Editing Evolution (section)

=== Middle Ages ===

In contrast to these [[Materialism|materialistic]] views, [[Aristotelianism]] had considered all natural things as [[potentiality and actuality|actualisations]] of fixed natural possibilities, known as [[Theory of forms|forms]].<ref name="Torrey-1937">{{cite journal |last1=Torrey |first1=Harry Beal |last2=Felin |first2=Frances |date=March 1937 |title=Was Aristotle an Evolutionist? |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_quarterly-review-of-biology_1937-03_12_1/page/1 |journal=[[The Quarterly Review of Biology]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1086/394520 |issn=0033-5770 |jstor=2808399 |s2cid=170831302}}</ref><ref name="Hull-1967">{{cite journal |last=Hull |first=David L. |author-link=David Hull (philosopher) |date=December 1967 |title=The Metaphysics of Evolution |journal=[[The British Journal for the History of Science]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] on behalf of [[The British Society for the History of Science]] |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=309–337 |doi=10.1017/S0007087400002892 |jstor=4024958 |s2cid=170328394}}</ref> This became part of a medieval [[teleological]] understanding of [[Nature (philosophy)|nature]] in which all things have an intended role to play in a [[divine]] [[cosmos|cosmic]] order. Variations of this idea became the standard understanding of the [[Middle Ages]] and were integrated into Christian learning, but Aristotle did not demand that real types of organisms always correspond one-for-one with exact metaphysical forms and specifically gave examples of how new types of living things could come to be.<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|1962|pp=43–44}}</ref>

A number of Arab Muslim scholars wrote about evolution, most notably [[Ibn Khaldun]], who wrote the book ''[[Muqaddimah]]'' in 1377, in which he asserted that humans developed from "the world of the monkeys", in a process by which "species become more numerous".<ref name="Kiros-2001">Kiros, Teodros. ''Explorations in African Political Thought''. 2001, page 55</ref>