The Transformation of the Idea of Development from Dialectic to Gradual Progress: Herbert Spencer's Understanding of Knowledge and Evolutionary Thought

Abstract

Although the idea of evolution, which is generally built on principles and thesicles such as similarities, differences, descening from a common ancestor, genetic transmission, natural selection and the survival of the fittest among living beings reached its peak with Darwin in the nineteenth century, it has gone back much further historically. The idea that living beings or social structures change/evolve from the simple to the complex in line with certain principles and over time, has been an issue that has been dealt with by many thinkers since the first periods of the history of thought. However, throughout history, the idea that living beings existed and continued to exist in accordance with certain principles could not gain a scientific explanation qualification due to the limitations of existing scientific data, processes such as similarity, kinship, diversification, natural selection or survival of the fittest among living beings could not be fully explained in the light of scientific findings. Within this framework, the scientific history of evolutionist thought in the modern sense is much more recent. This article primarily deals with the efforts to reconstruct the boundaries between religion and science, which Herbert Spencer opened up for discussion in his work titled First Principles, and the thoughts on scientific knowledge and evolution developed by the thinker within these boundaries.

Genel olarak canlilar arasindaki benzerlikler, farkliliklar, ortak atadan gelme, genetik aktarim, dogal seçilim ve güçlü olanin hayatta kalmasi gibi ilke ve önermeler üzerine insa olan evrim düsüncesi, her ne kadar zirve noktasina ondokuzuncu yüzyilda Darwin ile birlikte ulassa da, tarihsel olarak çok daha gerilere uzanmaktadir. Canlilarin ya da sosyal yapilarin basit olandan karmasiga, belirli ilkeler dogrultusunda ve zamana yayilan bir biçimde degistigi/evrildigi fikri düsünce tarihinin ilk dönemlerinden itibaren birçok düsünür tarafindan ele alindan bir konu olmustur. Ancak tarih içerisinde, canlilarin bir takim ilkeler dogrultusunda var olduklari ve varliklarini sürdürdükleri düsüncesi, mevcut bilimsel verilerin sinirliligindan dolayi bilimsel bir açiklama niteligi kazanamamis, canlilar arasindaki benzerlik, akrabalik, çesitlenme, dogal ayiklanma ya da en iyi olanin hayatta kalmasi gibi süreçler bilimsel bulgular isiginda tam olarak açiklanamamistir. Bu çerçevede, modern anlamda evrimci düsüncenin bilimsel tarihi çok daha yenidir. Bu makale, modern anlamda evrimci düsüncenin ondozuncu yüzyildaki en önemli temsilcilerinden olan Herbert Spencer’in Ilk Prensipler adli çalismasinda tartismaya açtigi din ve bilim arasindaki sinirlarin yeniden insa çabasini ve bu sinirlar çerçevesinde düsünür tarafindan gelistirilen bilimsel bilgi ve evrim hakkindaki düsünceleri konu edinmektedir.