Darwin’s Analogical Argument: The Rhetorical Function between the Artificial and the Natural

Abstract

The evolutionary theory became a strong paradigm in Biology after Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection was published in 1859. This work presents part of the laboratory trials as well as dada taken from Darwin’s investigation and consideration on nature in order to support nature’s selective regulation through an analogy. The rhetoric and the rationality were present in the Darwinian speech. From a philosophical point of view, researches on Darwin carried out by the analytical tradition in Philosophy put forth studies aiming the logical aspect of the Darwinian argument. I present here an analytical perspective from the rhetorical tradition, mainly the theory of argumentation from the Chaim Perelman School.