Conclusion: A Restored Unity in the Origin of Species?

Abstract

Among scholars, Charles Darwin has often played the mythical role of a founding figure, one who must be either invoked or repudiated. In light of the analysis provided in this book, we argue that many of the notions Darwin employs—common ancestry, divergence, a self-regulated economy, evolutionary contingency, adaptation, natural selection, etc.—are incompatible with their uses in modern biology. Not only does modern evolutionary biology not originate with the Origin of Species, it also seems that the historiographical label “Darwinian Revolution” is largely without historical basis.