Putting Peirce's Theory to the Test: Peircean Evolutionary Algorithms

While Charles Darwin proposed one of the first systematic arguments evidencing evolution, alternatives with a strong empirical grounding exist. These alternatives deserve our attention, if only because some of them claim to correct the oversights in Darwin's theory. Charles Sanders Peirce put f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 203 - 237
Main Authors: Koshul, Basit B, Akhtar, Junaid, Awais, Mian M
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press 01.04.2013
Subjects:
Algorithms
Analysis
Biological evolution
Biology
Computer science
Contemporary problems
Crossovers
Darwin, Charles (1809-1882)
Darwinism
Epistemology. Philosophy of science. Theory of knowledge
Evolution
Evolutionary algorithms
Evolutionary theories
Firstness
Genetic algorithms
Hypotheses
Mathematical functions
Peirce, Charles Sanders (1839-1914)
Philosophy
Population genetics
Pragmatism
Raw materials
Secondness
Test theory
Theory
Thirdness
systems biology
Charles Sanders Peirce
Knowledge theory
evolutionary algorithms
theories of evolution
stagnation
Charles Darwin
epigenetics
ISSN:0009-1774, 1558-9587
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:While Charles Darwin proposed one of the first systematic arguments evidencing evolution, alternatives with a strong empirical grounding exist. These alternatives deserve our attention, if only because some of them claim to correct the oversights in Darwin's theory. Charles Sanders Peirce put forth one such theory. This article devises a novel Peircean Evolutionary Algorithm for finding the solution to a class of optimization problems in the domain of Evolutionary Computation (EC). The results are computed against a benchmark highdimensional set of mathematical functions and compared with standard Darwinian Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) and their advanced variants. Although there is further work to be done, this research meets four different but interrelated objectives: 1) To highlight the difference between Darwinian and Peircean understandings of natural evolution, 2) To show how cutting-edge work in molecular biology, symbiogenesis, epigenetics, and systems biology are moving in the direction of Peirce's ideas, 3) To propose a Peircean evolutionary framework that can act as a theoretical foundation for EC, and 4) To meet at least one major challenge facing the Evolutionary Computation community: convergence to local minima due to stagnation.
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ISSN:0009-1774
1558-9587
DOI:10.2979/trancharpeirsoc.49.2.203