Images of the economy of nature, 1650-1930 : from "nature's war" to Darwin's "struggle for life" / Antonello La Vergata.
La Vergata, Antonello, author.
2023
BD581
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Title Images of the economy of nature, 1650-1930 : from "nature's war" to Darwin's "struggle for life" / Antonello La Vergata.
Author La Vergata, Antonello, author.
ISBN 9783031310232 (electronic bk.)
3031310233 (electronic bk.)
9783031310225
3031310225
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31023-2
Published Cham : Springer, [2023]
Copyright ©2023
Language English
Description 1 online resource (v, 616 pages) : illustrations (some color).
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1007/978-3-031-31023-2 doi
Call Number BD581
Dewey Decimal Classification 113
Summary The book discusses ideas concerning the order and balance of nature (or "economy of nature") from the late 17th century to the early 20th century. The perspective taken is broad, longue dure and interdisciplinary, and reveals the interplay of scientific, philosophical, moral and social ideas. The story begins with natural theology (dating roughly to the onset of the so-called Newtonian Revolution) and ends with the First World War. The cut-off date has been chosen for the following reasons: the war changed the state of things, affecting mans way of looking at, and relating to, nature both directly and indirectly; indeed, it put an end to most applications of Darwinism to society and history, including interpretations of war as a form of the struggle for existence. The author presents an overview of the different images of nature that were involved in these debates, especially in the late 19th century, when a large part of the scientific community paid lip service to Darwinism, while practically each expert felt free to interpret it in his own distinct way. The book also touches on the so-called social Darwinism, which was neither a real theory, nor a common body of ideas, and its various views of society and natures economy. Part of this book deals with the persistence of moralizing images of nature in the work of many authors. One of the main features of the book is its wealth of (detailed) quotations. In this way the author gives the reader the opportunity to see the original statements on which the author bases his discussion. The author privileges the analysis of different positions over a historiography offering a merely linear narrative based on general implications of ideas and theories. To revisit the concept of the so-called "Darwinian Revolution", we need to examine the various perspectives of scientists and others, their language and, so to speak, the lenses they used when reading "facts" and theories. The book ends with some general reflections on Darwin and Darwinisms (the plural is important) as a case study on the relationship between intellectual history, the history of science and contextual history. Written by a historian, this book really gives new, multidisciplinary perspectives on the "Darwinian Revolution.".
Note Includes index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Series Evolutionary biology - new perspectives on its development ; v. 7.
Available in Other Form Print version: 9783031310225
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Abundance and Variety
Chapter 3: Evil in Nature
Chapter 4: Carnivores, Extinctions, and the Beast
Chapter 5: Struggle for Life vs Evolution
Chapter 6: The Struggle for Existence, or, Whats in a Metaphor?
Chapter 7: New Places in the Economy of Nature
Chapter 8: Survival of the Fittest and Cosmical Evolution
Chapter 9: Struggles for Existence
Chapter 10: Another Now, or a Vindication of a Historical History of Science.

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