Word.ws English Dictionary

Dawkinsian

Dawkinsian adjective: relating to the "selfish gene" view on evolution as proposed by Richard Dawkins.

Adjective

Dawkinsian (comparative more Dawkinsian, superlative most Dawkinsian)

  1. Relating to the "selfish gene" view on evolution as proposed by Richard Dawkins.
    • In an essay entitled 'Selfish Genes and Social Darwinism' (1983, p.366) she argues that 'sociobiological thinking, especially in its Dawkinsian form, actually reinforces Social Darwinism, both by its language and by some of its substance'.1985, Tony Solomonides, Les Levidow, Compulsive Technology: Computers as Culture, page 42
    • In two papers, I argued that differential selection ought to favor more nearly decomposable or more quasi-independent phenotypes, so that the evolution of or selection for quasi-independence paradoxically meant that if a Williamsian or Dawkinsian genic selectionist picture is true, it is true...1993, Werner Callebaut, Taking the Naturalistic Turn, Or How Real Philosophy of Science Is Done, page 162
  2. Stridently atheist, like Richard Dawkins.
    • […] two million people convinced and converted to Dawkinsian atheistic humanism.2010, Amarnath Amarasingam, Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal, page 121
    • From that moment, I became an atheist — but we still remained best friends (probably because neither of us tried to convert the other). Let me state right now that I was never Dawkinsian in either temperament or zeal.2012, Keith Allen, The God Conclusion, page 54

Examples of Dawkinsian in a sentence

  • It is not entirely clear how much the Dawkinsian perspective has to do with the issues of present concern.2002, John Dupré, Humans and Other Animals, page 162:
  • The suggestion that Rolston diverges from Darwinism could also be directed at Ward when he seeks to supplement Dawkinsian, gene-machine-like, accounts of evolution by reference to a guiding purpose.2006, Robin Attfield, Creation, Evolution and Meaning, page 145:

Forms of Dawkinsian

comparativemore Dawkinsian
superlativemost Dawkinsian

Origin of Dawkinsian

From Dawkins + -ian, after Richard Dawkins.

Questions about Dawkinsian

What does Dawkinsian mean?
Dawkinsian means relating to the "selfish gene" view on evolution as proposed by Richard Dawkins.
How do you use Dawkinsian in a sentence?
It is not entirely clear how much the Dawkinsian perspective has to do with the issues of present concern.
What part of speech is Dawkinsian?
Dawkinsian is an adjective.

Words near Dawkinsian in the dictionary

  1. Dawkin
  2. dawking
  3. Dawkinite
  4. Dawkinites
  5. Dawkins
  6. Dawkinsian
  7. Dawkinsite
  8. Dawkinsites
  9. dawks
  10. Dawley
  11. Dawley Hamlets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dawkinsian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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