Re: [Marxism] Darwin and gradualism

[David McDonald <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ian,

Nice post.

I believe you have committed a bit of  an anachronism by stating that 
Darwin thought of species as "populations." I think that Ernst Mayr was 
the guy who invented the concept of "population" to indicate a 
non-essentialist concept of species. I may be wrong about this, but I 
believe that the Frenchman Lamark, neither a Victorian nor an 
Englishman, was the originator of the idea of gradual, incremental change.

I have noticed that almost no one remarks upon what Darwin actually 
wrote, which is that the lowest unit of existence beyond the individual 
is the variety. Species, according to Darwin, are the best-established 
varieties. Darwin thought varieties were naturally existing entities, 
and species constructs. This idea is found throughout The Origin.

Have you worked your way through The Structure of Evolutionary Theory? 
Sorry I won't be able to attend the ISO Conference, I would enjoy 
talking these issues over with you.

David McDonald

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