评福多及其合作者对达尔文理论的攻击

Review of Jerry Fodor and His Colleague's Critique of Darwin's Theory

达尔文主义认为,自然选择是绝大部分生物性状产生的原因。时至今日,达尔文主义思潮的影响已经远远超出了进化生物学本身,但是福多与其搭档在其《达尔文错在哪里》一书中指出,达尔文主义存在"致命错误":无法区分一对同延性状当中到底哪一个性状提高了生物个体的适应性,是为"选择问题"。"选择问题"是对达尔文主义"经典困难"(spandrel)的新表述,随着"最优模型"等研究工具的应用,达尔文主义者已经能够一定程度上解决"选择问题"。

According to Darwinism,most of biological traits are the results of evolution by natural selection. The influence of this Darwinian thought has been extended considerably beyond evolutionary biology itself. However,in What Darwin Got Wrong,Jerry Fodor and his colleague argue forcefully that this Darwinian thought is‘fatally flawed＇because there is no way to identify the trait（ s） that increases target organism＇s fitness among coextensive traits.This is called‘selection-for problem＇. The paper aims to clarify the origin of‘selection-for problem＇,and to propose a new approach to dissolve the problem.