Gould, Darwin e l'ombra dello Zeitgeist

The aim of this essay is, on one side, to explore the Stephen Jay Gould’s evolutionistic thought – from the theory of punctuated equilibria to the human neoteny – as a deep renovation of Darwinian theory of Natural Selection. On the other side, we will illustrate how Gould was able to find in Darwin's scientific doctrine the influence of his personal liberal views, especially about the idea of evolutionary gradualism. Furthermore, we will also individuate in Gould’s work the effect of the socio-political climate of his time on his radical renewal of Evolutionism. At last, we will discuss about the relationship between scientific imagination and creative spirit of childhood, as an expression of psychic neoteny of Homo sapiens.