Article ID: CBB858547415

“A temporary oversimplification”: Mayr, Simpson, Dobzhansky, and the origins of the typology/population dichotomy (part 1 of 2) (2015)

unapi

The dichotomy between ‘typological thinking’ and ‘population thinking’ features in a range of debates in contemporary and historical biology. The origins of this dichotomy are often traced to Ernst Mayr, who is said to have coined it in the 1950s as a rhetorical device that could be used to shield the Modern Synthesis from attacks by the opponents of population biology. In this two-part essay I argue that the origins of the typology/population dichotomy are considerably more complicated and more interesting than is commonly thought. In this first part, I will argue that Mayr's dichotomy was based on two distinct type/population contrasts that had been articulated much earlier by George Gaylord Simpson and Theodosius Dobzhansky. Their distinctions made eminent sense in their own, isolated contexts. In the second part, I will show how Mayr conflated these type/population distinctions and blended in some of his own, unrelated concerns with ‘types’ of a rather different sort. Although Mayr told his early critics that he was merely making “a temporary oversimplification,” he ended up burdening the history and philosophy of biology with a troubled dichotomy.

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Authors & Contributors
Smocovitis, Vassiliki Betty
Witteveen, Joeri
Thompson, Paul
Sturtevant, A. H.
Novitski, Edward
Milam, Erika Lorraine
Concepts
Biology
Evolution
Genetics
Biographies
Darwinism
Philosophy of biology
Time Periods
20th century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Great Britain
Ukraine
Germany
Brazil
Institutions
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
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