First Year Seminar Fall, 2009 Prof. Williamson EVOLUTION AND INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. Readings

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1 First Year Seminar Fall, 2009 Prof. Williamson EVOLUTION AND INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION Readings The following books are available for purchase at the Amherst Bookshop. Multiple copies of these books are also available in the reserve room at Frost Library. Peter J. Bowler, Evolution: The History of an Idea, 4 th ed. (University of California Press, 2009) Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, ed. Joseph Carroll (Broadview Press, 2003) Stephen Jay Gould Wonderful Life (Norton, 1989) All other readings are available in electronic form on the course website. For those of you who come to love Darwin, going to is like going to heaven. To prove that it s not really heaven, the site is quite slow. Schedule of Classes PART I DARWIN AND HIS PREDECESSORS Th 9/10 Introductory Meeting Propositions that are true in virtue of their form alone (tautological or analytical judgments). These propositions, according to Carnap, say nothing of reality. Among these he counts the formulae of logic and mathematics. Tu 9/15 Darwin on Darwin Charles Darwin, Autobiography (1876) in On the Origin of Species, pp Peter J. Bowler, Evolution: The History of an Idea, chapter 1. Th 9/17 Design and Transformation Bowler, chapters 2 and 3. William Paley, selections from Natural Theology (1802) in On the

2 2 Origin of Species, pp Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, selections from Zoological Philosophy (1809) in On the Origin of Species, pp Tu 9/22 Two page paper due. Paley sees divine design in nature; Lamarck does not. Consider the evidence and reasoning by which they support their views. Do any of the arguments on one side address issues raised by the other? Which argument do you find more persuasive? Why? Do not refer in your response to any evidence or ideas that postdate these texts. VIDEO: The Earth Revealed: Sedimentary Rocks. Time to be determined. The viewing will take about 30 minutes and will provide some useful background to the next class. Tu 9/22 Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism Bowler, chapter 4. Georges Cuvier, Essay on the Theory of the Earth, trans. Robert Jameson (1818), selections. Charles Lyell, The Principles of Geology ( ), selections. Th 9/24 Lyell and Chambers on the Mystery of Mysteries Lyell, Principles of Geology, selections. Robert Chambers, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (1844), selections. Tu 9/29 Darwin, Geologist Bowler, chapter 5, pp Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle (1839), pp and Note that the map that Darwin discusses on p. 473ff may be viewed on the course website. Tu 9/29 Two page paper due. What evidence does Darwin adduce in support of his theory for the formation of the three great classes of coral reefs (i.e., atolls, barrier reefs, and fringing reefs)? What does his theory accomplish that

3 3 others do not? Th 10/1 Competition and Progress in Human Society Bowler, chapter 5, pp Thomas R. Malthus, selections from An Essay on the Principle of Population 6 th ed. (1825) in On the Origin of Species, pp Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776; Harvard Classics, 1909), pp Herbert Spencer, Selection in On the Origin of Species, pp Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, pp , , and PART II THE ORIGIN Tu 10/6 Variation Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, pp (Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2). Th 10/8 Th 10/8 Two page paper due. Imagine that you are a naturalist reading the first two chapters in Does Darwin s evidence for gradual change in the form of domesticated species constitute a strong argument for evolution? What evidence does Darwin provide for variation among wild organisms? How strong is that evidence? Natural Selection Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapters 3-4). Tu 10/13 Natural Selection (cont.) Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapter 5). Th 10/15 Defending and Extending the Theory Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapters 6-7).

4 4 Tu 10/20 Tu 10/20 Two page paper due. Darwin believes that his explanation of the development of neuter insects is a triumph of his theory of natural selection. Explain the nature of the problem and Darwin s solution. The Geological Record Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapters 9-10). Th 10/22 Th 10/22 Geographical Distribution Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapters 11-12). Two page paper due (in my mailbox). Darwin provides an ingenious account of how certain arctic plants have come to find homes atop mountain tops in Europe and North America without leaving evidence of having occupied intervening spaces. Explain how his explanation works and why he must address this subject as part of a general theory of evolution. Tu 10/27 NO CLASS, but consider reading Darwin, Origin, pp (Chapters 13-14). Th 10/29 Another Path to the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Alfred Russel Wallace, My Life (1905), selections. Alfred Russel Wallace, "On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species" (1855). Alfred Russel Wallace, "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type" (1858). In Darwin, On the Origin of Species, pp PART III RESPONSES: SCIENTIFIC, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS Tu 11/3 The Problems of Heredity and Time Bowler, chapter 6. Fleeming Jenkin, "The Origin of Species" (1867) in The North British Review,

5 5 Gregor Mendel, "Experiments in Plant Hybridization" (1865), read carefully through pp Th 11/5 Tu 11/10 Tu 11/10 Darwin on Man Charles Darwin, selections from The Descent of Man (1871) in On the Origin of Species, pp Two page paper due. Darwin seeks to establish continuities between humankind and animals and does so by discussing such behaviors as toolmaking and communication by speech. Write a critical review of Darwin s efforts to link human and animal behavior. Theological Responses Genesis, chapters 1-2 in On the Origin of Species, pp Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology ( ), selections. James McCosh, Christianity and Positivism (1871), selections. William Provine, "Evolution and the Foundation of Ethics" (1988). Th 11/12 The Debate over Human Origins A. R. Wallace, Darwinism (1889), pp St. George Jackson Mivart, "Darwin's Descent of Man" (1871) in Darwin and His Critics, pp Tu 11/17 Tu 11/17 Two page paper due. Imagine that you are Charles Darwin. Write a brief response to either Wallace or Mivart. Social Darwinism Bowler, chapter 8. Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, pp Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth" (1900), excerpt. Peter Kropotkin, "Mutual Aid" (1902), excerpt.

6 6 Charles B. Davenport, Heredity in Relation to Eugenics (1915), excerpt. Leonard Darwin, Eugenic Reform (1926), excerpt. Tu 11/19 Creationism Robert T. Pennock, Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics (2001), pp ; ; ; and VIDEO: Inherit the Wind (1960, Stanley Kramer, with Spencer Tracy, Fredric March). For all things Scopes-trial related, visit THANKSGIVING RECESS PART IV DARWINISM TODAY Th 12/1 Two page paper due. In a review of Inherit the Wind quoted on the web site above, Carol Innanone says: "Inherit the Wind reveals a great deal about a mentality that demands open-mindedness and excoriates dogmatism, only to advance its own certainties more insistently... A more historically accurate dramatization of the Scopes Trial might have been far richer and more interesting--and might also have given its audiences a genuine dramatic tragedy to watch. It would not have sent its audience home full of moral superiority and happy thoughts about the march of progress." Discuss this conclusion either positively or negatively - no in between. Tu 12/1 Sociobiology E. O. Wilson, "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis" (1975), selections. E. O. Wilson, On Human Nature, chapters 6 (Sex) and 7 (Altruism). Sociobiology Study Group of Science for the People, "Sociobiology, Another Biological Determinism". Antony Flew, E.O. Wilson After Twenty Years: Is Human Sociobiology Possible? Philosophy of the Social Sciences 24 (1994): Jonathan Knight, Sexual Stereotypes, Nature 415 (2002):

7 7 Th 12/3 Contingency and the Shape of Evolution Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life, Chapters 1-2 Tu 12/8 Wonderful Life, Chap 3, pp VIDEO: It s a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra, with James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore) Th 12/10 Wonderful Life, Chap 3 pp ; Chap 4, pp ; Chapter 5 Tu 12/15 Fri 12/18 No more reading - if we don t have anything to talk about on this day, we ve screwed up. Six page paper due. The contours of debate over evolutionary theory have changed remarkably little over the past hundred years. One major problem facing Darwin has been resolved in that we understand, much better than he did, the mechanism of heredity. But many of the other great problems of his day remain central to our own research and focal points of contention. What problems is the author of this passage referring to? Where do you see continuities between the debates of the second half of the nineteenth century and those of recent times? Where do you see discontinuities?