity for a neo-Darwinian conception of cultural evolution.
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Wu, Catherine Kar Yin. "Darwin's new clothes: the Neo-Darwinian meta-logic of cultural evolution." Thesis, University of Sydney, 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26642.
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This thesis examines the current impasse in cultural evolutionary theory, in which the insertion of morality into cultural evolution has compromised the discontinuous, multiscalar principles of neo-Darwinism, creating a moral-evolutionary continuum. I draw on post-structuralist criticality to displace the exclusionary implications of the anthropocentric explanatory continuum, and on the flaws of post—structuralism to clarify the logical necessity of discontinuous, multiscalarity for a neo-Darwinian conception of cultural evolution.
In the biological sciences, the principles of Darwinism remain undisputed even though the explanatory scalar scope of neo-Darwinism has ‘expanded’ at least since the 1950s. In the humanities, there is no agreement either upon a set of workable concepts of evolution, or a concept of multiple, discontinuous explanatory scales. Discussions tend to focus on the extent to
which Darwinism can account for familiar ‘social conditions’: moral practices and issues; the complex web of information ‘replicated’ through peoples’ actions; the ‘evolved’ mind and our capacity for verbal language and reflexive behaviour as the basis for explaining the products and outcomes of culture. A plastic ‘feedback’ dynamic is posited between bio—genetic fundamentals
or analogies and differential cultural expression; between the syncretism of biogenetic—Darwinian operations and active Lamarkian principles of cultural change.
The default on to a social position is inadequate because it privileges a short time-span perspective for explaining the longer time—span processes of culture. It neglects an examination of the friction inherent to the spatial-material context within which variation is produced, and disregards an assessment of the logic of scalar discontinuity in the differential and longer-term workings of culture. The logic of cultural evolutionary theory is persistently vitiated by the supposed necessity of the humanities to create a moral perspective which inserts a reductive scalar continuum in the study of cultural evolution.
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Ellis, Jonathan Charles. "The scientific revolutions of Copernicus and Darwin and their repercussions on Russian political and sociological writing." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2000. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.301984.
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When Enlightenment science was first introduced in earnest into Russia as part of Peter I's programme of westernisation, the Orthodox Church's view of scientific truth remained the received wisdom and enlightenment science was looked upon as heretical, alien and un-Russian. After Peter's death the Church and other conservative forces in Russia attempted to reassert the traditional system of scientific belief, but Peter's vision had an energetic and enthusiastic supporter in the scientist and polymath MV Lomonosov, whose defence of Enlightenment science against such opposition is illustrated by particular reference to the Copernican Revolution. However, unlike scientists such as Benjamin Franklin in America, Lomonosov did not pursue Enlightenment values into the realm of social and political enquiry, but saw instead Enlightenment science as an instrument for the furtherance of Peter's model of the Russian autocratic state. The political and sociological writers discussed in connection with the Darwinian Revolution, Chemyshevsky, Pisarev, Mikhailovsky, Lavrov and Kropotkin, were all committed to scientific method, but their various responses to Darwinism were significantly coloured by the fact that the struggle for existence in nature described by Darwin seemed more of a piece with the conclusions of western Social Darwinists in favour of a competitive capitalist society, than with the sort of communal society that these Russian writers sought to justify in rational scientific terms. The specific Russian historical moment is of central importance: the Origin of Species appeared in Russia just at the time of the Emancipation, when a major concern of Russian radical thought was that Russian society should bypass capitalism and proceed directly to a socialist form of society. Both the scientific revolutions are examined in this study with reference to specifically Russian political and sociological issues arising from the particular Russian cultural and historical context into which they were received.
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Kuchciński, Bartłomiej. "The Evolutionary Subject : Science Fiction from the Perspective of Darwinian Literary Studies." Doctoral thesis, Katowice : Uniwersytet Śląski, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/11435.
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Celem rozprawy jest analiza fantastyki naukowej z perspektywy literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego w celu ustalenia jakie mechanizmy stoją za fabularnymi i narracyjnymi schematami poetyki fantastycznonaukowej; zbadania, czy możliwe jest aby fantastyka naukowa pełniła funkcję adaptacyjną, oraz, pośrednio, zbadanie użyteczności literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego jako narzędzia analizy teoretycznej.
Rozdział pierwszy stanowi przegląd dotychczasowych badań skupiających się na wpływie uwarunkowań genetycznych i adaptacyjnych na formy i sposoby ludzkich zachowań kulturowych oraz przybliża pojęcie konsiliencji wprowadzone przez Edwarda O. Wilsona a stanowiące intelektualną podstawę do rozwoju ewolucyjnie zorientowanych badań literackich.
Rozdział drugi przybliża cele i metodologię literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego, w dużej mierze wyrastającego z opozycji wobec dominujących obecnie w Teorii trendów poststrukturalistycznych. Odrzucenie centralnych dla postrukturalizmu założeń, pozwala na paradygmatyczną reorientację badań literackich, co z kolei otwiera drogę do analizy aktywności artystycznej, w tym także literackiej, w relacji do biologicznie motywowanych potrzeb adaptacyjnych. Rozdział stanowi próbę wykazania, że fantastyka naukowa, poprzez swoją koncentrację na eksperymentach poznawczych, myślowych i intelektualnych skupionych na interakcji z nowym, odmiennym i niezwykłym, stanowi ważny element w procesie zdobywania niezbędnej wiedzy o świecie, niemożliwej do zdobycia inaczej niż poprzez kontakt z fikcyjnymi fabułami.
Rozdziały trzeci i czwarty podejmują analizę schematów narracyjnych obecnych w fantastyce naukowej. Pierwszy z nich skupia się na heterotopijnym, a więc odmiennym i alternatywnym charakterze przestrzeni obecnych w fantastyce naukowej. Odmienność ta sprawia, że przestrzenie fantastyki zawsze są nieprzewidywalne, potencjalnie groźne i obiecujące równocześnie. Taki charakter przestrzeni lub krajobrazu, jak pokazują badania z zakresu psychologii ewolucyjnej, jest dla człowieka najatrakcyjniejszy, co w przypadku fantastyki naukowej zapewnia, że jej treść będzie dla czytelnika interesująca. To uchwycenie i zapewnienie uwagi stanowi zachętę do intelektualnej eksploracji, a ta może odgrywać rolę adaptacyjną.
Rozdział czwarty pokazuje, że elementem kluczowym dla przedstawienia fantastycznonaukowego uniezwyklenia poznawczego (cognitive estrangement) jest obecność obrzydzenia. Paradoksalny charakter tego uczucia, wzbudzającego równocześnie odrzucenie i fascynację, domagającego się natychmiastowej uwagi i reakcji, gwarantuje zainteresowanie czytelnika elementem odmienności i, ponownie, otwiera go na szeroką gamę interakcji poznawczych.
Przedstawione analizy pozwalają odpowiedzieć na postawione w rozprawie pytania dotyczące schematyczności fantastyki naukowej, jej potencjalnych funkcji poznawczo-adaptacyjnych oraz pokazują użyteczność literaturoznawstwa darwinistycznego.
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Cannon, Nathaniel S. "Domain duplication, Darwinian selection and the origins of the seed storage globulins /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2008. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2602.pdf.
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Zarrabi, Kazem Adl. "A Darwinian model for bio-cultural co-evolution : a Ph.D. research programme /." Roskilde : The Department of Economics & Planning, Roskilde University, 1997. http://www.rub.ruc.dk/phd/kazem_a_zarrabi/...fejl.
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Ricardo, Alonso. "Bioorganic molecules in the cosmos and the origins of Darwinian molecular systems." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0004361.
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Davies, Neil. "Origins of diversity : the evolutionary genetics of Caribbean butterflies." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309290.
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Mordsley, Jessica. "Animal in differance : tracing the boundaries of the human in post-Darwinian culture." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2007. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/54667/.
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This thesis draws on Jacques Derrida's idea of 'differance' (difference as both distinction and deferral) to argue that, within post-Darwinian humanist culture, the category of 'the human' can only be defined by differentiating it from 'the animal'. Following Derrida, this project seeks to 'determine the number, form, sense, or structure' of the 'plural and repeatedly folded frontier' between these two categories. Chapter 1, 'Becoming Human', examines the chronological boundaries between the human and extinct hominids such as <italic> Homo erectus</italic> and Neanderthals. It reads contemporary scientific accounts of 'how we became human' to demonstrate that they preserve the conceptual framework of earlier creation myths. However, despite their humanism, these accounts inevitably unsettle the boundaries between human and animal by revealing the play of traces across them. Chapter 2, 'Acting Human', reads Descartes' <italic> Discourse on the Method</italic> with Judith Butler's theory of gender performance to argue that the human can only be identified by its behaviour. Those who do not behave 'correctly', such as people with autism, threaten humanism and are consequently punished. Conversely, when animals are seen to 'act human' (for example, the chimpanzee artist Congo) this is dismissed as anthropomorphism. However, these possibilities demonstrate that human behaviour is not tied to an internal essence. Chapter 3, 'Talking Human', deconstructs the opposition between human language and animal communication which underpins contemporary humanist discourse. The human voice is identified with presence, truth and subjectivity, while animals are mute, inarticulate objects. However, the human subject is never fully in control of its communication, as demonstrated by blushing and involuntary nonverbal 'leakage'. I conclude that 'language' and 'the human' are constituted only by referring to each other. This thesis critiques the mythology of humanism in order to challenge the unethical acts that are committed in the name of the human.
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Ostrowski, Amelia. "Through a Selective Lens: Darwinian Analysis of Class Struggles in Gilded Age Literature." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1312396256.
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Cannon, Nathaniel S. "Domain Duplication, Darwinian Selection, and the Origin of the Globulin Seed Storage Proteins." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2008. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1544.
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The seed storage globulins found among virtually all spermatophytes comprise a multi-gene family of proteins with ancient evolutionary origins. The two main groups of storage globulins include the legumins (11S) and vicilins (7S), both of which play a main role in protein deposition and storage in the seed endosperm. Composed of two cupin domains (bicupin), these proteins have been recently noted not only for their close structural relationships among the two subfamilies (7S and 11S) but also for their similarity to other proteins such as germin-like proteins (GLP's), bacterial oxalate decarboxylases, and other cupin containing proteins. Previous studies have investigated the evolutionary relationships among the legumin and vicilin groups, as well as their presumed evolutionary link to other cupin containing proteins; however these have each come short of any comprehensive resolved evolutionary history of the globulin family. This study focuses first on resolving the relationships among the cupin super-family in relation to the storage globulins, as well as the GLP's, which have been postulated to be the single domain ancestors of the bicupin storage globulins. Nucleotide coding sequences for both N-terminus and C-terminus cupin domains of the storage globulins, including conserved non-cupin domain helical repeats and inter-domain spacers were aligned to a comparably sized set of single cupin coding sequences (CDS). The phylogenetic relationships among the two globulin domains as well as the single cupin genes were elucidated using Bayesian inference of tree likelihoods. Further phylogenetic analysis was performed on the complete CDS's for all storage globulin sequences in the study, using an appropriate out-group of similar overall domain architecture determined by the overall topology of the cupin super-family. This globulin muti-gene tree was used, along with an alignment corresponding to structurally resolved portions of the mature globulin peptides, to perform an analysis of patterns of selection among the various lineages of cupin-containing globulins. The results of these analyses provide evidence for a common origin of all cupin containing genes. The GLP and storage globulin domains do not appear to be immediate ancestors of one another, but are grouped with the fungal spherulins as well, suggesting that the single cupin genes which gave rise to these groups had already diverged prior to the rise of land plants. The storage globulin gene tree provides evidence supporting the notion that true legumins and vicilins were recruited as seed storage proteins independent of one another, after their divergence. This is evidenced by the fact that they comprise two separate groups each with basal non-storage 11S/7S-like proteins. Additional insight into the differentiating selection pressures provides a clearer picture of how similar suites of physicochemical properties came under selection after the recruitment of the 11S and 7S families as seed specific proteins. Regions under strong destabilizing selection correspond to regions known to be of importance in the overall structure of storage globulins. Strong destabilizing selection at the pore of the globulin subunit suggests that this region may have undergone more functional diversification than previously thought to have occurred among the legumins and vicilins.
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Parham, Karen Elizabeth. "The ideas of perfection in the works of Jan van Ruusbroec : a Darwinian approach." Thesis, University of Hull, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.418791.
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Kim, Songpyo. "INVENTIVE THOUGHT IN ENDOGENOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARISON OF DARWINIAN AND LAMARCKIAN APPROACHES." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1322653354.
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von, Sydow Momme. "Sociobiology, universal Darwinism and their transcendence : an investigation of the history, philosophy and critique of Darwinian paradigms, especially gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism, and their types of reductionism - towards a theory of the evolution of evolutionary processes, evolutionary freedom and ecological idealism." Thesis, Durham University, 2001. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3769/.
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Based on a review of different Darwinian paradigms, particularly sociobiology, this work, both, historically and philosophically, develops a metaphysic of gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism, and then criticises and transcends these Darwinian paradigms in order to achieve a truly evolutionary theory of evolution. Part I introduces essential aspects of current sociobiology as the original challenge to this investigation. The claim of some sociobiologists that ethics should become biologized in a gene-egoistic way, is shown to be tied to certain biological views, which ethically lead to problematic results. In part II a historical investigation into sociobiology and Darwinism in general provides us, as historical epistemology', with a deeper understanding of the structure and background of these approaches. Gene-Darwinism, which presently dominates sociobiology and is linked to Dawkins' selfish gene view of evolution, is compared to Darwin's Darwinism and the evolutionary' synthesis and becomes defined more strictly. An account of the external history of Darwinism and its subparadigms shows how cultural intellectual presuppositions, like Malthusianism or the Newtonian concept of the unchangeable laws of nature, also influenced biological theory' construction. In part III universal 'process-Darwinism' is elaborated based on the historical interaction of Darwinism with non-biological subject areas. Building blocks for this are found in psychology, the theory of science and economics. Additionally, a metaphysical argument for the universality of process- Darwinism, linked to Hume's and Popper's problem of induction, is proposed. In part IV gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism are criticised. Gene-Darwinism—despite its merits—is challenged as being one-sided in advocating 'gene-atomism', 'germ-line reductionism' and 'process-monism'. My alternative proposals develop and try to unify different criticisms often found. In respect of gene-atomism I advocate a many-level approach, opposing the necessary radical selfishness of single genes. I develop the concept of higher-level genes, propose a concept of systemic selection, which may stabilise group properties, without relying on permanent group selection and extend the applicability of a certain group selectionist model generally to small open groups. Proposals of mine linked to the critique of germ-line reductionism are: 'exformation', phenotypes as evolutionary factors and a field theoretic understanding of causa formalis (resembling Aristotelian hylemorphism). Finally the process-monism of gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism and, if defined strictly, Darwinism in general is criticised. 1 argue that our ontology and ethics would be improved by replacing the Newtoman-Paleyian deist metaphor of an eternal and unchangeable law of nature, which lies at tire very heart of Darwinism, by a truly evolutionary understanding of evolution where new processes may gain a certain autonomy. All this results in a view that I call 'ecological idealism', which, although still very much based on Darwinism, clearly transcends a Darwinian world view.
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Lamont, Dougald. "Origin of the spaces, a Darwinian poetics of identity transformation and the long prairie poem." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ53171.pdf.
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Savva, Louie. "Is some of the evidence for ostensible precognition indicative of Darwinian adaptation to retrocausal influences?" Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2014. http://research.gold.ac.uk/10721/.
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Parapsychologists continue to report experimental results that imply information from the future can be utilised in the present in a way that defies conventional understanding. Although treating such results as though they are the outcome of a sensory process is common, much less so is consideration as to what psi might be for. This thesis attempts to examine some of the evidence for precognition from the perspective that it might be indicative of Darwinian adaptation to retrocausal influences. The aims of the research were two-fold. The main objective was to replicate and extend previously published, statistically significant parapsychological research, concentrating on precognition for a variety of reasons. The secondary objective was to develop and test a synthesis of evolutionary theory with a needs-based theoretical conception of precognition (namely that precognition is a form of death-avoidance). Primarily this was achieved by testing the effectiveness of using fear-based stimuli (and comparing the appropriate fear groups), though in the final experiment this involved direct testing of an insect species (where the consequence of failure was death) along with a selective breeding element. Ten empirical investigations are presented which together provide scant evidence for any kind of precognitive functioning. Moreover such results as were obtained highlight both the difficulty in conducting parapsychological research (ensuring results are not normal influences misconstrued as paranormal), and the responsibility of researchers to not make strong claims on the basis of weak or uncertain evidential findings. Given the lack of paranormal findings it was difficult to evaluate the evolutionary perspective (and it is left for future researchers to determine whether such a pathway is a complete dead end). Much remains mysterious and yet the continued rejection of the reality of precognition by the conventional scientific community seems reasonable given the evidence.
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Riede, Felix. "Reclaiming the northern wastes : an integrated Darwinian reconsideration of the earliest postglacial recolonization of Southern Scandinavia." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.612820.
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Lowe, Mark. "Between Hull and a Hard Core: Varying Patterns in the Evolution of the Darwinian Research Tradition." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32917.
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Focusing on Darwinism, David Hull argues that the protean character of conceptual systems is explained by their nature as historical entities which evolve. If they evolve as biological species do, Hull argues, then they cannot have an â essenceâ â a set of tenets that all and only instances of the conceptual system has throughout all time. There are no tenets a scientific research program must retain to count as an instance of a particular program. I advance two considerations against this view. First, research programs require a critical cohesiveness among their tenets to inspire and guide research. Second, it is the function of such programs to guide the search for answers to families of questions in a particular domain in a particular spirit. These factors dictate that conceptual systems must retain certain key tenets. This re-emergence of a sort of essentialism does not bar the evolution of conceptual systems, provided we recognize that there are patterns of evolution other than the one Hull considers (anagenesis). It also implies that conceptual systems simply evolve differently than species do. I defend this position by illustrating two episodes of conceptual evolution: the dispute between William Bateson and the British biometricians over discontinuous evolution, and the formation of Neo-Lamarckism in 19th century America.<br>Master of Arts
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Walker, Erin. "Place Matters: An Evolutionary Approach to Annie Proulx's "The Half-Skinned Steer"and "Wamsutter Wolf"." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2010. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1248.
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In Annie Proulx's interview with Charlie Rose, she states that her stories come "from place." Ecocriticism has been the predominant lens with which to understand Proulx's work; however, ecocriticism's nebulous tenets and theoretical deficiencies perpetuate sentimental pastoralism of geographical determinism. The shaping impact of Wyoming's environment in Proulx's work lends itself to an evolutionary perspective. Proulx's fiction, like evolutionary theory, examines humanity's unique, reciprocal relationship with nature. The evolutionary approach provides readers with a framework to understand the human relationship to our environment, a theme Proulx's work examines. This approach also augments current criticism that notes the importance of place but does not utilize the relevant framework of evolution. Current evolutionary theory provides the theoretical framework necessary to shed light on the relationship between Proulx's colorful characters and the environment that shapes them. Utilizing this evolutionary framework and textual analysis, I examine two short stories, "The Half-Skinned Steer" and "Wamsutter Wolf."
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Dias, Vivian Catarina. "A sinfonia da natureza: Charles Darwin e as origens." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2015. http://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/2542.
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Previous issue date: 2015-05-04<br>Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico<br>Since childhood Charles Darwin showed an interest for the natural world. In his youth he developed that passion into an object of study travelling around the world onboard of The Beagle. The contact with unique species like the ones found in Galapagos Islands, the fossils discovered in South America, the experiences he lived and a extensive reseach during more than twenty years after his return to England made him think about a common link between the species, that lead him to publish The origin of species in 1859 and The expression of emotions in man and animals in 1872, along with other works and articles on the most diverse subjects, such as Diary of a naturalist around the world. In The origin of species he stated that the species are mutable and linked by the proccess of communion of ascendancy , fruits from the same tree of life. Forging the recreation of human history and its relocation in the natural world, the essays in The expression of emotions in man and animals widened the statement about the evolution of species pointing that humans share emotions and feelings with other species of animals. The implosion of the concept of human initiated with the darwinian facts opened new horizons for sciences such as anthropology to rethink the trajectory of the living beings and the borderlines between culture and animality. Notwithstanding, go beyond frontiers and enrich the critic, scientific, ethic and poetic repertoire is a really dificult task. Despite the relevance of the Darwinian Works, the contact with them is through indirect ways: cartoons, films and fiction, whose contents rarely approach the issue in all its depth<br>Desde a infância, Charles Darwin demonstrou interesse pelo mundo natural. Na juventude, transformou essa paixão em objeto de estudo viajando ao redor do mundo no navio Beagle. O contato com espécies únicas como as encontradas nas Ilhas Galápagos; os fósseis achados na América do Sul; as experiências adquiridas, e uma extensa pesquisa realizada por mais de vinte anos após o retorno à Inglaterra, levaram-no a pensar na filiação comum das espécies, desdobrando no lançamento de A origem das espécies (1859) e A expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais (1872), além de outras obras e artigos sobre os mais variados assuntos, como o Diário de um naturalista à volta do mundo. Em A origem das espécies, enunciou que as espécies são mutáveis e vinculadas pelo processo da comunhão de descendência , frutos da mesma árvore da vida. Forjando a recriação da história humana e sua realocação no mundo natural, os estudos de A expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais ampliaram o enunciado sobre a evolução das espécies, indicando que humanos compartilham emoções e sentimentos com outras espécies animais. A implosão do conceito de humano iniciada com os fatos darwinianos abriu outros horizontes para as ciências, incluindo a antropologia, repensarem a trajetória dos seres vivos e as fronteiras entre cultura e animalidade. Contudo, transpor limiares e enriquecer o repertório crítico, científico, ético, poético, mostra-se tarefa deveras espinhosa. Apesar da relevância das obras darwinianas, o contato com elas dá-se por vias indiretas: charges, filmes, ficção, cujos conteúdos, raramente, as abordam em todo seu alcance
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O'Donnell, Molly K. "Application of Darwinian evolutionary theory into the exhibit paradigm : implementing a materialist perspective in museum exhibits about Native Americans /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3074434.
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Chou, Hsiu-Feng. "Darwinism's applications in modern Chinese writings." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16038.
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The core aim of this interdisciplinary research is to provide a critical analysis of the influence of Darwinism and Social Darwinism on a sample of modern Chinese writings. To achieve these aims, the researcher uses a range of both Chinese and English sources to explore their close affinities with Darwinism and Social Darwinism. Following this course, the research examines how Darwinian thought was introduced to the Chinese reading public in the late nineteenth century through a translation of Thomas Henry Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics by Yen Fu, and the subsequent impact of this work and Darwinian thought in general on seven literary and political figures: K'ang Yu-wei, Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, Hu Shih, Chen Duxiu, Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong. From an historical perspective, the Opium Wars and imperial invasions of China in the nineteenth century severely weakened the country’s political, economic, diplomatic, military, educational and cultural power. For these reasons and others, from 1840 to 1949, China experienced a tumultuous period of social and political transformation, which has eventually led to her revival in the twenty-first century. It will be seen that each of the literary figures examined here used evolutionary thought to justify revolution at various points on China’s long march to modernity. Progressive Darwinian ideas sharply contrasted with the old Confucian values upheld within Chinese communities. Nevertheless, the faults and weaknesses of Qing China awakened many pioneering revolutionaries who sought to reverse the status quo by initiating a series of radical reforms and revolutionary movements. Many within the Chinese intellectual elite looked to the tide of change and progress coming from the West, which they hoped might replace the recent historical stagnation and Confucian dogma embedded in Chinese culture and society. In this vein, many of these pioneering revolutionaries set about driving the historical transformation of China by selecting, translating and interpreting Darwinian ideas in their own writings. From Yen Fu in the nineteenth century to Mao Zedong in the twentieth century, evolutionary thought went hand in hand with China’s modernization.
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Rael, Rosalyn Cherie. "Comparing theory and data on multi-species interactions using evolutionary game theory." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194398.
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Mathematical models with fixed parameters have a long history of use in describing the dynamics of populations in ecological interactions. However, in many instances, evolutionary changes in species characteristics can have a significant influence on these dynamics. Using evolutionary game theory, we incorporate evolution into population dynamic models and apply the resulting “Darwinian dynamic” models to study the effects that evolutionary changes can have on populations in several ecological scenarios. We start with a single species (Chapter 2), then add a competitor (Chapter 3), and a predator (Chapter 4). In Chapter 2, a rigorous mathematical analysis of the Darwinian logistic model for a single species shows that stable equilibria occur at strategies that maximize population size rather than growth rate. We apply this model to the data obtained from an experimental study on genetically perturbed populations of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. In Chapter 3, we apply a Darwinian dynamic modification of the Lotka-Volterra model to investigate circumstances under which evolution will change expected competitive outcomes. We compare the results of our Darwinian Lotka-Volterra model to studies in which unusual observations were made in studies of the flour beetles T. castaneum and T. confusum, including a reversal in the “winner” of competitive exclusion, and evolution from exclusion to coexistence. Chapters 2 and 3 provide one of the few examples in which evolutionary game theory has been successfully applied to empirical data. From a foundation provided by the Darwinian logistic equation, we build Darwinian dynamic models with two and three trophic levels to study effects of evolution on some basic ecological interactions in Chapter 4. We show how a consumer can cause a resource (producer) species to evolve to a mean strategy that increases its growth rate rather than its population size. We also briefly study how predation on the consumer species can affect equilibrium strategies of species lower in the food chain. Our results show how evolutionary game theoretic methods can be useful for studying both theoretical and applied problems that arise due to evolutionary processes, even when they occur on a ecological time scale. They provide a foundation for the future study of evolutionary effects in larger complex networks of interacting species.
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Haywood, Mark. "Venus in chairs : a neo-Darwinian analysis of classical beauty in art and its subsequent passage from art to design." Thesis, Royal College of Art, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.326050.
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Moon, Sangwha. "Dickens in the Context of Victorian Culture: an Interpretation of Three of Dickens's Novels from the Viewpoint of Darwinian Nature." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1996. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279322/.
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The worlds of Dickens's novels and of Darwin's science reveal striking similarity in spite of their involvement in different areas. The similarity comes from the fact that they shared the ethos of Victorian society: laissez-faire capitalism. In The Origin of Species, which was published on 1859, Charles Darwin theorizes that nature has evolved through the rules of natural selection, survival of the fittest, and the struggle for existence. Although his conclusion comes from the scientific evidence that was acquired from his five-year voyage, it is clear that Dawinian nature is reflected in cruel Victorian capitalism. Three novels of Charles Dickens which were published around 1859, Bleak House, Hard Times, and Our Mutual Friend, share Darwinian aspects in their fictional worlds. In Bleak House, the central image, the Court of Chancery as the background of the novel, resembles Darwinian nature which is anti-Platonic in essence. The characters in Hard Times are divided into two groups: the winners and the losers in the arena of survival. The winners survive in Coketown, and the losers disappear from the city. The rules controlling the fates of Coketown people are the same as the rules of Darwinian nature. Our Mutual Friend can be interpreted as a matter of money. In the novel, everything is connected with money, and the relationship among people is predation to get money. Money is the central metaphor of the novel and around the money, the characters kill and are killed like the nature of Darwin in which animals kill each other. When a dominant ideology of a particular period permeates ingredients of the society, nobody can escape the controlling power of the ideology. Darwin and Dickens, although they worked in different areas, give evidence that their works are products of the ethos of Victorian England.
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Russell, Mark C. "Heredity and the Human Condition: A Study of 20th Century Genetic Accounts of Alcoholism." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/11092.
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This dissertation takes as its starting point some curious historical parallels in research on the heritability of alcoholism from opposite ends of the 20th century, and the underlying continuity in assumptions implicated by these parallels. Rather than review mainstream historical narratives on the origins of genetic research and alcoholism studies, I examine evidence and developments as yet unexplored by scholars. First I examine the origins of recent research models and diagnostic criteria that provide evidence for the hereditary nature of alcoholism. Then I consider the assumption of genetic determinism and its relationship to strategies of propaganda employed by the Eugenics movement early in the century. Using these historical "snapshots" I draw out conceptual and philosophical problems with the genetic explanation of alcoholism that continue to confront researchers today. These limitations suggest two possible avenues of resolution: either we develop finer-grained strategies for distinguishing social deviance from physical disorders, or we develop an integrated understanding of the complex interplay of human biological and cultural systems by extending the approach known as Developmental Systems Theory. In the conclusion, I explore these options and their potential ramifications for our understanding of alcoholism in hereditary and human contexts.<br>Ph. D.
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Rautio, E. P. (Elmo-Petteri). "Darwinin Jumala:Charles Darwinin uskonnolliset näkemykset." Bachelor's thesis, University of Oulu, 2016. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201611123029.
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Yksikään luonnontieteilijä saati biologi on tuskin vaikuttanut aatehistoriaan samalla tavalla kuin Charles Darwin. Darwinin teoria lajien synnystä luonnon valinnan seurauksena sitoi ihmisen kiinteäksi osaksi luonnollista maailmaa ja poisti mystiikan ihmisen alkuperän ympäriltä, johon vastauksen oli aiemmin tuonut vain uskonto. Mutta mitä Darwin, anglikaaniseen kirkkoon kastettu entinen teologian opiskelija, itse ajatteli uskonnosta? Uskoiko Darwin Jumalaan ja mikä hänen suhteensa oli kristinuskoon? Miten evoluutioteoria muutti hänen omia uskonnollisia näkemyksiään?
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Zacharias, Sebastian [Verfasser], Jürgen [Akademischer Betreuer] Renn, and Stefan [Akademischer Betreuer] Richter. "The Darwinian revolution as a knowledge reorganization : a historical-epistemological analysis and a reception analysis based on a novel model of scientific theories / Sebastian Zacharias. Gutachter: Jürgen Renn ; Stefan Richter." Berlin : Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1068273054/34.
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Meslin, Camille. "Analyse de l'évolution de gènes impliqués dans la reproduction." Thesis, Tours, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011TOUR4030.
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Les gènes impliquées dans la reproduction évoluent rapidement et sont très souvent soumis à sélection positive. L’objectif de ma thèse a été d’étudier l’évolution de certains de ces gènes, potentiellement impliqués dans le phénomène de spéciation via leur implication dans les barrières prézygotiques.Nos résultats montrent que pour le gène SAL1, impliqué dans la reconnaissance phéromonale chez le porc, trois acides aminés sous sélection positive participent à la liaison de la phéromone spécifique porcine. Nous avons également réalisé l’analyse évolutive des gènes prouvés expérimentalement comme ayant un rôle dans l’interaction spermatozoïde-ovocyte lors de la fécondation. Chacune des dix neuf espèces de vertébrés étudiées présente un profil évolutif particulier pour ces gènes, caractérisé par le gain et la perte de gènes, ainsi que la position des acides aminés sous sélection positive. L’évolution divergente de l’ensemble de ces gènes pourrait être impliquée dans la spéciation ou au moins dans le renforcement des barrières d’espèces.Enfin, le serveur web PhyleasProg a été conçu au cours de la thèse. Cet outil permet désormais aux scientifiques, peu aguerris aux méthodes d’analyses phylogénétiques, d’acquérir simplement et rapidement un grand nombre de résultats sur l’histoire évolutive de leurs gènes d’intérêts<br>Genes involved in reproduction evolve rapidly and are often under positive selection. The objective of this work was to study the evolution of some of these genes, potentially involved in speciation, through their involvement in prezygotic barriers.Our results show that for the SAL1 gene, involved in pheromonal recognition in pig, three amino acids under positive selection participate in the specific binding of the pig pheromone. We also perform an evolutionary analysis of genes experimentally shown to be involved in the sperm-oocyte interaction during fertilization. Each of the nineteen species studied exhibit a particular pattern of evolution, characterized by gene gains and losses, as well as the position of amino acids under positive selection. The divergent evolution of all these genes could be involved in speciation or at least in the reinforcement of species barriers.Finally, the PhyleasProg web server was designed during the thesis. This tool permits to scientists with no experience in phylogenetic analyses to acquire a large number of results quickly and easily on the evolutionary history of their genes of interest
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Ludl, Claus [Verfasser], Johannes [Akademischer Betreuer] Paulmann, Immacolata [Akademischer Betreuer] Amodeo, Dominic [Akademischer Betreuer] Sachsenmaier, and Julia [Akademischer Betreuer] Angster. "Drifting Ethologists. Nikolaas Tinbergen and Gustav Kramer. Two Intellectual Life-Histories in an Incipient Darwinian Epistemic Community (1930-1983). / Claus Ludl. Betreuer: Johannes Paulmann. Gutachter: Johannes Paulmann ; Immacolata Amodeo ; Dominic Sachsenmaier ; Julia Angster." Bremen : IRC-Library, Information Resource Center der Jacobs University Bremen, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1087325757/34.
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Moffat, Russel. "In the beginning God : an examination of the relevance of Genesis chapter 1 within the context of contemporary worship and in the light of neo-Darwinian thought and modern scientific and technological achievement." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1999. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=153106.
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This thesis attempts a positive evaluation of Genesis 1 as a "living cosmology" in our modern age of science and technology. The challenge science poses for traditional religion is identified as functional and philosophical, with the major focus being Neo-Darwinism. Issues raised which are problematic for any doctrine of creation include the explanatory power of Darwinian theory, questions concerning design and morality in relation to natural selection, and the relativisation of the importance and significance of <I>Homo Sapiens</I>. After an examination of the nature of creation faith in the Hebrew Bible and a review of the literary and theological issues in contemporary hermeneutics, Genesis 1 is placed in an exilic context and its original meaning and significance is assessed. In the light of this, and through the appropriation of "reader-criticism", it is argued that Genesis 1 can still be, justifiably, utilised today as a meaningful "literary-theological" response to the question of origins, with many of its features allowing for fruitful correspondence with the details of evolutionary history.
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Ludl, Claus Verfasser], Johannes [Akademischer Betreuer] Paulmann, Immacolata [Akademischer Betreuer] [Amodeo, Dominic [Akademischer Betreuer] Sachsenmaier, and Julia [Akademischer Betreuer] Angster. "Drifting Ethologists. Nikolaas Tinbergen and Gustav Kramer. Two Intellectual Life-Histories in an Incipient Darwinian Epistemic Community (1930-1983). / Claus Ludl. Betreuer: Johannes Paulmann. Gutachter: Johannes Paulmann ; Immacolata Amodeo ; Dominic Sachsenmaier ; Julia Angster." Bremen : IRC-Library, Information Resource Center der Jacobs University Bremen, 2015. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:579-opus-1005175.
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Doulcier, Guilhem. "Évolution des Propriétés Darwiniennes Collectives." Thesis, Paris Sciences et Lettres (ComUE), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019PSLET047.
Full textAbstract:
Le vivant présente une structure emboîtée où des entités élémentaires sont intégrées dans des collectifs de plus haut niveau (gènes dans chromosomes, organelles dans cellules, cellules dans organismes, organismes dans groupes eusociaux). Tous ces niveaux sont sujet à l'évolution par sélection naturelle. En effet, les entités constitutives de chaque niveau d'organisation sont Darwiniennes, c'est-à-dire qu'elles sont distinctes, qu'elles varient de l'une à l'autre, qu'elles se reproduisent et qu'elles donnent naissance à une progéniture qui ressemble à ses parents. L'émergence d'un nouveau niveau d'organisation est unphénomène relativement rare dans l'histoire du vivant. Elle nécessite l'évolution de novo de propriétés spécifiques à ce niveau d'organisation qui lui permettent de participer directement à un processus d'évolution par sélection naturelle. Dans ce manuscrit,j'explore à l'aide de modèles mathématiques l'idée que ces propriétés Darwiniennes peuvent être imposée de manière exogène parl’environnement (on parle d'échafaudage écologique). Je montre comment la sélection naturelle peut partir de ses propriétésexogènes et permettre l'évolution de traits endogènes qui constituent le fondement de la reproduction et de l'hérédité auniveau des collectifs<br>Life has a nested structure where lower level entities are embedded in higher level collectives (genes in chromosomes, organelles in cells, cells in organisms, organisms in eusocial groups). All levels are subject to evolution by natural selection. This arises from the fact that at each level the focal entities are Darwinian, that is, they are discrete and vary one to another, they replicate and give rise to offspring that resemble parental types. The emergence of a new level of organisation is a relatively rare event in the history of life, and requires the de novo evolution of level-specific properties that allow the new level of organisation to participate directly in the process of evolution by natural selection. In this manuscript I explore, using mathematical models, the idea that Darwinian properties can be exogenously imposed (scaffolded) by the environment. I show how natural selection can build upon those scaffolded properties to promote the emergence of endogenous traits underpinning collective-level reproduction and heredity
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Glisse, Jérôme. "Simulation d'un modèle darwinien de différenciation cellulaire." Paris 6, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009PA066051.
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Pereira, Marcelo Alves. "Dilema do prisioneiro contínuo com agentes racionais e classificadores de cooperação." Universidade de São Paulo, 2012. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/59/59135/tde-08012013-222525/.
Full textAbstract:
O dilema do prisioneiro (DP) é um dos principais jogos da teoria dos jogos. No dilema do prisioneiro discreto (DPD), dois prisioneiros têm as opções de cooperar ou desertar. Um jogador cooperador não delata seu comparsa, já um desertor delata. Se um cooperar e o outro desertar, o cooperador fica preso por cinco anos e o desertor fica livre. Se ambos cooperarem, ficam presos por um ano e, se ambos desertarem, ficam presos por três anos. Quando o DP é repetido, a cooperação pode emergir entre agentes egoístas. Realizamos um estudo analítico para o DPD, que produziu uma formulação da evolução do nível médio de cooperação e da tentação crítica (valor de tentação que causa mudança abrupta do nível de cooperação). No dilema do prisioneiro contínuo (DPC), cada jogador apresenta um nível de cooperação que define o grau de cooperação. Utilizamos o DPC para estudar o efeito da personalidade dos jogadores sobre a emergência da cooperação. Para isso, propusemos novas estratégias: uma baseada na personalidade dos jogadores e outras duas baseadas na comparação entre o ganho obtido e a aspiração do jogador. Todas as estratégias apresentavam algum mecanismo de cópia do estado do vizinho com maior ganho na vizinhança, mecanismo este, herdado da estratégia darwiniana. Os resultados mostraram que o DPC aumenta o nível médio de cooperação do sistema, quando comparado ao DPD. No entanto, as diferentes estratégias não aumentaram a cooperação comparado à cooperação obtida com a estratégia darwiniana. Então propusemos o uso do coeficiente de agrupamentos, coeficiente de Gini e entropias de Shannon, Tsallis e Kullback-Leibler para classificar os sistemas, em que os agentes jogam o DPD com a estratégia darwiniana, quanto ao nível de cooperação. Como analisamos valores de médias configuracionais, tais classificadores não foram eficientes ao classificar os sistemas. Isso é consequência da existência de distribuições de extremos nos resultados que compõem as médias. As distribuições de extremos suscitaram uma discussão acerca da definição do regime de cooperação no dilema do prisioneiro. Discutimos também as consequências de utilizar apenas valores médios nos resultados ignorando seus desvios e as distribuições.<br>Prisoner\'s dilemma (PD) is one of the main games of game theory. In discrete prisoner\'s dilemma (DPD), two prisoners have the options to cooperate or to defect. A cooperator player does not defect his accomplice, while a defector does. If one player cooperates and the other defects, the cooperator gets jailed for five years and the defector goes free. If both cooperate, they get jailed during one year and if both defect, they get jailed during three years. When this game is repeated, cooperation may emerge among selfish individuals. We perform an analytical study for the DPD, that produced a formulation for the evolution of the mean cooperation level and for the critical temptation values (temptation values that promote abrupt modifications in the cooperation level). In continuous prisoner\'s dilemma (CPD), each player has a level of cooperation that defines his/her degree of cooperation. We used the CPD to study the effect of the players\' personality on the emergence of cooperation. For this, we propose new strategies: one based on the players\' personality and two others based on the comparison between the player\'s obtained payoff and the desire one. All strategies present some mechanism that copies the state of the neighbor with the highest payoff in the neighborhood, mechanism inherited from the Darwinian strategy. The results showed that the CPD increases the average cooperation level of the system when compared to DPD. However, different strategies do not increased the cooperation compared to cooperation obtained with the Darwinian strategy. So, we propose the use of cluster coefficient, Gini coefficient and entropy of Shannon, Tsallis and Kullback-Leibler as classifiers to classify systems, in which the individuals play DPD with Darwinian strategy, by the cooperation level. As configurational averages were analyzed, such classifiers were not efficient in classifying the systems. This is due to the existence of distributions with extreme values of the results that compose the means. Distributions with extremes values emerged a discussion about the definition of the cooperation state in the prisoner\'s dilemma. We also discussed the consequences of using only average results in the analysis ignoring their deviations and distributions.
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Schütze, Sven. "Biologische Evolutionstheorie." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2017. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-220911.
Full textAbstract:
Biologische Evolutionstheorie erklärt die sukzessive Veränderung von Arten durch Vererbung und wurde erstmalig von Charles Darwin umfassend formuliert. Die Rezeption durch die Genderforschung umfasst diskursanalytische Studien und die Methodenkritik feministischer Biowissenschaftler_innen. Konkrete Bezugspunkte stellen dabei die sexuelle Selektion, naturalisierende Thesen der Soziobiologie und der evolutionären Psychologie sowie die Rolle des Essentialismus in der Evolutionstheorie Darwins dar.