Children of time: the extended synthesis and major metaphors of evolution

Abstract

It is time for an expansion and enrichment of evolutionary theory. The "back to the future" proposal contained herein is based on three postulates: 1) Neo-Darwinism is too impoverished for this task; 2) its predecessor, Darwinism, contained the necessary breadth of vision and metaphor to be the basis for an inclusive and unifying theory of biology; and 3) the necessary framework for this new stage in the evolution of evolutionary theory is largely in place. We make our case through the use of a number of metaphorical dualisms designed to help focus discussions toward a more cooperative and productive approach to the study of living systems. Along the way, we suggest a number of self-induced paradoxes in neo-Darwinian accounts of evolution that are resolved by our perspective.

Keywords

• Darwinism
• nature of the organism
• nature of the conditions
• extended synthesis
• metaphors
• time, sequency
• simultaneity
• thermodynamics
• metabolism
• space
• information
• function
• history
• complexity
• cohesion
• compensatory changes
• evolutionary transitions
• cooperation
• division of labor
• ecological hierarchy
• genealogical hierarchy
• self-organization