doctrine of descent

British  

noun

1. the theory that animals and plants arose by descent from previously existing organisms; theory of evolution

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Example Sentences

But it is the doctrine of descent based upon natural selection that is Darwinism itself.

From Naturalism And Religion by Otto, Rudolf

De Vries' theory in no way affects the doctrine of descent, nor does it take away from the importance of natural selection in fixing the variations.

From Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Ellwood, Charles A. (Charles Abram)

At all events, our diagnoses must be freed from these intermediate breaks or failures in the chain of continuity, or the doctrine of descent must tumble with the imaginary foundations on which it is built.

From Life: Its True Genesis by Wright, R. W.

All that agnostic science and the evolution philosophy had to teach, George Eliot accepted, its doctrine of descent, its new psychology, and its theories of society and human destiny.

From George Eliot; a Critical Study of Her Life, Writings & Philosophy by Cooke, George Willis

To establish convincingly the doctrine of descent with modification as a theory of species, it was necessary for him to develop the theory of adaptation which we now know as natural selection.

From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous