Abstract

GINNOBILI, SANTIAGO. The Phenomenological Status of the Theory of Natural Selection. Ideas y Valores [online]. 2011, vol.60, n.145, pp.69-86. ISSN 0120-0062.

Some scholars have pointed out the phenomenological character of the theory of natural selection, in the sense that it does not propose new theoretical terms. Since others have held that one of the characteristics of explanatory theories is that they conceptually enrich their field of application, it could be said that the theory in question is lacking with respect to its explanatory capacity. The article addresses this issue by proposing an informal reconstruction of the Darwinian theory of natural selection using structuralist meta-theoretical tools. The objective is to show that the theory suggests at least one explanatory concept, which could be called "aptitude", although all of its concepts are non-theoretical in the structuralist sense.

Keywords : C. Darwin; aptitude; structuralism; phenomenology; natural selection.

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