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(part of) Early theories of Albiogenesis
- This page traces the origins and uses of the modern ideas of evolutionism, evolutionist, and evolution, particularly those uses that preceded and those uses unrelated to Charles Darwin's uses of evolutionist and evolution in Origin of Species. For other meanings, see evolutionism (disambiguation). For technical details of the origin of species, see evolution.
Evolutionism is any one of a number of theories that the forms of things that exist today are restructurings and redevelopments of the forms that existed in the past. An evolutionist is a person that finds an evolutionism theory useful.
Since an evolutionism theory explains changes in terms of internal processes and the innate nature of atoms, generally an evolutionism theory has no role for divine intervention. Even before the 19th century, there were a few theories about the evolution of everything material: suns, moons, planets, earth, life, civilization, and society--all without divine intervention.
But by the middle of the 19th century, many scholars were developing evolutionism theories. There were evolutionism theories about geologic processes. There were evolutionism theories about how life sprang from inanimate matter. And there were evolutionism theories about how any one species could, over time, evolve into two species as different as humans and chimpanzees.
In modern times, the term evolution is widely used, but the terms evolutionism and evolutionist are rarely used in scientific circles. However, all three of these terms are commonly used by anthropologists, sociologists, and other scholars outside the physical and life sciences.
Scientists object to the terms evolutionism and evolutionist because the -ismThe English suffix ism was first used to form a noun of action from a verb, as in baptism from baptein a Greek word meaning "to dip", and then extended to systems of belief. The word ism was first used in 1680 and can be found in the works of such well-kn and -ist suffixes accentuate beliefBelief is assent to a proposition. Belief in the psychological sense, is a representational mental state that takes the form of a propositional attitude. In the religious sense, "belief" refers to a part of a wider spiritual or moral foundation, generally rather than factFact is the following: Generally a fact is something that exists or has existed, of evidence. In science, a fact is data supported by a scientific experiment. In law, a fact is a statement which is found to be true by a "tryer of fact," sometimes a jury,. Conversely, creationists use those same two terms precisely because the terms accentuate belief. Thereby the creationists deride the scientists' theories as mere belief that ignores divine intervention contrary to what creationists think is common senseFor the American independence advocacy pamphlet by Thomas Paine, see Common Sense. The term common sense (or as an adjective, commonsense describes beliefs or propositions that seem, to most people, to be prudent and of sound judgment, without dependence.
