Includes bibliographical references and index.

I. Philosophy -- Is biology an anonymous science? -- Cause and effect in biology The multiple meanings of teleological -- The probability of extraterrestrial intelligent life -- The origins of human ethics -- II. Natural selection -- An analysis of the concept of natural selection -- Philosophical aspects of natural selection -- III. Adaptation -- Adaptation and selection -- How to carry out the adaptionist program? -- IV. Darwin -- Darwin, intellectual revolutionary -- The challenge of Darwinism -- Darwin and natural selection -- The concept of finality in Darwin and after Darwin -- The death of Darwin? -- V. Diversity -- Toward a synthesis in biological classification -- Museums and biological laboratories -- Problems in the classification of birds -- VI. Species -- The species category -- The ontology of the species taxon -- VII. Speciation -- Processes of speciation in animals -- Evolution of fish species flocks -- VIII. Macroevolution -- Does microevolution explain macroevolution? -- The unity of the genotype -- Speciation and macroevolution -- Speciational evolution through punctuated equilibria -- IX. Historical perspective -- On Weismann's growth as an evolutionist -- On the evolutionary synthesis and after.