A Historical Taxonomy of Origin of Species Problem

Authors: Koen B Tanghe

Publish Date: 2016/11/07

Volume: 50, Issue: 4, Pages: 927-987

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Abstract

Historians tend to speak of the problem of the origin of species or the species question as if it were a monolithic problem In reality the phrase or similar variants refers to a historically surprisingly fluid and pluriform scientific issue It has in the course of the past five centuries been used in no less than ten different ways or contexts A clear taxonomy of these separate problems is useful or relevant in two ways It certainly helps to disentangle confusions that have inevitably emerged in the literature in its absence It may secondly also help us to gain a more thorough understanding or sharper view of the prehistory of evolutionary thought A consequent problemcentric look at that prehistory through the lens of various origin of species problems certainly yields intriguing results including and particularly for our understanding of the genesis of the Wallace–Darwin theory of evolution through natural selection

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