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—in 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 absence of cause, but the appearance of causality under complex conditions.