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29 - Universal Darwinism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

Mark A. Bedau  and
Carol E. Cleland
By
Richard Dawkins
Mark A. Bedau
Affiliation:
Reed College, Oregon
Carol E. Cleland
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Boulder
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Summary

It is widely believed on statistical grounds that life has arisen many times all around the universe (Asimov 1979; Billingham 1981). However varied in detail alien forms of life may be, there will probably be certain principles that are fundamental to all life, everywhere. I suggest that prominent among these will be the principles of Darwinism. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is more than a local theory to account for the existence and form of life on Earth. It is probably the only theory that can adequately account for the phenomena that we associate with life.

My concern is not with the details of other planets. I shall not speculate about alien biochemistries based on silicon chains, or alien neurophysiologies based on silicon chips. The universal perspective is my way of dramatizing the importance of Darwinism for our own biology here on Earth, and my examples will be mostly taken from Earthly biology. I do, however, also think that “exobiologists” speculating about extraterrestrial life should make more use of evolutionary reasoning. Their writings have been rich in speculation about how extraterrestrial life might work, but poor in discussion about how it might evolve. This essay should, therefore, be seen firstly as an argument for the general importance of Darwin's theory of natural selection; secondly as a preliminary contribution to a new discipline of “evolutionary exobiology.”

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The Nature of Life
Classical and Contemporary Perspectives from Philosophy and Science
 , pp. 360 - 373
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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