EVENTS

STOQ 2009 – THE STOQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
«BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION. Facts and Theories»

Abstracts of the Lectures:

Robert E. Ulanowicz, University of Maryland, USA

Process and Ontological Priorities in Evolution

Although he was a fervid admirer of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin nonetheless described evolution as a process, rather than as the action of laws upon objects. Later, the "Grand Synthesis" of Fisher and Wright and the ensuing discoveries in molecular biology diluted Darwin’s bold move by directing emphasis in evolution back towards material objects and mechanisms. Other life sciences, however, continue to lend themselves more naturally to description in terms of processes. It can be argued, for example, that the dynamics of ecosystems rest upon a set of fundamental postulates, each of which mirrors a particular aspect of process. Mutuality constitutes the ontological core of this metaphysic, known as "process ecology". By way of contrast, competition is regarded as accidental and derivative. Selection in process ecology can act internal to the system, rather than exclusively via the exogenous agency of "natural selection". Furthermore, the monist dictum, "survival of the fittest", relates to only one element of a broader Heraclitean/Hegelian agonism that produces life. Such discrepancies with orthodox evolutionary theory suggest a far richer picture of evolution (and the ethos which it informs) than is available through the contemporary Neo-Darwinian narrative – one that follows Darwin’s original instinct to describe living nature as process.