Darwinism in crisis?

Abstract

A very long philosophical tradition (and not only philosophical, read for example Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems) consists of the dialogical exposition of arguments. It is striking how modern social networks, in some way, foster discussion and debates that essentially adopt this form. The dialogue we present below took place on an Internet forum; specifically, within the Facebook group called ‘Philosophers of Biology’ (which, by the way, we encourage anyone interested in these topics to join). The debate was sparked by the posting of a link to a text by Felipe Aizpún, titled ‘The Non-Darwinists’, which appeared in a forum headed by the dilemma: ‘Darwin or Intelligent Design?’ and which expressly dedicates itself to the dissemination of this anti-Darwinian doctrine. Given that the text mentioned controversial issues within theoretical biology and current philosophy of biology, we thought that it might also interest the readers of Encounters in Biology the reflections that its reading aroused in us, and therefore we decided to publish them. We present our exchange of opinions as it took place, with some small stylistic corrections. However, given the context in which it developed, the reader should be understanding with the informal tone that can sometimes be detected