From the series ‘60/60 the best of SPCh’ (15) [60 most interesting publications from 60 years of SPCh]
2025-05-13
Adam Łomnicki: Is Darwin's theory of natural selection a dogma of modern biology? Remarks on the sociological aspects of contemporary non-applied sciences[Studia Philosophiae Christianae 32(1996)1, pp. 43-54].
DESCRIPTION: Prof. Adam Łomnicki (1935-2021) was an outstanding Polish evolutionary biologist and ecologist, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. His scientific work focused on, among other things, population dynamics and stability, intrapopulation variability, levels of natural selection, laboratory populations, and nature conservation. His ties with the SPCh stemmed from his acquaintance and scientific collaboration with the then editor-in-chief of the journal, Rev. Prof. Szczepan Ślaga. The article concerns Darwin's theory of evolution and its scientific status in contemporary biology. While many different views and approaches are accepted in many areas of human activity, such as politics, art, the humanities, and applied sciences, the situation in contemporary non-applied sciences is completely different. It seems that all scientists accept the same paradigms and present the same view of basic scientific concepts. One of the widely accepted views is the acceptance of Darwin's theory of natural selection in biology. In this article, the author attempts to explain why this is so and why contemporary science differs from both traditional science and other areas of human activity. The arguments presented by the author are based mainly on the sociology of contemporary science. "We therefore have a theory, generally accepted by all those concerned with evolution and related issues, which explains why the world of living organisms and paleontological discoveries looks the way it does. Various predictions are derived from this theory, which can be empirically tested. In most cases, observations and experiments confirm these predictions, and if they do not, the contradictions between theory and empirical data are too small to refute the theory. It can only be supplemented or corrected, and hundreds, if not thousands, of researchers are engaged in this activity. Therefore, the certainty that this theory is the best explanation and that nothing threatens it does not stem from our dogmatism, but from the awareness that its constant testing only improves it and does not destroy it" (p. 52).
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