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Work #1232 · Mid

The Blind Watchmaker

Richard Dawkins
1986 · English
Popular science / Evolutionary biology · Scientific naturalism / Neo-Darwinian synthesis

Dawkins's 1986 popular-evolutionary work — natural selection as proper alternative to design argument

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Blind Watchmaker (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Variable
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Blind Watchmaker

The 1986 publication moment; the geological-evolutionary time-scale.

Space

The Blind Watchmaker

The biological-evolutionary setting.

Matter

The Blind Watchmaker

The biological organisms whose evolution natural selection explains.

Observer

The Blind Watchmaker

The disciplined-naturalist scientific observer as proper subject.

Energy

The Blind Watchmaker

The selective-evolutionary energies of natural selection.

Information

The Blind Watchmaker

The cumulative-genetic content of evolutionary heredity.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Blind Watchmaker

The Blind Watchmaker has been universally cited as foundational popular-evolutionary work; religious-design-argument critics maintain rival positions; subsequent biological-evolutionary work has refined and complicated specific claims.