Inheritance Systems and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Elements in the Philosophy of Biology Series

Current knowledge of the genetic, epigenetic, behavioural and symbolic systems of inheritance requires a revision and extension of the mid-twentieth-century, gene-based, 'Modern Synthesis' version of Darwinian evolutionary theory. We present the case for this by first outlining the history that led to the neo-Darwinian view of evolution. In the second section we describe and compare different types of inheritance, and in the third discuss the implications of a broad view of heredity for various aspects of evolutionary theory. We end with an examination of the philosophical and conceptual ramifications of evolutionary thinking that incorporates multiple inheritance systems.

1. The Modern Synthesis: a Neo-Darwinian, Genotypic View of Heredity and Evolution; 2. Characterizing Inheritance Systems; 3. The Evolutionary Implications of Nongenetic Inheritance; 4. Philosophical Implications: Is An Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Necessary?