Evolution vs the Creator

For Linnaeus, it was self-evident that nothing exists without a cause, and that all causal chains ultimately go back to the first, infinite and perfect Cause, i.e. the Creator. In modern ecology, we talk about ultimate explanations - how evolution over generations led to a certain adaptation. However, we see similarities with today's ecological reasoning when Linnaeus speaks of secondary causes; what we now call proximate explanations – mechanisms for how, for example, physiological processes interact with the environment.

Last modified: 2022-10-25