Newtonian ‘Vera Causa’ Principle & Darwinian Natural Selection
Newtonian ‘Vera Causa’ Principle and Darwinian Natural Selection
The methodological principle of “vera causa,” either Newtonian or remotely inspired by Darwinian natural selection, is rooted in Isaac Newton’s approach to understanding nature. From a young age, Newton meticulously interrogated nature, collecting data through experience and using it to control any theoretical explanation. This led to a unique methodology, which he believed was essential for philosophical knowledge. Newton established four guiding principles, or “rules for reasoning in philosophy”:
- Only true and sufficient causes should be used to explain natural phenomena.
- As far as possible, the same causes should be assigned to the same natural effects.
- The qualities of bodies should be considered universal qualities of all bodies.
- In experimental philosophy, propositions inferred by general induction from phenomena should be considered true, despite any contrary hypothesis, until other phenomena subject to exceptions occur.
Newton’s method is significant in the history of science for two reasons:
- It was a major advancement compared to Galileo’s method, which lacked a foundation in the first causes of nature.
- The Newtonian method was successfully applied in fields beyond geology and evolutionary biology, where it served as a remote precursor to Darwinian natural selection.
Charles Lyell (1797-1875), whose main objective was to develop a theory about geological change, found Newton’s methodological principle substantive. This resulted in the uniformitarian theory in geology:
- The age of the Earth must be eternal.
- Large-scale phenomena, such as mountain ranges and canyons, can be explained by the doctrine of no discernible change.
Darwin reasoned that if the Earth’s surface changes slowly and meticulously, then the evolution of life could also occur at a similar pace, with equally uniform responses.
The Scientific Revolution (II): Galileo’s Methodology
Bacon and Galileo both emphasized the importance of questioning nature, but their approaches differed significantly.
Bacon’s questions aimed to uncover the latent schematic of phenomena, while Galileo’s questions sought to discover the mathematical laws governing phenomena. Galileo’s method involved the following steps:
- Resolution: The first step was the exact measurement of phenomena, rejecting Aristotelian essential natures. Galileo distinguished between primary qualities (spatial and mechanical) and secondary qualities (colors, tastes, sounds), which needed to be explained using the primary qualities.
- Composition: The second step involved formulating a mathematical hypothesis.
- Verification: The third step was the empirical verification or proof of the hypothesis. If the research was positive, the hypothesis was considered true; otherwise, it was false.