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Richard Dawkins

Dawkins is best known for his popularisation of the gene as the principal unit of selection in evolution; this view is most clearly set out in his books:

  • The Selfish Gene (1976), in which he notes that "all life evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities".
  • The Extended Phenotype (1982), in which he describes natural selection as "the process whereby replicators out-propagate each other".

Dawkins has consistently been sceptical about non-adaptive processes in evolution (such as spandrels, described by Gould and Lewontin) and about selection at levels "above" that of the gene. He is particularly sceptical about the practical possibility or importance of group selection as a basis for understanding altruism.

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Natural selection occurs at the gene level, not at organism or group level. Genes are selfish, not organisms or groups.

 

"Replicators" are the genes, "vehicles" are the organisms.