Robert M. Young and Darwin Historiography

Bibliographic Data

ID11924519
AuthorsIngemar Bohlin (Department of Theory of Science, University of Göteborg, 412 98 Göteborg, Sweden., corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume21
Issue4
Pages597-648
Publication date1991-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/030631291021004001
OpenAlexW2030681350
LanguageEN
Citations received6

In a series of seminal essays, Robert M. Young has insisted on the importance of analyzing the broad historical context in which Darwin's biological views were conceived. In this paper, Young's historiographic approach is assessed theoretically rather than historically: attention is focused on a comparison with recent Darwin studies. After some brief notes on Darwin historiography in general, the principal tenets advocated by Young on a programmatic level are described as `contextualism' and `reflexive relativism'. Then the two main sections follow, devoted respectively to examinations of Young's early Darwinian texts, and to his recent writings. Two main historical theses are here discussed separately, and the somewhat irregular nature of Young's Darwinian historiography is defined by means of a limited typology of contextual influence theses. Although Young's programmatic position is accepted as a productive one, the paper concludes by stating that a rather different kind of method, applied in some recent studies, is a more effective approach than his

Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Contextualism · Darwin (ADL · Darwinism · Epistemology · Historiography · Linguistics · Relativism · Sociology · Typology · Anthropology · Evolution and Science Education · History · History of Science and Natural History · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science

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