Author Description

"The concept of evolutionary success is not merely a quantifiable causal-descriptive concept, but has a strong ethical-normative component as well. Herein lies the danger: in reflecting on the success of a species, we need to carefully consider whether we are just exporting our anthropocentric conceptions about what it is to be successful. In this chapter we illustrate this dual aspect of the concept of success by contrasting it with two other value-laden concepts that have played important roles in the history of biological thought: evolutionary progress and human uniqueness"--