La Paradoja Transformista y el Equilibrio Puntuado (The Transformist Paradox and Punctuated Equilibrium)

Abstract

Spanish abstract: Examinamos las observaciones de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin sobre lo que él denomina "La paradoja transformista" subrayando cómo anticipa la célebre teoría evolucionista del "equilibrio puntuado" de Stephen Jay Gould y Niles Eldredge, teoría que supuso una revolución conceptual en la biología evolucionista y una revisión significativa del darwinismo. Teilhard de Chardin, frecuentemente menospreciado como biólogo evolucionista, entre otros por el propio Gould, razona sin embargo de modo certero y científicamente correcto sobre este punto, y ofrece una perspectiva sobre la evolución que es alternativa al darwinismo clásico, apoyándose en su amplia experiencia como paleontólogo.

English abstract: This paper examines Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's observations on what he calls 'the Transformist paradox' emphasizing its kinship with the celebrated evolutionist theory of 'punctuated equilibrium' put forward by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, a theory which effected a conceptual revolution in evolutionary biology and a significant revision of darwinism. Teilhard de Chardin, often disregarded as an evolutionary biologist, among others by Gould himself, offers nonetheless an insightful an scientifically correct reasoning on this issue, and, based on his wide experience as a paleontologist, he provides a perspective on evolution which is an alternative to classical darwinism.

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Keywords: Biology, Evolutionary biology, Evolutionism, Evolution, Punctuated equilibrium, Species, Origin of species, Teilhard de Chardin, Darwinism, Stephen J. Gould