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Darwin's Deliberations about Origin of Species

John St J. S. Buckeridge

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Charles Darwin published his controversial ideas on natural selection in “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. His deliberations whether to publish the book reflected:

  • Darwin’s anguish about reconciling religious beliefs and scepticism
  • his anxiety about the book’s acceptance by society
  • his uncertainty whether his colleagues would embrace his work

December 2009

Buckeridgepic.jpg

“Man is but a worm.” An unkindly caricature, published by Punch magazine as part of their 1882 Almanac in 1881, just prior to Charles Darwin’s death. The message shows that there was still much conjecture about the origin of species at that time.
Public Domain image.

Darwin’s Environment

The book “Origin of Species” is 150 years old in 2009.

The English physician and naturalist Erasmus Darwin died in 1802, approximately seven years before Charles Darwin’s birth. Nonetheless, he provided the philosophical framework and intellectual environment for his grandson Charles’ work on evolutionary theory, which led to the publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, [hereafter shortened to Origin of Species] in 1859.1 In his publication Zoönomia, Erasmus Darwin stated:

Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind… that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions and associations, and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!2

Although we would not easily identify this as modern heredity theory, it is likely that Charles Darwin would have viewed this as a strong rationale for seriously contemplating the likelihood of deep time and for questioning the immutability of species.

Darwins, demons, demiurges, and the anguish of discovery

Humans are not included in Origin of Species.

In his Origin of Species, Darwin provided a thesis that largely avoids the need for any divine intervention in the origin of life, although humans are not included in this “long argument” (Darwin’s term). Despite this omission, many of his 19th century contemporaries initially failed to embrace his work (e.g., Charles Lyell), or saw it as a direct threat to the established order of society.

Although enlightened with respect to earlier centuries, the British of the mid to late 1800s were far from a secular society; in particular, the Church of England had a very considerable influence on all aspects of life—including politics and science. Darwin was all too aware of this, and he agonized over the polarizing effect he knew his work would have—as many saw it as a direct threat to the widely accepted, and socially cohesive, relationship between man and God.3 It is clear that this antagonism deterred Darwin from discussing humanity’s place in evolution in the Origin of Species. Furthermore, it is a testament to his deep anguish about the likelihood of public rejection of his species theory.

Darwin felt pressured to reconcile science and religion.

The need to reconcile or soften his science with the spiritual (and visceral) disquietudes of many of his family and friends was perhaps the first of Darwin’s demons.4 Other demons included the inability to fully explain the process of heredity and insufficient time for evolution through natural selection. Nevertheless, his views upon the place of a demiurge (i.e., the Creator of the world) apparently changed, for although the first edition of Origin of Species had no reference to a God, he included due reverence to the Creator in the last paragraph of later editions.

Darwin addressed humans in a later book.

When he deemed the time right, Darwin finally placed humans in the greater scheme of things in his book, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871),5 wherein he firmly adheres to scientific principles. In addition, the evolution of man is debated, defended, and later verified on these principles.3 It is clear that Darwin would have had a much easier time of it if he had been living in the present because we:

  • more fully appreciate the magnitude of time that has elapsed since our world began;
  • have a comprehensive knowledge of the age of the Earth;
  • have a remarkably complete fossil record; and
  • possess a good understanding of the mechanisms of inheritance within living organisms.

We must consider that these advances followed the groundbreaking work of naturalists like those of the Darwin family, nonetheless.

Darwin and religion

Darwin projected an agnostic view.

The relationship Darwin had with religion is complex; early on, he had plans to enter the ministry, although his enthusiasm quickly waned.6 Even though Darwin was a theist in his early years, at the end, he was an agnostic (not certain if there is a God or other deities), rather than an atheist (believes there is no God or other deities), and he reflected upon this in his letters:

What my own views may be is a question of no consequence to any one but myself. But, as you ask, I may state that my judgment often fluctuates. … In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind.7

He never closed the door on religion.

It is of significance that Darwin did not close the door on religion, although in Descent of Man,5 he clearly entertained the idea that the Creator was potentially a manifestation of human culture:

The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator of the universe does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued culture.5

Science and spirituality

The discussion about science and religion is not new.

However, in light of current scientific advances, we should be mindful that any reconciliation of science through and within religion is almost certainly doomed to fail: the two concepts are incomparable—the former concept founded in empiricism, and the latter in faith. We should appreciate that this discussion is not new, nonetheless; and surprisingly, it was even opined by leaders in the early Christian Church, e.g. in 408 A.D., when Saint Augustine, in De Genesi ad litteram (The Literal Meaning of Genesis), lamented:

… it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for a Christian to talk nonsense on (elements of this world)… and we should take all means to prevent such embarrassment.8

Natural selection refers to life arising from non-living matter.

A key component of Darwinian evolution through natural selection is that life arose from non-living matter. In contrast, creationist dogma such as intelligent design (ID) states that life is too complicated to have been created through natural selection. If we accept that science is conducted objectively, and that it involves the systematized observation of, and experimentation with, phenomena, however, we must anticipate that some scientific theories may be falsi?able—i.e., conditions may arise under which a theory becomes untenable. When falsified, a new hypothesis to account for the observations is proposed.

ID has basic flaws that are detrimental to natural stewardship.

ID however, cannot be assessed scientifically—even though some proponents claim that “organic design” through the intervention of a supernatural body is legitimate science. Clearly, any restructuring of empiricism just to accommodate ID is inherent nonsense; at best, it is naïve; at worst, it is fraudulent and immoral. ID necessitates acceptance that all that humans observe (and experience) in nature is to some degree “pre-ordained.” From this, it is but a short move towards fundamentalist fatalism, which must ultimately result in the abdication of a duty of care towards other cultures, creeds, and the natural environment.

The essence of science embraces open inquiry.

This is totally incompatible with one of the most ennobling of human aspirations: environmental stewardship. Any widespread adoption of the principles of ID would induce catastrophic effects upon science because the essence of science embraces open inquiry, as well as the quest for truth. Furthermore, the inability of ID advocates to demonstrate any level of, or commitment to, empiricism, would ensure that the scientific process would come to an abrupt halt.9

Science and spirituality can exist in harmony.

There is more to this story than science or faith alone, however. Humans are spiritual beings, and arguably, there is a good reason for this.10 It is not imperative that we excise science in pursuit of spirituality (or vice versa). Although many religious groups have appreciated this point rather slowly, it would be advantageous for every person to accept sound science alongside their individual creeds.

Professor John Buckeridge is the Head of the School of Civil, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering at RMIT University. He is also Immediate Past President of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), Chairman of the IUBS Bioethics Committee, Past President of the International Society of Zoological Sciences, and he has acted as a consultant on environmental ethics to UNESCO’s COMEST (World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology). Professor Buckeridge is an Honorarprofessor at Wismar University, Germany, in recognition of his work in engineering ethics. He has published more than 250 books, journal articles, and reports, in subject areas that include geology, geological engineering, paleobiology, engineering systems, ethics, marine biology, forensics, and natural resources management.
http://rmit.org.au/browse;ID=2aj3ctcy9apt

Darwin's Deliberations about Origin of Species

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Understanding Evolution

Your one-stop source for information on evolution. Learn the facts in Evolution 101, browse the resource library, read about evolution in the news, or discover a wealth of materials to help educate others about evolution and related concepts—it’s all right here! http://evolution.berkeley.edu

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The Life of Charles Darwin.

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http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Life-of-Charles-Darwin.html#ixzz0ZxzqmCN9

Read Darwin Online

See links to online copies of all editions of Charles Darwin’s literature.
http://darwin-online.org.uk/

Charles Lyell

Charles Lyell was a British lawyer, and the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularized uniformitarianism—the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation today. Lyele was a close and influential friend of Charles Darwin.
http://www.victorianweb.org/science/lyell.html

Seeing is Believing

Review of the book by John Coyne, which illustrates one viewpoint of the never-ending attempt to reconcile science and religion.
http://www.tnr.com/article/books/seeing-and-believing

Panda’s Thumb Networking

The Panda’s Thumb is the “virtual pub” where “patrons gather to discuss evolutionary theory, critique the claims of the antievolution movement, defend the integrity of science and science education in America and around the world, and share good conversation.
http://pandasthumb.org/

Defend the teaching of evolution

The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization “working to defend the teaching of evolution.” The site lists a number of ways that individuals can help support the teaching of evolution.
http://ncse.com/

EvoTutor

Interactive simulations make learning about evolution enjoyable, created by a doctoral student of evolution, ecology, and behavior at the University of Austin, TX. Requires special applications.
http://www.evotutor.org/

Evolution Activities

The first link takes you to the PBS evolution series, which first aired in September 2001, has a superb website of teaching resources for evolution. The second link is for the rich activities created for the web site Understanding Evolution. The third takes you to ENSI’s resources.
- » http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/
- » http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/Lessons/index.shtml
- » http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/

Resources from NESCent

Curriculum resources from NESCent (National Evolutionary Synthesis Center) ?Find links and original class activities on various aspects of evolution. http://www.nescent.org/eog/curriculum.php

  1. Darwin, C. 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1st ed. London: John Murray.
  2. Darwin, E. 1794. Zoönomia, Part 1. London: J. Johnson.
  3. Buckeridge, J.S. In press. The ongoing evolution of humanness: perspectives from Darwin to de Chardin. South African Journal of Science 105.
  4. Browne, J. 1995. Charles Darwin Voyaging: Part 1 of a Biography. London: Random House.
  5. Spencer, N. 2009. Darwin and God. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
  6. Darwin, C. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1st ed., p. 395. London: John Murray.
  7. Darwin, F. (ed.) 1887. The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter, Vol. 1, p. 304. London: John Murray.
  8. Taylor, J. H. (ed). 1982. The Literal Meaning of Genesis (De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim). In Ancient Christian Writers, Vol. 41. Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press.
  9. Buckeridge, J. S. 2007. Creationism and Intelligent Design: a critique. In Dossier Évolution et créationnisme. Natures Sciences Sociétés 15(4): 405–406.
  10. Wade, N. 2009. The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and why it Endures. New York: Penguin.

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