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El “darwinismo puro” de Alfred Russel Wallace: aportaciones a la teoría evolutiva moderna

Authors:

Abstract

RESUMEN: La historia suele ser insistente en recordar el caso de Alfred Russel Wallace como quien, de manera secundaria, apoyó la propuesta de Darwin. Para efectos de este trabajo se presenta lo que Wallace denominó en su obra Darwinism (1889) los ele-mentos básicos del darwinismo puro, que servirían de base para lo que George John Romanes llamaría neodarwinismo, a partir tanto del trabajo de Wallace como del de August Weismann. Esos elementos abarcan ideas que comúnmente se asocian de ma-nera exclusiva con el trabajo de Charles Darwin, como el concepto biológico de especie, los diferentes tipos de variación y su origen, la importancia de la selección natural como el mecanismo preponderante para entender la evolución, el rechazo a los mecanismos lamarckianos, entre otros puntos. A partir de lo anterior, los objetivos de este trabajo son dos: por un lado, rescatar esos conceptos básicos del darwinismo puro de Wallace; y por el otro, establecer algunas posibles explicaciones sobre por qué persiste la idea de que el trabajo de Wallace no parece haber sido de importancia para el desarrollo de la Síntesis Moderna.
Asclepio. Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia
72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324
ISSN-L: 0210-4466
hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25
ESTUDIOS / STUDIES
EL “DARWINISMO PURO” DE ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: APORTACIONES A LA
TEORÍA EVOLUTIVA MODERNA
Juan Manuel Rodríguez Caso
  
Email: 
 
   
Cómo citar este arculo/Citaon:       
  Asclepio 
RESUMEN:    
    Darwinism 
 darwinismo puro        neodarwinismo  
       
                   
                 
       
                
       
PALABRAS CLAVE:    

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ABSTRACT:   
       Darwinism    
Neodarwinism

        
              
          
  
 
KEY WORDS:    



2Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
 


       
 

        

  
       



    
         
 


   

 
 


 
         

el paper       
        
       
     
       
 

    
  


   


        

        

Darwin
Deleted
 
     
       
      
       
        
         
  
 
      
       
  

      
        
  

 

        
      
       

 

   
      


        
      
    

 
         

        

 
   

         
 
 darwinismo     
      

 
  
    
       
     
        
    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 3

        
  
      
     
        

 

   
        
   

       
   

         
 
        
  
       

       
         
           
  
 
 
 darwinismo puro
Darwinism   
     



      
  
 
2. ¿EXISTE SOLAMENTE UN DARWINISMO?
  
      
    

         



         
      
        
       
     
     

         
    
       
        
 The Athenaeum     On the
Genesis of Species    
  
  
    

    

The history of creaon, or,
The development of the earth and its inhabitants by
the acon of natural causes: doctrine of evoluon in
general, and of that of Darwin, Goethe, and Lamarck
in parcular 


       
      

         
  1
       
         

       
   

         

       

         
On the Origins

     
      
    

 



4Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25
       
   
    
 
       
      

   


       
         
       
        
   


 
         
    

        

      

 
 
  

        
      

         


        
        
     
         

       El
origen de las especies El origen del hombre

    
  

The Des-
cent of Man
  




  Nature       

      
Nature   
     
 Darwinism tested by the Science
of Language     


      



   Unsere Zeit    
     

      
Essays on Freethinking and
Plainspeaking 
      
   Darwinism in Morals, and Other
Essays
Le Darwinisme et L’Origine
de L’Homme     
      
      

     Zeitschri für
wissenschaliche ZoologieRevista de Zoología Cien-
ca      



       

          
         
         

  
          

         
  
       
   
 
    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 5
       
 originalmente    
realmente
  
debería haber
 habría 
       

  no 
     




  
 
 
       
  
 
         

 

     
   

 

  
         
        
  
        
       
        


  
        
     
   
        
       

     

        
         
     
Darwinism

 

   
  
       
       

        
      
   

  




        

  
    
        Darwi-
nism       
      
        
      
  
       
         
   

 
      
       


Charles Darwin: A Memorial Poem

      
  The Science and Philosophy of the
Organism: The Giord Lectures delivered before the
University of Aberdeen in the Year 1907 and 1908

      

       



         

6Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25

        
  
   
        

     
        
        

 

     
  
       
       



  


 
      

        




  

  



   
 


       
        
        

        
  

  

 
  
          

    
       
      
 

 



      
         



 
      
     
       

 

  
 

 Science     
  


        nuevo
darwinismo       
       
  

  
wallaceísmo
       
     
     Contemporary Review de
  
      
          


      
  
          

 
    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 7
 
   
    Contemporary Review 
  
        
       

      
        
       
    
 
         


           


        

      


su 
3.EL “DARWINISMO PURO”: PROPUESTAS
GENERALES DE UN DEFENSOR DEL
DARWINISMO
   
      
Darwinism   

   


 
 
         
 

 
        

        
 


   
         
 

     
        

  

        
  

       
         
       

        

    
    Vesges of the Natural
History of the Creaon
      
      
 
  




         
       
        


    
       

   
   
       
        
    Natural Selecon 


        
       





8Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25


  


        
      
 
    
          
 
       


  
      
   
   

      
  


    
      

   

   
         



   
    

Boston Evening Transcript:
   
  

   
 
 

  


        
      

 Darwinism  
       
        
       

       
        
Darwi-
nism      

 

        
       


        
On the Origin
of Species      

         

 
        

 
 
        
       
    
         
 




   
        

   
 
     
   
       

 
        
      
    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 9

 
  






 
       
      




 
        

  


       

     
 
 


  
        
   
        


  

         
  

   

       
 

      


  Darwinism      

      

adaptacionismo
 
       

Origins


  
      
  


    
  

  
        


  

       
 
    

        


       
   
      




        
      

  

 
   
       

   


  

10 Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25
      

        

  



       
     
  
      
      

  

  

  



       
      
  
  

        


  
  

    
  

    
      

 




      
   
 



        
  
      

       
       
   


      
    



       

      
   
   
      
       

         
      


         
      
   

        




 
 
     


       
         su

   
      
          
        
       


    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 11
      
        

 
   

4.WALLACE Y SU “NO INFLUENCIAEN LAS
DISCUSIONES MODERNAS
      Darwi-
nism
          

 El origen de las especies
   
          
   

 Darwinism       
        
  
 



  
       
  
   

      
      
        
      
        
  
   
     

  
      

 



 

 Darwinism 
    

       

 

   
   

       
 


        

 



      

       
       

        
 
      

AGRADECIMIENTOS
    
   
     
      


12 Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
   

  
 
  
Journal of the History of Biology
    

 More than Nature Needs

    Darwin Deleted: Imagining a World
Without Darwin  

Essays on Life, Art and Science
  
       
          
      
       Ludus Vitalis

Wallace, Darwin, and the Origin of Spe-
cies
On the origin of species by means of
natural selecon, or the preservaon of favoured races in
the struggle for life
      Selección na-
tural: tres fragmentos para la historia   


      Darwin 

  Darwin in Ilkley 

   Darwin and the General Reader: The
Recepon of Darwin’s Theory of Evoluon in the Brish Pe-
riodical Press, 1859-1872    

       
    Endeavour  
   

An Elusive Victorian: The Evoluon of
Alfred Russel Wallace

      
  Synthese  
   

 Charles Hodge: Guardian of American
Orthodoxy 
NOTAS
  
Oxford English Diconary 

    
   The Times        

        
       
 

   
         
   
       


 Nineteenth Cen-
tury   
 
        
         
          

   
         
        
 
 Boston Evening Transcript  
       
 Darwinism  
como The Geographical Distribuon of Animals; With A
Study of the Relaons of Living and Exnct Faunas as Elu-
cidang the Past Changes of the Earth’s Surface  
Island Life: Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Fau-
nas and Floras, Including a Revision and Aempted Soluon
of the Problem of Geological Climates
 connuidad
         
       
  

         
       

         
     
        
         
 
    
Asclepio. 72(2), julio-diciembre 2020, p324. ISSN-L: 0210-4466, hps://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2020.25 13
Journal of the
Royal Horcultural Society
Darwin and the Darwinian
Revoluon
 What Is Darwinism? 
 

  The Brish Journal for the History of
Science      

          
      
   Alfred Russel Wallace, a
cien años de su muerte 
       
   
Theory in Biosciences
    

  ver-
susContemporary Review
Science


 The Brish Journal for the History of
Scienc      


      
 Theory in Biosciences
     


       
Gayana (Concepción)  
   

   One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and
the Genesis of Modern Evoluonary Thought 
 
   What makes biology unique?: considera-
ons on the autonomy of a scienc discipline
 
Wallace and Natural Selecon
 

Journal of the History of Biology
     

    William Robert Grove: Victorian
Gentleman of Science    

    In Praise of Darwin: George Romanes
and the Evoluon of a Darwinian Believer
  
        
From Natural Philosophy to the Sciences: Wring the History
of Nineteenth-Century Science   
 

   Saberes. Revista de historia
de las ciencias y las humanidades  
     Nature
 
  
Science 


The New England Quarterly
 

 
        
 Alfred Russel Wallace,
a cien años de su muerte 
        
Journal
of the History of Biology

 
       
     Transacons of the
Linnean Society of London     

   Contribuons to the Theory of
Natural Selecon: A Series of Essays

Darwinism: An Exposion of the
Theory of Natural Selecon 
My Life: A Record of Events and
Opinions 
versus
Contemporary Review 
   Alfred Russel Wallace’s 1886-
1887 Travel Diary: The North American Lecture Tour
         

On the Organic Law of Change.
A Facsimile Edion and Annotated Transcripon of Alfred
Russel Wallace’s Species Notebook of 1855-1859 


        Origin of
Species          The
Cambridge Companion to Darwin
  
... Nombres como Charles Darwin e Isaac Newton fueron celebrados en su propia época y en la actualidad resultan familiares incluso para personas a quienes les resultaría difícil precisar cuáles fueron sus aportes a la ciencia. Otros como Gregor Mendel, Rosalind Franklin o Alfred Russel Wallace suelen ser considerados popularmente como personajes olvidados u obscuros, aunque el trabajo de historiadores e historiadoras de la ciencia ha permitido analizarlos y revalorarlos en la actualidad (véanse: Olby, 1979;Maddox, 2002, Caso, 2020. ...
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This article presents an overview of the use of “model organisms” in biology and how the history and philosophy of science have highlighted their relevance for research. In doing so, it seeks to offer a reflection on how histories focused on individual characters can be nourished by considering the organisms used in experimentation and how they influence the practices of biologists and the construction of knowledge in the life sciences.
Chapter
In biology, theories are constantly enriched and adapted by new examples and scientific advances. In this chapter, we focus on the debate about the rules in biology and their persistence over time as rules accepted by the scientific community. We exemplify this with Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which has been nourished by new disciplines and technologies during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and has undergone transformations, although it undoubtedly remains the dominant explanation of the evolution of biological systems. Biological rules are dynamic, although they tend to remain relatively stable over time, and their response to the appearance of exceptions can be variable, although the integration of new knowledge into the field is usually gradual until the accumulation of exceptions is so significant that the applicability of the rules is questioned (crisis sensu Kuhnian revolution of scientific knowledge). We illustrate this concept by analyzing the historical evolution of biological species concepts, and we draw attention to the extrapolation of rules originally proposed for certain organisms and applied indiscriminately to other groups without exhaustive testing (e.g., eco-geographic rules).
Chapter
Like Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace also acknowledged his debt to Malthus as an inspiration for the genesis of his own theory of species change. It was on Wallace’s suggestion that Darwin adopted Spencer’s phrase “survival of the fittest” as an equivalent to “natural selection”. And it was Wallace who introduced the term “Darwinism”. However, there were differences between Wallace’s and Darwin’s views of evolution, in particular regarding sexual selection and, above all, man’s place in nature. Wallace eventually became a spiritualist and endorsed projects for social reform. The first part of this chapter discusses his optimistic view of the economy of nature, which influenced his interpretation of the struggle for existence. The second part is devoted to the equally optimistic evolutionism of Herbert Spencer, whose early political writings impressed the young Wallace. Spencer’s view of evolution in general, and of its mechanisms in particular, was very different from that of Darwin. A firm believer in what he called “use-inheritance”, that is the inheritance of acquired characters, he considered natural selection a merely auxiliary factor. He conceived the ambitious project of “cosmical philosophy”, a synthesis embracing evolution at all levels: physical, biological and social. Spencer’s enormous popularity lasted until the beginning of the twentieth century and made him “the philosopher of evolution” and the object of much enthusiasm and criticism. For a long time many readers, including scientists and philosophers, conflated Darwin’s and Spencer’s views. This had important consequences for the complex phenomenon which is usually, albeit incorrectly, referred to as “social Darwinism”.
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reSumen La ciencia, que incluye tanto a las naturales como a las sociales, se reconoce como una prác-tica de gran importancia social. Desde sus inicios, quienes se han dedicado a su práctica han visto en la narración de su historia una parte vital de su existencia. Sin embargo, fue hasta el siglo xx cuando se estableció la historia de la ciencia como una disciplina profesional. Su en-señanza es un ejemplo de las tensiones generadas por la interdisciplina. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar algunas de las tensiones existentes alrededor de la enseñanza de la historia de la ciencia para biólogos, en particular, la difusión recurrente del mito sobre el conflicto entre ciencia y religión. Para alcanzar una enseñanza interdisciplinaria se propone la humil-dad epistémica como una actitud imprescindible, que permite crear puentes entre formas de conocimiento. Palabras clave: Historia de la ciencia; enseñanza de la biología; enseñanza de las ciencias; interdisciplinariedad. abStract Science, which includes both natural and social sciences, is recognized as a practice of great social importance. Since its earliest days, those who have devoted themselves to its practice have seen in the narration of its history a vital part of their existence. However, it was not until the twentieth century that the history of science was established as a professional discipline. Its teaching is an example of the tensions generated by interdisciplinary. In this paper, the aim is to present some of the tensions around the teaching of the history of science to biologists, particularly the recurrent dissemination of the myth about the conflict between science and religion. To achieve an interdis-Historia de la ciencia y su enseñanza: alcances (inter)disciplinares en la formación científica Juan Manuel Rodríguez Caso. DiDac 78 (2021): 32-40
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This work takes a stand on whether Wallace should be regarded as co-author of the theory of natural selection alongside Darwin as he is usually considered on behalf of his alleged essential contribution to the conception of the theory. It does so from a perspective unexplored thus far: we will argue for Darwin’s priority based on a rational reconstruction of the theory of natural selection (following a hierarchical perspective for scientific theories, we present its conceptual framework together with its fundamental and special laws) as it appears in the writings of both authors. We show that the theory does not appear in exactly the same manner in the writings of each of its alleged co-discoverers: tough we find the same fundamental elements in both works, even in Darwin’s early texts, we discern a more complex unifying and ramified structure than the one we find in Wallace’s Ternate manuscript. Even when we think the badge of the “Darwin–Wallace” theory is well deserved, the unifying force of Darwin’s version has proved to be one of the keys for the ulterior success of the so-called Darwinian revolution in Biology.
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Soon after his return from the Malay Archipelago, Alfred Russel Wallace published one of his most significant papers. The paper used butterflies of the family Papilionidae as a model system for testing evolutionary hypotheses, and included a revision of the Papilionidae of the region, as well as the description of some 20 new species. Wallace argued that the Papilionidae were the most advanced butterflies, against some of his colleagues such as Bates and Trimen who had claimed that the Nymphalidae were more advanced because of their possession of vestigial forelegs. In a very important section, Wallace laid out what is perhaps the clearest Darwinist definition of the differences between species, geographic subspecies, and local 'varieties.' He also discussed the relationship of these taxonomic categories to what is now termed 'reproductive isolation.' While accepting reproductive isolation as a cause of species, he rejected it as a definition. Instead, species were recognized as forms that overlap spatially and lack intermediates. However, this morphological distinctness argument breaks down for discrete polymorphisms, and Wallace clearly emphasised the conspecificity of non-mimetic males and female Batesian mimetic morphs in Papilio polytes, and also in P. memmon, on the grounds of reproductive continuity. Finally, Wallace detailed how natural selection explains various forms of parallel evolution, including Mimicry.
Chapter
The naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin (1809–82) ranks as one of the most influential scientific thinkers of all time. In the nineteenth century his ideas about the history and diversity of life - including the evolutionary origin of humankind - contributed to major changes in the sciences, philosophy, social thought and religious belief. The Cambridge Companion to Darwin has established itself as an indispensable resource for anyone teaching or researching Darwin's theories and their historical and philosophical interpretations. Its distinguished team of contributors examines Darwin's main scientific ideas and their development; Darwin's science in the context of its times; the influence of Darwinian thought in recent philosophical, social and religious debate; and the importance of Darwinian thought for the future of naturalist philosophy. For this second edition, coverage has been expanded to include two new chapters: on Darwin, Hume and human nature, and on Darwin's theories in the intellectual long run, from the pre-Socratics to the present.
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One is reminded of just how fickle a mistress Fame can be when considering how the renown of certain historical figures only grows with time, while the reputations of countless others fade in the light of posterity. The luster of Charles Hodge's fame has dimmed since his death in 1878. Whatever judgements exist, the truth remains that in the life of Charles Hodge one finds a stunning panoramic view of nineteenth-century Protestantism. His story touches many, if not all, of the most critical developments in American Christianity of his era, and it is impossible to deny that he exercised a profound influence in his day with lasting consequences after his death. American Presbyterianism, American Calvinism, and much of twentieth-century Protestant Fundamentalism are deeply indebted to Hodge's theological thinking. This book offers the first biography of Hodge to appear in one hundred and thirty years. Thus, this work stands as the only modern synthetic work of his entire life and thought, and it is built upon the conviction that few Americans can match the depth, breadth, and longevity of Hodge's theological influence. There are few figures better able to help one appreciate the immensely powerful and hugely complex nature of conservative American Protestantism in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries than the deeply pious, keenly intelligent, and yet largely forgotten Charles Hodge.