Charles Darwin's Arguments In The Origins Of Species

Word Count: 1766 The Arguments in the Origins of Species Evolution involves organisms developing better adapted traits over time. Darwin explains how these specific traits come about through his “one long argument.” In this paper, I argue that Charles Darwin’s approach to natural selection is the most accurate depiction of our earth’s history. I begin with a breakdown of Darwin’s theory of evolution, then incorporate Darwin’s thoughts on “fitness” and why other scientists may contend against them. Next, I discuss some of the competing ideas of the time, such as William Paley’s theory of an intelligent designer, and I close with how Darwin successfully addressed these opposing arguments. The struggle for existence and natural selection
There are two views, Causalist and Statisticalist, which address how fitness and natural selection are connected to evolution. Causalists believe fitness differences cause evolutionary change and that populations change because of selection. Darwin may at first appear to be whole-heartedly a Causalist, but after addressing Paley and his views, one can tell that Darwin could also be considered a Statisticalist. Statisticalists view fitness as a way to quantitatively track changes in a species; however, they stand by the fact that correlation does not prove causation. Ramsey clarifies this idea when saying, “[Statisticalists] understand core evolutionary concepts like fitness and selection to be mere statistical summaries of underlying causal processes. In this view, evolutionary changes cannot be causally explained by selection or fitness.” From a genetic standpoint, these underlying causes may include pleiotropy, one gene controlling more than one phenotype, or genetic linkage, when alleles in a similar location are usually inherited together. However, from a theistic interpretation perhaps there is a higher power at
Darwin explicitly states that it takes a very long time for these individuals to develop into the organisms they are now. At first there may be minimal differences within the same species, but as time goes on it continues to increase as those organisms with fitter traits survive and pass on their traits. This diversity continues to grow until the varieties among these organisms becomes so distinct that a new species is formed. Although Darwin does not specifically endorse an intelligent designer, he leaves room for a higher power in his explanation of evolution. It is almost as if Darwin sets up evolution, natural selection, and fitness as dominos and in order for those dominos to fall, creating the vast amount of complexity that exists within organisms today, something-- perhaps a higher power-- would have to push the first domino