[MD] An attempt to reconcile the Metaphysics of Quality with the Cartesian dichotomy and ordinary epistemology

[craigerb at comcast.net]

[Alexander]
> Now first, what is natural selection? "The survival of the fittest" Now,
> what is fitness? That's being adapted to the surroundings. But what does
> that mean? Well, it means knowing a lot of things about the surroundings. In
> usual neodarwinism, you say that natural selection means: the genetic
> pattern being most adapted is the pattern managing to reproduce itself on a
> larger scale than other patterns, and thus increasing its share of the
> population total relative to those other patterns.
> But this is, in fact, a tautology. Logically reduced, it becomes "those
> becoming most are becoming more than those becoming less".

Your entire post was excellent--I'm not sure the MoQ Discuss can improve upon it.
Except, I do disagree with the part quoted above.  "The survival of the fittest" is not
a tautology nor was it meant to be one.  First, consider the individual case:
A mountain goat that is sure-footed is fitter to survive than one that is not.
But that does not mean an unexpected avalanche cannot kill the former
but not the latter.  So it is a contingent (not necessary) matter whether the 
former out-survives the latter.   
Instead of individuals, let's look at the trait of "sure-footedness":
Having the trait of sure-footedness makes it more likely that the individual will
have reproductive success (the ram has better mounting ability),
so it is expected that the proportion of the population
that are sure-footed goats will increase over time.  But again, this is a contingent
matter, though the odds favor it.  
Craig