Scientia 2002-2003
an institute for the history of science and culture founded by Salomon Bochner
2002-2003 Scientia Program
Evolutionary Biology as Paradigm Science
In his 1859 book "The Origin of Species," Charles Darwin amassed vast evidence for the thesis of evolutionary change in the forms of life. Synthesizing virtually all the relevant biological knowledge of his time, he went on to offer natural selection as the most important mechanism for the adaptive improvement of species. Darwin thereby elevated Biology to a legitimate science, created the fields of ecology and ethology, made significant contributions to geology and psychology, and caused a rethinking of Victorian philosophy and religion.
The echoes of Darwin's great revolution continue to resonant in the 21st century. In this series of lectures, Scientia presents experts on evolution from the biological and social sciences as well as from the humanities. Our speakers will invite us to follow the threads of evolutionary biology into the scientific and cultural fabric of contemporary society. Our goal is to illuminate the ways in which the theory of evolution has affected our vision of ourselves and of our place in the world.
Scientia is an institute of Rice University faculty founded in 1981 by the mathematician and historian of science Salomon Bochner. Scientia provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries; its members and fellows come from a wide-range of academic disciplines.
Scientia sponsors an annual series of colloquia (past years' programs are listed at bottom of this page) devoted to the exploration of a broad topic from a variety of points of view. These colloquia are open to the general public. The topic of the 2002-2003 Scientia colloquia is Evolutionary Biology as Paradigm Science. Most colloquia consist of a speaker, a panel of discussants who respond to the speaker's remarks, and a period for questions from the audience. Unless otherwise noted, the colloquia will take place on the specified Tuesdays at 4:00 pm in the Kyle Morrow Room, Fondren Library (enter Library, make two lefts to the elevator, take elevator to third floor, Room is to left). A wine and cheese reception will follow each event.
The high point of the year is the distinguished Bochner Lecture, which is held instead in the evening.
Spring, 2003 Colloquium Schedule:
January 21, 2003: Prof. Michael Ruse, Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University
"Darwinism and Christianity: All in the Family"
Abstract: I argue that Darwinism is the child of Christianity, with all that that entails - it is indebted to its parent but at the same time shows strains and tensions. I shall trace the history of Darwinism showing its Christian roots, and then I shall consider the relationship after it appears on the scene (in Charles Darwin's Origin of Species). I shall argue that in major respects, the Darwinians (T H Huxley particularly) set Darwinism up as a rival secular religion to Christianity, and that this is a move that still affects science/religion relationships to this day.
February 18, 2003: Prof. Leda Cosmides, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
"Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange"
Abstract: Social exchange - cooperation for mutual benefit - is rare in the animal kingdom. Yet it is as characteristic of human beings as language and tool use. There are good reasons to think that we humans have cognitive machinery that is specialized for reasoning about social exchange - programs that make thinking about and engaging in social exchange as easy and automatic for humans as spinning a web is for a spider. I will present evidence - cognitive, cross-cultural, and neuropsychological - that our brains contain cognitive adaptations for reasoning about social exchange (including a subroutine designed for detecting cheaters). Because social exchange allows trade, this evolved competence provides a cognitive foundation for human economic activity and other forms of cooperation. The results presented challenge the view that the mind is a blank slate, and cast new light on debates about human rationality.
March 18, 2003: Prof. Devika Subramanian, Professor of Computer Science, Rice University
"Evolutionary Computation"
Abstract: How do we design computational systems that adapt to changes in their environment? Darwin's theory has inspired a brand new approach to the problem. In this talk, I will introduce the field of evolutionary computation. I will present some of the key ideas in this field and highlight the relationship between artificial and natural evolution. I will demonstrate the impact of evolutionary computation on fields ranging from science and engineering to art.
April 8, 2003: Prof. Susan McIntosh, Professor of Anthropology, Rice University
“From Savagery to Civilization: Darwin's Influence on Theories of Sociocultural Change and Human Progress”
Abstract: From the Enlightenment onward, the notion that the evolution of increasingly complex societies is a key feature of human history has been a major concept animating Western social, political, and economic thought. Conceptualized as a ladder-like progression of stages proceeding from technologically and organizationally simple to more complex, this framework of evolutionary progress was profoundly influenced by the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859. While previous accounts stressed environment as a key factor influencing the rate of progressive transformation in human societies, after 1859, narratives emerged that located the cause of differential development in the differing biological capacity, shaped by natural selection, of human groups to utilize culture and to progress. Interestingly, the ladder model of stadial evolution proved remarkably resistant to replacement by a Darwinian view of branching evolution. Living "savages" were viewed as Stone Age relics representing earlier stages of human history, rather than as societies with rich and meaningful pasts of their own. These views of sociocultural evolution continue to influence the way we think about sociocultural differences past and present.
Companion Rice Continuing Studies Course (click here for more information)
This spring, join Rice's School of Continuing Studies and follow the threads of evolutionary biology into the scientific and cultural fabric of contemporary society and explore the ways in which the theory of evolution has affected our vision of ourselves and our place in the world. The exciting course "Echoes of Darwin: Following the Evolution of Evolutionary Biology" will be held eight Wednesdays, February 19-April 9, 2003 from 7:15-8:45 p.m. on the Rice University campus. Register online today to reserve your spot. Discounts are available for Rice alumni.
Fall, 2002 Colloquium Schedule:
Tuesday, 8 October 2002, 4:00 p.m., Kyle Morrow Room, Fondren Library
David C. Queller, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University
Title: "Life in Darwin's World: Nasty, Brutish and Short?"
Abstract: Prior to Darwin, the apparent functional design of living beings could not be explained except by reference to a designer. Bird wings are for flight, and there must therefore have been some one who anticipated this use and devised the design. Darwin's theory of adaptation through natural selection provided an alternative explanation for this apparent design, but it makes some radically different predictions about its nature. First, living things will often show nasty design features because nastiness often aids individuals to survive and reproduce their genes. Second, designs will often be brutish and unintelligent because they were evolved by a mechanism completely devoid of foresight. Third, life will be short, both because of the nastiness of predators, parasites, and pathogens, and because selection has built bodies to reproduce rather than to living as long as possible. These predictions help explain why the theory is so unappealing for many non-scientists. However, the same predictions - because they are fulfilled - help explain why evolution has been accepted by biologists.
Tuesday, 22 October 2002, 4:00 p.m., Kyle Morrow Room, Fondren Library
Lisa Meffert, Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Terrence Doody, Professor, English
Werner H. Kelber, Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies, Religious Studies
and Director, Rice Center for the Study of Cultures
Moderator: Ronald L. Sass, Professor and Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: "Darwinism and its Cultural Legacies"
Abstract: Darwin stands as a watershed in the scientific and cultural history of the modern era. In what sense was Darwin’s evolutionary theory his own individual innovation and in what, an expression of broader currents in the times? While Darwin’s work figured as exemplary natural science, how did it model possibilities for genres and concerns across the spectrum of intellectual and cultural life? And, since Darwin launched a current of scientific thought that has by no means remained fixed in his terms, how must the very idea of Darwinian evolution be construed in light of the powerful elements of revision that continue to constitute and reconstitute it? Our three panelists will consider not only the Darwin of the nineteenth century but also the Darwinism that has continued to develop and to provoke controversy in areas of science and culture ever since his interventions.
Tuesday, 19 November 2002, 7:00 p.m., McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall
The Bochner Lecture: Prof. David Hull, Department of Philosophy, Northwestern University
Title: "Evolutionary Theory: An Old Paradigm and a New Metaphysics"
Abstract: Philosophers of science in Darwin's day interpreted evolutionary theory as not fitting the view of scientific laws and theories current at the time. Hence, evolutionary theory had to be modified to make it fit. More recently, philosophers and biologists have argued that evolutionary theory provides a new paradigm of science, an alternative to the view derived from the study of physical theories. I argue that evolutionary, once properly construed, actually fits the traditional notion of scientific theories. The problem was an error in metaphysics. Species are not natural kinds but natural individuals. Once this error is remedied, all is well.
Tuesday, 3 December 2002, 4:00 p.m., Kyle Morrow Room, Fondren Library
John H. Zammito, John Antony Weir Professor and Chair, Department of History
Title: "Eighteenth-century Epigenesis: Biology and Philosophy"
Abstract: At the turn from the 20th to the 21st century, it appears we are turning philosophically to biological -- and especially evolutionary biological -- models for conceptual orientation. I would like to consider some 18th-century controversies for a sense in which they anticipate our own and may offer some useful frames for reflection on the relation between biology and philosophy. In particular, I wish to trace the late eighteenth-century paradigm shift from preformation to epigenesis in embryology and examine the metaphysical and methodological issues that shift engendered. My aim is to demonstrate that this historical exercise has some presentist implications.
