Polanyi on teleology: Aresponseto John Apczynski and Richard Gelwick

Abstract. Michael Polanyi criticized the neo-Darwinian synthesis on two grounds: that accidental hereditary changes bringing adaptive advantages cannot account for the rise of discontinuous new species, and that a Ideological ordering principle is needed to explain evolutionary advance. I commend th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gulick, Walter B. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Open Library of Humanities$s2024- 2005
In: Zygon
Year: 2005, Volume: 40, Issue: 1, Pages: 89-96
Further subjects:B religious satisfactions
B organizing and ordering principles
B Evolution
B Teleology
B Michael Polanyi
B field theory
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Summary:Abstract. Michael Polanyi criticized the neo-Darwinian synthesis on two grounds: that accidental hereditary changes bringing adaptive advantages cannot account for the rise of discontinuous new species, and that a Ideological ordering principle is needed to explain evolutionary advance. I commend the previous articles by John Apczynski and Richard Gelwick and also argue, more strongly than they, that Polanyi's critique of evolutionary theory is flawed. It relies on an inappropriate notion of progress and untenable analogies from the human process of scientific discovery and the fact that in physical systems minimal potential energy is most stable. Yet within a life of commitment to transcendent values humans can directly experience purpose and meaning, and in developing this notion Polanyi makes his greatest contribution to teleology.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2005.00089.x