It’s hard to imagine the pre-Darwinian mindset

It’s hard to imagine the pre-Darwinian mindset. Things Were seen as immutable, having a Platonic essence – a poor reflection of their perfect universal form, in some kind of vague Platonic heaven… a cat is not the best of all cats, but simply a reflection or ‘essence’ of some perfect geometric cat. It’s been said, if Darwin had not read: Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus, that he wouldn’t have discovered the driving mechanism of evolutionary change – Natural Selection. Malthus recognized the geometric increase in population of reproducing offspring, would lead to a scarcity of natural resources… this led Darwin to realize that variation of individuals within a species, would lead to a survival advantage of one animal over another… a perfect example of the mind suddenly switching to a new, less specialized dimension – from Platonic essence to Darwinian mutability. The Prime Law will similarly switch individuals to a new dimension.
Craig H.