ZYGO

Zygon®

0591-2385 1467-9744

10.1111/j.1467-9744.1988.tb00859.x

DARWINISM: STILL A CHALLENGE TO PHILOSOPHY

Wuketits

Franz M.

02 12 1988

23 4

10.1111/zygo.1988.23.issue-4

455 467

Charles Darwin died in 1882—more than a hundred years ago. His doctrine, however, is still alive. Recently there has been particular interest in his ideas among philosophers. These ideas are indeed a challenge to (traditional) philosophy: To take Darwin seriously means to revise—or even to destroy—some positions in (traditional) philosophy. Among the philosophical disciplines which have been affected by Darwin's ideas are epistemology and moral philosophy (ethics). In the present paper I shall discuss the epistemological and ethical consequences of Darwin's doctrine from the point of view of contemporary philosophy of biology; I shall give a brief outline of evolutionary epistemology and evolutionary ethics which both have caused many controversies.

Darwinism evolutionary epistemology evolutionary ethics theory of evolution

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