Luque, Víctor J. (2016) The Principle of Stasis: Why drift is not a Zero-Cause Law. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 57. pp. 71-79. ISSN 1369-8486

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Abstract

This paper analyses the structure of evolutionary theory as a quasi-Newtonian theory and the need to establish a Zero-Cause Law. Several authors have postulated that the special character of drift is because it is the default behaviour or Zero-Cause Law of evolutionary systems, where change and not stasis is the normal state of them. For these authors, drift would be a Zero-Cause Law, the default behaviour and therefore a constituent assumption impossible to change without changing the system. I defend that drift's causal and explanatory power prevents it from being considered as a Zero-Cause Law. Instead, I propose that the default behaviour of evolutionary systems is what I call the Principle of Stasis, which posits that an evolutionary system where there is no selection, drift, mutation, migration, etc., and therefore no difference-maker, will not undergo any change (it will remain in stasis).

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Luque, Víctor J. victor.luque@uv.es
Keywords:	Evolutionary theory, drift, zero-cause law, theory of forces
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Depositing User:	Dr. Víctor Luque
Date Deposited:	05 Apr 2026 12:32
Last Modified:	05 Apr 2026 12:32
Item ID:	28913
Journal or Publication Title:	Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2016.04.001
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Date:	1 June 2016
Page Range:	pp. 71-79
Volume:	57
ISSN:	1369-8486
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28913

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