[steveridout]

I'm currently reading "Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant and was struck by this even earlier reference to a process of evolution by natural selection:

> Empedocles (fl. 445 B.C., in Sicily) developed to a further stage the idea of evolution. Organs arise not by design but by selection. Nature makes many trials and experiments with organisms, combining organs variously; where the combination meets environmental needs the organism survives and perpetuates its like; where the combination fails, the organism is weeded out; as time goes on, organisms are more and more intricately and successfully adapted to their surroundings.

Durant, Will. Story of Philosophy (p. 82). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

[silicon2401]

Just commenting to say that this is a great book, and I would gladly recommend it to anybody wanting a basic overview of western philosophy. I don't know or care if it's the most academically or historically nuanced analysis; I just enjoyed getting a synopsis of different philosophers' lives and ideas.

[nobody9999]

>

Just commenting to say that this is a great book, and I would gladly recommend it to anybody wanting a basic overview of western philosophy. I don't know or care if it's the most academically or historically nuanced analysis; I just enjoyed getting a synopsis of different philosophers' lives and ideas.

Interesting, thanks. For a well organized and presented survey of the history of western civilization, I'd recommend Eugen Weber's[0] The Western Tradition[1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Weber

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCyO8meahME&list=PL1U_8A7q8L...

[techbio]

I would be pleased to hear from a classicist on this point as Durant compiled his history well after Darwin.

[ARandomerDude]

SEP's take on it: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/empedocles/#Zoog

[markdog12]

Thought of this, too. The Durants' "History of Civilization" is incredible, as well.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization