NATURALISM AND EVOLUTION: A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

Abstract

AFTER COMTE, no concept of "evolution" can be understood without tracing its history, especially since this protean term has signified different things to different authorities. Moreover, viewed logically, evolution is one of those terms which unfortunately has a double meaning even in biology. It refers therein to a fact about certain processes of change occurring in nature as well as to a theory for explaining them. Consequently, to avoid confusion in semantics, we should restrict the term "evolution" in the biological context to its empirical meaning and employ "evolutionism" for its theoretical counter part. Strictly speaking, "evolution" is one thing, "evolutionism" (theory of evolution) is another, and debatable thing.