Welcome to Francis Academic Press

Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2022, 5(16); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2022.051608.

Comparisons of Darwin and Wallace's Theories of Natural Selection

Author(s)

Cai He

Corresponding Author:
Cai He
Affiliation(s)

Keystone Academy, Beijing, China

Abstract

Charles Robert Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace have different views on the analogy between natural and artificial selection. Darwin thought about the mechanism of species change by investigating the variation of animals and plants in the domesticated state. Wallace also believed in evolution during his field trip, but he was not interested in the experiment in domestication and firmly denied that artificial selection could be comparable to natural processes. There are also very different views on the dimorphisms of males in animals on both sides. Darwin admitted that natural selection failed to explain the apparently meaningless luxury of the "dazzling tail of the male peacock". He also believed that certain traits are not fought for survival but to reproduce more offspring. With regard to the origin of man, Darwin insisted on the validity of natural selection, which he believed was the result of human evolution, both physically and intellectually and morally. In contrast, Wallace believes that natural selection cannot explain the origin of advanced human intelligence and that it was after a study of divine phenomena that Wallace has found reliable evidence to solve the problem.

Keywords

Darwin; Wallace; Natural selection; Secondary sexual characteristics; Human origin

Cite This Paper

Cai He. Comparisons of Darwin and Wallace's Theories of Natural Selection. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2022) Vol. 5, Issue 16: 49-54. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2022.051608.

References

[1] Mayr E. The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance[M]. Boston: Harverd University Press, 1982: 423-424. 

[2] Bowler P J. Do We Need a Non-Darwinian industry? [M]. Notes & Records of the Royal Society, 2009( 63) : 395. 

[3] Kottler M J. Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace: Two Decades of Debate over Natural Selection[C]. Kohn D. The Darwinian Heritage. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985.

[4] Liu Li. Wallace: Darwin's Knight[J]. The Dialectic of Nature for communication. 2012, 34(6):106-114.

[5] Liu Li. Wallace "Psychology" Evolution Research [D]. Beijing: Peking University, 2011.

[6] Zheng Xiaoran. Wallace and Darwin'different "natural selection" road [J]. The Scientific and Cultural Review. 2013(2):5-17.

[7] Tang Wenchang. Darwin's theory of artificial selection is compared with the goldfish in ancient Chinese literature [J]. Social scientist, 2007,1 (1): 70-76.

[8] Dong Guoan. Analogical methods in the Origin of Species and their argumentative roles [J]. Medicine and Philosophy (Humanities, Social Medicine edition), 2008.19 (5): 13-19

[9] Järvi T, Røskaft E, Bakken M, et al. evolution of variation in male secondary sexual characteristics[J]. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1987, 20(3): 161-169.

[10] Zhang Songhua. On Darwin's Doctrine of Sexual Choice [J]. Biological Bulletin, 1958 (4): 37-41.

[11] Helena Cronin. Ants and Peacock: The Sexual Choice Competition Behind the Bright Feather [M]. Translation by Yang Yuling. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press, 2000. page 210.

[12] Geng Zhencheng. Darwin New Test [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press, 2009. page 198.

[13] Darwin, The Origin of Species [M]. In the translation by Schudegan et al. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2008. page 289.

[14] Darwin, Human origin and sexual selection [M]. Translation by Ye Duzhuang and Yang Xi. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2009., page 55.

[15] Wallace, A.F.The Origin of Human Races and the Antiquity of Man Deduced From the Theory of "Natural Selection". Journal of the Anthropological Society of London ,1864: clviii-clxx.