Ian Inkster

Category:TauTology
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Talk/talk.origins/2009-08/msg01706.html
=== natural selection ===
COMPARE:
"It is the influence of the environment, each generation, on which
particular individuals of a population do\don't reproduce."
WITH:
" The environment influences, each generation, which particular
individuals of a population do\don't reproduce. "
The first is a definition of natural selection. It cannot be
tautological, for it is but a mere noun-phrase, not even a statement.
It is a reply to the question "what is natural selection" and it
begins with "it is". So you certainly can't compare it with "What
happens happens.", which is a statement.
The second is a statement, but it is not the theory itself, and so
whether it is tautological doesn't matter. Call it tautological; it
doesn't matter.
The theory itself is " The course of a species' evolution is
influenced by natural selection, which is the influence of the
environment, each generation, on which particular individuals of a
population do\don't reproduce. "