Abstract:

This paper argues that the conventional view of mutation as a purely stochastic process is philosophically and empirically insufficient. Grounded in the methodology of dialectical materialism, the argument challenges the dogma of “random mutation” by emphasizing the role of material conditions-especially the environment shaping genetic variation. Drawing on John Cairns’ landmark bacterial experiments, as well as contemporary insights from epigenetics, the article proposes a model in which mutation is not aimless, but a dynamic reaction to external stimuli. In dialectical terms, chance is not the absence of cause, but the appearance of causality under complex conditions.