This study explores how Anglophone fiction from the mid-Victorian period to the outbreak of the First World War acted as an imaginative testing-ground for theories of the evolution of language. Debates about the past development and the future of language ranged beyond the scope of empirical data and into speculative narrative. Fiction offered to realize such narratives in detail, building imaginative worlds out of different theories of language evolution. In the process, it also often tested these theories, exposing their contradictions. The lack of clear boundaries between nature and culture in language studies of the period enabled fictions of language evolution to explore questions to which contemporary researchers have returned. To what extent is communication instinctive or conventional? How do social and biological factors interact in the production of meaning? The study traces two opposing tendencies of thought on language evolution, naming them language ‘progressivism’ and ‘vitalism’. Progressivism imagined speakers evolving away from involuntary, instinctive vocalizations to extert rational control over their discourse with mechanical precision. By contrast, language vitalism posited a mysterious, natural power in words which had weakened and fragmented with the rise of writing and industrial society. Certain genres of fiction lent themselves to exploration of these ideas, with utopian tales seeking to envision the end-goals of progressive theory. Representations of primitive language in imperial and prehistoric romances also promoted progressivism by depicting the instinctive, irrational speech from which ‘civilization’ was imagined as advancing away. Conversely, much historical and invasion fiction idealized a linguistic past when speech had expressed natural truth, and the authentic folk origins of its speakers. Both progressivism and vitalism were undermined through the late nineteenth century by developments in biology, which challenged claims of underlying stability in nature or purpose in change. Simultaneously, philologists increasingly argued that meaning was conventional, attacking models of semantic progress and degradation. In this context, a number of authors reconceptualized language in their fiction as a mixture of instinct and convention. These imaginative explorations of the borderlands between the social and biological in communication prefigured many of the concerns of twenty-first-century biosemiotics.

Science curriculum and pedagogy are at the center of a centuries-long debate concerning the appropriate relationship of faith and science. The difficulties that science educators face seem to be based in misinformation about the historical roots of this conflict. To address that conflict, the goals of this research were to separate myth from reality and to provide a necessary context to the current tensions that are disrupting science pedagogy and curriculum content within American public schools. Working within a theoretical framework of historical literacy, this qualitative, historical analysis was a comprehensive examination of the relationship of faith and science from ancient times through the Renascence to the emergence and development of Darwinism. The historical approach methodology was utilized as a means to document the systematic examination of past events, in order to illuminate and interpret the meaning of those events. The historical record revealed that science and religion are not necessarily incompatible and that the early Christian religion provided a fertile environment in which modern science could emerge. Also noted were many instances where the record was inconsistent with what educators have commonly taught as historical fact. Finally, the complex sources of tension between modern fundamentalist Christianity and Darwinism, which has appeared as a flashpoint in public discourse within science education, were examined in depth. Based on this analysis, the study includes recommendations for educators in their approach to addressing these challenges and teaching science. This analysis can produce positive social change for educators and their students, as this information is advanced as a means to enhance historical literacy among educators and their students.

In this dissertation I explore the dynamics of how the definition of the human is established and subsequently challenged in both H.G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) and R.L. Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). Late nineteenth-century Europe was a time and place where an exploration of the definition of what it means to be human was particularly uncomfortable. The structures that upheld the then accepted conceptions of the human were under assault by new scientific discourses such as Darwinist theories of evolution, criminal anthropology and degenerationism. I show how the anxieties that these discourses inspired are reflected in the texts, and also examine how the communities in the texts act to reinforce the collapsing definition of what it means to be human. Victorian efforts to resolve this crisis of identity were mainly rooted in attempts to classify the natural world and to find or create some form of stable categorical distinction between the ‘human’ and the Other, or the not-human. The nature of the Other varied widely but manifested in terms of species, race, gender and class, to name but a few categories. The mechanisms through which humans, both as individuals and as communities, created and maintained their ‘humanity’ is examined through the use of theories of the liminal, from Anton van Gennep ([1909] 1960) to Homi Bhabha (1994). The reasons for the fear of the liminal characters are explored through Julia Kristeva’s (1982) notion of the abject – a phenomenon which arises in a confusion of the boundaries and distinctions between the subject and the object, the Self and the Other. Using Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s (1996) ‘Monster Theory’, I examine what the texts reveal about the society in which the authors were writing and what the appeal or horror of each monster’s particular type of liminality might have been for contemporary readers. In my conclusion I show that the fears and anxieties in Wells’s and Stevenson’s texts are still extant today. The monsters in the texts reflect changing conceptions of what it means to be human. By examining the nature of the fear that these monsters inspire, one can better understand both the readers of the time and the origins of the modern understanding of what it means to be human, what it means to be Other, and the realisation that, ultimately, perhaps we all exist somewhere betwixt and between. / Dissertation (MA--University of Pretoria, 2017. / English / MA (English) / Unrestricted

Most rhetorical studies of evolution/religion debates have addressed the media version of the debates that pits fundamentalist religion against science. Yet, most of the rhetorical studies in this area have not been nuanced enough to appreciate the complexity of the rhetoric resulting from this rich area of discourse. This study provides a rhetorical analysis of the evolution rhetoric in one particular religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and focuses on the discourse of two prominent leaders in the LDS Church, B.H. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith. In the LDS Church there is a clear distinction among members (Mormons) between official and unofficial discourse, and discerning the distinction between official and unofficial discourse revolves around the rhetorical concept of ethos. The ethos of a Mormon rhetor in intra-Mormon evolution discourse depends on an audience's perception of the concordance between written or canonized revelation, the words of living oracles, and priesthood position. However, citing more scriptures and prophets, or possessing a higher priesthood position does not automatically make a rhetor's argument supreme in the LDS Church. A rhetorical analysis of the Roberts/Smith debate demonstrates that rhetoric in the LDS Church is not judged solely by the rhetor's position of authority or by the rhetor's citation of authority (e.g., canonized scripture or modern prophets); rather, the rhetor's rhetoric is judged, at least to a degree, on its own merits. Ethos provides one approach or window into the rhetoric of evolution discourse, but uncovers many other possible approaches. More rhetorical studies of the evolution debates taking place in the LDS Church and in other specific religious settings will likely reveal much more about the way that ethos and other elements of rhetoric inform the seemingly endless evolution/religion discussion.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:16:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando Moreno Castilho.pdf: 1212881 bytes, checksum: 82b2800cd48eb04a8d3b3f4663ac6d69 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-21 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / Among the books written by Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) the Origin of species (1859) is the best known. However, in such book he did not deal with man. He had dealt with this subject in two books which were published later: The expression of emotions in man and animals (1872) and The descent of man (1871). This dissertation aims to elucidate if Darwin had presented the same ways of modification of the species in The origin of species and The expression of emotions in man and animals. It will be also taken into account some conceptions presented by him in The descent of man. This study contains an introduction and three chapters. Chapter 1 deals with some of Darwin s contributions offering an overview of the main ways of modification found in the Origin of species. Chapter 2 analyses the ways of modification of species found in The expression of emotions in man and animals. Chapter 3 offers a comparison between the conceptions found in both books as well as providing some final remarks on the subject. This study led to the conclusion that the ways of modification of species proposed in both books are the same: natural selection, sexual selection, inheritance of acquired characteristics. Besides that, it may be found an analogy between natural and artificial selection in both of them. However, in The expression of emotions in man and animals Darwin stressed the role of the inheritance of acquired characteristics in order to explain some patterns of behaviour in man and other animals. It can also be pointed out that several conceptions found in The Expression had inspired some more recent works contributing for the building of the discipline Ethology, in the 1960 s / Dentre os livros escritos por Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), o Origem das espécies (1859) é o mais conhecido. Entretanto, nesta obra ele não lidou com o homem. Ele tratou deste assunto em duas obras que publicou posteriormente: na Expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais (1872) e na Origem do homem (1871). O objetivo desta dissertação é elucidar se Darwin apresentou os mesmos meios de modificação das espécies nessas duas obras. Serão também consideradas as concepções apresentadas na Origem do homem. Esta dissertação contém uma introdução e três capítulos. O capítulo 1 trata de algumas contribuições de Darwin oferecendo uma visão geral dos principais meios de modificação das espécies encontrados no Origem das espécies. O capítulo 2 analisa os meios de modificação das espécies encontrados no livro Expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais. O capítulo 3 apresenta uma comparação das concepções encontradas nos dois livros bem como algumas considerações finais sobre o assunto. Este estudo levou à conclusão de que os meios de modificação das espécies apresentados nas duas obras consideradas são os mesmos: seleção natural, seleção sexual, herança de caracteres adquiridos pelo uso e desuso. Entretanto, na Expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais, Darwin enfatizou o papel da herança de caracteres adquiridos para explicar alguns padrões de comportamento no homem e em outros animais. Pode ser também apontado que diversas concepções encontradas no livro Expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais serviram de inspiração para trabalhos mais recentes contribuindo para a construção da disciplina Etologia, na década de 1960

Orientador: Iara Lis Franco Schiavinatto / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T04:47:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carula_Karoline_M.pdf: 906380 bytes, checksum: 2a50ece5eb42d46e0194249f958b9bf2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Esta dissertação analisa as Conferências Populares da Glória, enfatizando o debate gerado na imprensa com as suas preleções que tiveram o darwinismo como tema, entre os anos de 1873 e 1880. As Conferências da Glória tiveram início em 1873, e tinham como meta divulgar um conhecimento científico entre a camada letrada da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A temática abordada durante estes encontros estava centrada em assuntos culturais e científicos, destes enfoco o darwinismo, pois foi o que maior celeuma provocou na imprensa, com favoráveis e contrários à nova teoria. Além disso, procuro compreender como as discussões e polêmicas geradas como resultado destas conferências serviram para preparar um determinado público, em 1881, para ler o romance O mulato, de Aluísio Azevedo, e identificar as referências darwinistas existentes nele / Abstract: This dissertation analyses the Popular Conferences of Gloria [Conferências Populares da Glória], emphasizing the debate produced in the press about their speeches that had the Darwinism as subject, between 1873 and 1880. The Conferences had begun in 1873, and had the purpose to publicize a scientific knowledge among the erudite groups of Rio de Janeiro. The approached theme during these meetings was centered on cultural and scientific matters, and among these I emphasize the Darwinism, because it was the subject that caused great controversy on the press between who was adept and who was adverse of this theory. Moreover, I intend to understand how the discussions and controversies produced as results of these conferences served to prepare a specific audience to read, in 1881, the novel called O Mulato, written by Aluisio Azevedo, and to identify his Darwinists references on it / Mestrado / Politica, Memoria e Cidade / Mestre em História

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:21:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao parte 1 Thaisa Sala Michelan.pdf: 38222 bytes, checksum: 2f8d3a6cb8df8f1c42d663b0b5323ef6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-28 / Exotic species represent strong threats to biodiversity. This concern is especially valid in freshwater ecosystems due to their high biodiversity and the highest rates of extinction, compared with terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The increasing habitat complexity provided by the presence of macrophytes may partially explain the high diversity of aquatic ecosystems. However, depending on the density and other particular characteristics of these plant, the diversity may be negatively affected. In this context, Urochloa subquadripara, a species native to Africa, is an aquatic macrophyte weed occurring in various natural and artificial aquatic ecosystems in America. In a small scale, the occurrence of this exotic species increases with reducing natives species richness; however, in a large scale U. subquadripara invades sites with more richness of native species. This controversy is typical of observational studies in invasion biology and it demand experiments to test effects of abiotic and biotic resistance on the invasive potential of this exotic. Accordingly, two experiments were conducted in order to test the following hypotheses: (i) the regeneration and colonization of U. subquadripara decreases with increasing time of exposure to dry, (ii) fragments of the apical part of this species, when compared with those of the basal part, have higher viability and colonization potential (first experiment) and (iii) the invasiveness of aquatic environments by U. subquadripara is negatively influenced by the richness and abundance of native species (second experiment). Our results supported all of our hypotheses: U. subquadripara showed high resistance to desiccation, and the fragments of the apical part were those which had higher viability and colonization potential. In addition, both richness and abundance of native species affected negatively the invasive potential of this exotic macrophyte. The second experiment demonstrated that the effect of richness and abundance limited the development of U. subquadripara, although such effect was not sufficient to prevent the invasion of macrophyte communities by this species. Based on these results, it appears that the population growth of U. subquadripara is greater in disturbed sites, mainly those affected by drought, which in general, have lower abundance and diversity of native species. / Espécies exóticas representam fortes ameaças à biodiversidade. Essa preocupação é especialmente válida em ecossistemas aquáticos continentais em função da elevada biodiversidade e das maiores taxas de extinção, quando comparados com ecossistemas terrestres e marinhos. O aumento da complexidade dos habitats promovido pela presença de macrófitas aquáticas pode explicar em parte a elevada diversidade dos ecossistemas aquáticos. No entanto, dependendo das densidades e de outras características espécies-específicas dessas plantas, a diversidade pode ser negativamente afetada. Nesse contexto, Urochloa subquadripara, espécie nativa da África, é uma macrófita aquática infestante de vários ecossistemas aquáticos naturais e artificiais na América. Em pequena escala espacial, a ocorrência dessa exótica aumenta com a redução do número de espécies nativas, já em grande escala U. subquadripara invade locais com maior riqueza de espécies nativas. Essa controvérsia é típica de estudos observacionais em biologia de invasões sendo necessária a realização de experimentos para testar efeitos da resistência abiótica e biótica sobre o potencial invasor de exóticas. Nesse sentido, foram realizados dois experimentos, com o objetivo de testar as seguintes hipóteses: (i) a regeneração e colonização de U. subquadripara diminui com o aumento do tempo de exposição a seca; (ii) os fragmentos da parte apical dessa espécie, quando comparados com aqueles da parte basal, apresentam maior viabilidade e potencial de colonização (primeiro experimento) e (iii) a invasibilidade de ambientes aquáticos por U. subquadripara é influenciada negativamente pela riqueza e abundância de espécies nativas (segundo experimento). De modo geral, todas as hipóteses foram aceitas: U. subquadripara apresentou alta resistência a dessecação, sendo que os fragmentos da parte apical foram os que apresentaram maior viabilidade e potencial de colonização e tanto a riqueza como a abundância de espécies afetaram negativamente o potencial invasor dessa exótica. Esse último experimento demonstrou que, apesar de limitar o desenvolvimento de U. subquadripara, o efeito da riqueza e abundância de nativas não é suficiente para impedir a invasão de comunidades de macrófitas por essa espécie. Com base nesses resultados, infere-se que o crescimento populacional de U. subquadripara é maior em locais perturbados, principalmente por distúrbios como a seca que, em geral, também apresentam menor abundância e diversidade de espécies nativas.

Blind's autonomous cosmopolitanism is in four distinct layers. The first layer is her unusual everyday family background in the transition from Jewish tradition to the life of European revolutionaries in the 1840s and exile in Britain. The second layer is Blind's mental and moral development under Friederike's care and educational guidance according to the German concept of Bildung. The third layer comes from Mazzini's challenge for Blind to critically evaluate her German cultural heritage and the moral danger in the well-intended German concept of self-cultivation. Blind derives the fourth layer of her autonomous cosmopolitanism from Darwin's theory of evolution and Buckle's argument for a scientific approach to history. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection postulates sexual autonomy of the individual organism as a pre-condition for evolution by natural selection. Buckle's argument for a scientific approach to the study of history extends this concept by observing that the variety of geographical conditions around the globe gives rise to a diversity of cultures. The concept of social evolution is then anchored in the nature of interdependence between the individual and her society as it changes over time. Overall, my argument is that Blind's contribution to Victorian cosmopolitanism is to write about controversial subjects and to transcend ideological polarizations. She does this by transferring socio-political topics from the public domain into the intimacy of making "an immediate sensuous contact" with the individual reader. Her aim is to touch her reader's heart and to trust in her reader's ability and social will to care rather than to teach her about the individual poet's particular ideas of what should be done to solve problems.

Abstract Santeri Alkio (1862–1930) was the ideological leader of the Finnish political party the Agrarian League (now the Centre Party of Finland), founded in 1906. He had a Christian ideology and believed that God created the world. However, God did not finish his creation; rather, the creation is an ongoing process and it is the duty of humankind to see it through. People have to become aware of their part in God's plan of creation, so that they do not remain as mere creatures of instinct. Evoking self-awareness is the duty of the intelligentsia. A self-aware per-son aspires to evolve through self-education into a good person living in freedom guided by moral laws and to become a decent citizen. However, his view regarding religion was broad-minded. Conceptions of religion change as humankind learns more about them through scientific research. Alkio was critical of socialist, capitalist and liberal economic theories, be-cause they do not consider that economic life consists of personal choices made by people in their everyday lives. He outlined his economics based on a self-sufficient and thrifty family of farmers. He saw Finland as a proletarian nation that had to learn to defend itself against exploitation by capitalist nations. In his view, the class conflicts at the start of the 20th century were a consequence of the inequality in the class society. The only way to rid of them was to raise the level of education of the people in the oppressed position. Through self-education, a person can become a decent citizen who does not pursue vested interest, but acts toward the common benefit. Alkio’s political views focused on a lifestyle based on smallholdings and cooperation, where the central value was called maahenki ("the spirit of the countryside"). To Alkio, maahenki referred to a totality of beliefs concerning the moral and spiritual primacy of an agrarian lifestyle based on the values of an in-dependent yet cooperative farmer. As the ideological leader of the Agrarian League, he based the party's ideology on maahenki. In the society that he aspired for in the future, the basic source of livelihood was agriculture, which produces the necessities of society. Decentralised industry, for its part, would provide cultural products. According to Alkio’s agrarian ideology, a mentally and physically healthy society can be based only on an agrarian lifestyle. Therefore, the centralising urban lifestyle need to change to a decentralised life. / Tiivistelmä Santeri Alkio (1862–1930) oli vuonna 1906 perustetun Maalaisliiton (Suomen Keskusta) aatteellinen johtaja. Hänen maailmankatsomuksensa oli kristillinen, ja hän uskoi, että Jumala on luonut maailman. Jumala ei kuitenkaan luonut sitä valmiiksi kerralla, vaan luominen on jatkuva prosessi, jonka loppuun saattaminen on ihmiskunnan tehtävä. Ihmisen tulee herätä tiedostamaan osansa Jumalan luomissuunnitelmassa, jotta hän ei jää pelkäksi viettiolennoksi. Hänen herättämisensä itsetietoisuuteen on sivistyneistön velvollisuus. Itsetietoisuuteen herätetyn ihmisen tavoitteena on kehittyä itsekasvatuksen avulla siveelliselle laille alisteisessa vapaudessa eläväksi hyväksi ihmiseksi ja kunnon kansalaiseksi. Alkio suhtautui uskontoon kuitenkin epädogmaattisesti. Uskontoa koskevat käsitykset muuttuvat, kun ihmiskunta saa siitä tarkempaa tietoa tieteellisellä tutkimuksella. Alkio suhtautui kriittisesti sekä sosialistisiin, kapitalistisiin että liberalistisiin talousteorioihin, koska ne eivät ota huomioon sitä, että talouselämä muodostuu ihmisten arkielämässä tekemistä yksilöllisistä valinnoista. Omaa kansantaloustiedettään Alkio kehitteli omavaraisen ja säästäväisen talonpoikaisen perhe-talouden pohjalle. Hän luki Suomen köyhälistökansoihin, joiden oli opittava puolustautumaan kapitalistimaiden riistoa vastaan. 1900-luvun alun luokkaristiriidat olivat hänen mukaansa seurausta sääty-yhteiskunnassa vallinneesta eriarvoisuudesta. Niistä päästään eroon vain nostamalla alistetussa asemassa olevien ihmisten sivistystasoa. Itsekasvatuksella ihminen kehittyy kunnon kansalaiseksi, joka ei tavoittele omaa etuaan vaan toimii yhteisen edun mukaisesti. Alkion poliittista toimintaa hallitsi snellmanilaisesta kansallisuusaatteesta johdettu pienviljelykseen ja osuustoimintaan perustuva elämäntapa, jossa keskeistä oli ns. maahenki. Maalaisliiton aatteellisena johtajana hän kehitti maahengestä puolueen ideologian. Hänen tavoittelemansa tulevaisuuden yhteiskunnan peruselinkeino oli maatalous, joka kasvattaa yhteiskunnan välttämättömyystarvikkeet. Hajasijoitettu teollisuus puolestaan tuottaa kulttuurituotteita. Alkion maaseutuhenkisen maailmankuvan mukaisesti henkisesti ja fyysisesti terve yhteiskunta voi perustua vain maaseutumaiseen elämäntapaan. Siksi keskittävästä kaupunkimaisesta elämäntavasta on siirryttävä hajasijoitukseen, desentralismiin.