Hi folks,
I have a thought to share about what I've been reading on evolution. It
seems to me that sociologists and world-system analysts should be very
interested in the concept of evolution because it's necessary for
understanding emergent phenomena. I believe that Steve Sanderson used the
example of the biological sciences because, as I only vaguely understand the
matter, the dramatic advancements in the biological sciences in recent
years have come about because of explicit attention to the specific
problems of various particular emergent phenomena in biology. This is
not at all the same as the time-worn and intrinsically conservative
biological analogies used by functionalists to explain differentiation
and inequality in social systems. Is not the historically specific
emergence and generalized patterns of evolution of the modern world-system
the very problem to which Wallerstein devoted his life's work? We know
from long experience that the concept of evolution can be easily abused,
but that's not a good reason to discard its use offhandedly -- the
history of such abuse in the social sciences does, however, demand that
its use be scrutinized very critically (and, of course, teleology is OUT).
Bill Haller
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Bill Haller \/ University Center for Social
Department of Sociology /\ and Urban Research (UCSUR)
University of Pittsburgh \/ 121 University Place, 6th floor
email: wxhst3+@pitt.edu /\ Pittsburgh, PA 15213-9972
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