smoothly continuous when it does occur (representing the relatively quick
transition that often accompanies a rebalancing of forces).
To end this admittedly vague section with the punch of paradox (and even
with a soundbite), I would simply note the almost delicious irony that the for-
mulation of a hierarchical theory of selection—the central concept of this book,
and invoking a non-vernacular meaning of hierarchy in the purely structural sense
of rising levels of inclusivity—engenders, as its most important consequence, the
destruction of a different and more familiar meaning of hierarchy: that is, the
hierarchy of relative value and importance embodied in Darwin's privileging of
organismic selection as the ultimate source of evolutionary change at all scales.
Thus, a structural and descriptive hierarchy of equally effective causal levels
undermines a more conventional hierarchy of relative importance rooted in
Darwin's exclusive emphasis on the micro-evolutionary mechanics of organismal
selection. And so, this structuralist view of nature's order enriches the structure of
evolutionary theory—carrying the difference between strict Darwinism and our
current understanding through more than enough metatheoretical space to fashion a
Falconerian, not merely a Darwinian, rebuilding and extension for our edifice of
coherent explanation.
A Personal Odyssey
For reasons beyond mere self-indulgence or egotism, I believe that defenders of
such general theories about large realms of nature owe their readers some
explanation for the personal bases and ontogeny of their choices—for at this level
of abstraction, no theory can claim derivation by simple logical or empirical
necessity from observed results, and all commitments, however well defended
among alternative possibilities, will also be influenced by authorial preferences of
a more contingent nature that must then be narrated in order to be understood.
Moreover, and in this particular case, the structure of this book includes a set of
vigorously idiosyncratic features that, if not acknowledged and justified, might
obscure the far more important raison d'etre for its composition: the presentation
of a tight brief for substantial reformulation in the structure of evolutionary theory,
with all threads of revision conceptually united into an argument of different thrust
and form, but still sufficiently continuous with its original Darwinian base to
remain within the same intellectual lineage and logic.
Two aspects of my idiosyncratic procedures require explicit commentary here
because, at least as my intention, they should reinforce this book's central argument
for coherence (logical, historical and empirical) of the revised and general structure
of evolutionary theory, and not further the opposite, albeit customary, function of
such "confessional" writing—namely, to slake authorial egos, fight old battles, and
relate twice-told tales to one's own advantage (although I claim no immunity from
these all too human foibles).
This book will be published in the Spring of 2002, an auspicious and
palindromic year just one step out of the starting gate for a new millennium.
34 THE STRUCTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY