Pre-Darwinian vs. Darwinian

developmental

emphasizes the combined and interacting roles of genes, environment, and epigenetic factors in creating variation

selectionist

focuses on natural selection as the primary driver where beneficial traits are preserved through a process of “survival of the fittest”

essentialism

categories are fixed and unchanging, assuming that variations within a group are imperfect representations of an ideal type

population-thinking

focuses on the individual variation within a population, viewing the population itself as the fundamental unit of study and recognizing that variation is crucial and not an illusion

vitalism

the belief that life is caused by a special, non-physical “vital force”

mechanism

proposes that life is fully explainable by physical and chemical processes, like a machine

teleological

explains things by their purpose or end goal

non-teleological

explains things through causes and mechanisms

deterministic

means that a system or algorithm will always produce the same output for a given input, making its behavior entirely predictable

non-deterministic

systems can produce different outputs for the same input because they involve randomness or choices that are not fully determined by the input

unilineal

refers to a single, specific path of evolution

multilineal

suggests multiple diverse paths of evolution

dualist

argues that reality consists of two distinct and independent substances, such as mind and matter

monist

holds that reality is composed of a single fundamental substance or principle