The Evolution of Exaptation, and How Exaptation Survived Dennett’s Criticism

Abstract

The concept of exaptation is one of the most original contributions given by the late palaeontologist Stephen J. Gould to evolutionary thinking. Exaptation was the focus of many of his theoretical contributions to and critiques of the ‘Modern Synthesis’. It is only normal, then, that the concept has been at the centre of heated debates for more than 20 years. Our aim in this chapter is to offer an updated view on the matter in light of the most recent evolutionary literature. We will first reconstruct the theoretical background that led Gould to develop the idea of exaptation, showing the deep implications it has for the philosophy of biology. Then, we will focus on the paradigmatic critiques moved by philosopher Daniel Dennett in his Darwin’s Dangerous Idea. After having provided an explanation of the philosophical reasons that led Dennett to hold such a position, we will confront it from both an empirical and a theoretical perspective. On the one hand, our aim will be that of showing that exaptation has been fruitful for empirical researches in evolutionary biology and that its force is being more and more strengthened by recent developments in many fields of research (from palaeontology to evo-devo). On the other, we will analyse Dennett’s last book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back, in order to show that Dennett himself, implicitly, has come to accept more than a few conceptual implications that were closely tied to the ‘view from Harvard’ offered since the beginning by S. J. Gould and his co-authors.