SEXUAL SELECTION AND HUMAN EVOLUTION A CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHARLES DARWIN AND ALFRED WALLACE ABOUT THE PARSIMONY AND SCIENCE UNITY PRINCIPLE

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) hold a bifacial scientific controversy about the inclusion of sexual selection as an alternative selection principle and about the insertion of metaphysical principles for the explanation of some complexities related to the emergence of culture in human evolution. First, I will analyze the methodological dimension of the arguments to tackle sexual selection with some ramifications of the controversy in the xx century. Second, I will point out the axiological side of the controversy where we can see the role of opinions, axiological claims, and beliefs in the discussion of scientific theories.