Transformations of Lamarckism

In 1809--the year of Charles Darwin's birth--Jean-Baptiste Lamarck publishedPhilosophie zoologique, the first comprehensive and systematic theory of biological evolution. TheLamarckian approach emphasizes the generation of developmental variations; Darwinism stressesselection. Lamarck's ideas were eventually eclipsed by Darwinian concepts, especially after theemergence of the Modern Synthesis in the twentieth century. The different approaches--which can beseen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive--have important implications for the kinds ofquestions biologists ask and for the type of research they conduct. Lamarckism has beenevolving--or, in Lamarckian terminology, transforming--since Philosophie zoologique's description ofbiological processes mediated by "subtle fluids." Essays in this book focus on new developments inbiology that make Lamarck's ideas relevant not only to modern empirical and theoretical research butalso to problems in the philosophy of biology. Contributors discuss the historical transformationsof Lamarckism from the 1820s to the 1940s, and the different understandings of Lamarck andLamarckism; the Modern Synthesis and its emphasis on Mendelian genetics; theoretical andexperimental research on such "Lamarckian" topics as plasticity, soft (epigenetic) inheritance, andindividuality; and the importance of a developmental approach to evolution in the philosophy ofbiology. The book shows the advantages of a "Lamarckian" perspective on evolution. Indeed, thedevelopment-oriented approach it presents is becoming central to current evolutionary studies--ascan be seen in the burgeoning field of Evo-Devo. Transformations of Lamarckism makes a uniquecontribution to this research.

Snait Gissis is on the faculty of the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University.