Actualism between uniformitarianists and catastrophists

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, the uniformitarian theory was introduced in geology, which was based on the uniform reproduction of observable data on current geological phenomena, to interpret the occurrence of these phenomena in the past. Their proponents sought to refute Catastrophism, which, in turn, sought to explain the same setting, basing himself in the occurrence of geological phenomena in the past, often more severe than currently observable. Despite the epistemological disagreements between these theories, both used the actualist method, which would yield without radicalism, the observable phenomena in the present, to explain phenomena in the past. This article will discuss this point of confluence between Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism, cognitive theories with divergent goals.