Paper short abstract:

Based on Ingold's ideas, I discuss if Darwinism can be considered as an antidote to the anthropocentrism typical of Western thought, and I propose that teleological language found in common metaphors in popular-science books is an effect of the reductionism of the notion of natural selection.

Paper long abstract:

The work discusses neo-Darwinism, based on the contributions of Tim Ingold, questioning:

(a) whether the teleological language found in common metaphors in popular-science books constitutes an effect of the reductionism implicit in the idea of natural selection;

(b) whether the assumption that evolution takes place on strictly random bases necessarily presupposes the existence of a wastage underpinning biological variety;

(c) to what extent the random nature of evolution is challenged by recent discoveries in epigenetics and biochemistry;

(d) whether Darwinism can be acknowledged as an antidote to the anthropocentrism characteristic of Western thought.

Lastly, it posits that the reductionist view and the stochastic premises underlying neo-Dawinism are a hindrance on a dialog between biologists and social anthropologists, presumably found with greater frequency in the work of the former than the latter. A third hurdle, anthropocentrism, is common to both, though.