TYPOLOGY RECONSIDERED - 2 DOCTRINES ON THE HISTORY OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

Recent historiography of 19th century biology supports the revision of two traditional doctrines about the history of biology. First, the mo st important and widespread biological debate around the time of Darwi n was not evolution versus creation, but biological functionalism vers us structuralism. Second, the ''idealist'' and ''typological'' structu ralist theories of the time were not particularly anti-evolutionary, T ypological theories provided argumentation and evidence that was cruci al to the refutation of Natural Theological creationism. The contrast between functionalist and structuralist approaches to biology continue s today, and the historical misunderstanding of 19th century typologic al biology may be one of its effects. This historical case can shed li ght on current controversies regarding the relevance of developmental biology to evolution.