Article ID: CBB001201404

The Metaphor of the Architect in Darwin: Chance and Free Will (2013)

unapi

Keywords: accidental variation;chance;Charles Darwin;free will;metaphor of the architect;natural selection Abstract In The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, published in 1868, Darwin used the metaphor of the architect to argue in favor of natural autonomy and to clarify the role of chance in his theory of adaptive change by variation and natural selection. In this article, I trace the history of this important heuristic instrument in Darwin's writings and letters and suggest that this metaphor was important to Darwin because it helps him to explain the role of chance, and gives an argument in favor of the free will.

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Authors & Contributors
Ruse, Michael
Laura Nuño de la Rosa
Villegas, Cristina
Mazzeo, Marco
Robert Ready
Stuart Mathieson
Concepts
Evolution
Science and religion
Natural selection
Philosophy of science
Chance
Darwinism
Time Periods
19th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century
Ancient
20th century, late
Places
Great Britain
England
London (England)
United States
Netherlands
Greece
Institutions
Victoria Institute
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