a: organism ~
b: a rifle bullet fired straight at a mark

What:

"According to Teleology, each organism is like a rifle bullet fired straight at a mark; according to Darwin, organisms are like grapeshot of which one hits something and the rest fall wide. For the teleologist an organism exists because it was made for the conditions in which it is found; for the Darwinian an organism exists because, out of many of its kind, it is the only one which has been able to persist in the conditions in which it is found. Teleology implies that the organs of every organism are perfect and cannot be improved; the Darwinian theory simply affirms that they work well enough to enable the organism to hold its own against such competitors as it has met with, but admits the possibility of indefinite improvement. But an example may bring into clearer light the profound opposition between the ordinary teleological, and the Darwinian, conception."


Useful?
Writer: Thomas H. Huxley
LCC:
Where:
Date: Sep 11 2015 7:07 PM


No critique for this page.
Feel free to be the first


Please review the linked page for context.
If you can think of something better than this,
please add it to the database

Name:
required
Contact:
(email or url) optional
Topic:
Comment:

This is an anti-spam device. Are you Human?

If so, please click the circle next to 'Yes' to submit your comment