Neo-Darwinism; Naturalism against Empirical Evidence

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

PhD in Philosophy of Religion, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

In this article, after describing the content of the theory of Evolution from Darwin to the formation of modern synthesis or Neo-Darwinism, its theological implications are discussed. In particular, the Neo-Darwinian reading of Evolution is a ground for many Neo-Darwinists to advance the idea of naturalism. A critical aspect in the Neo-Darwinists defense of naturalism is their emphasis on following empirical evidence to shape their worldview. The second approach to Evolution is Intelligent Design. Although they are generally be presented as opposed to Evolution in the sense of a common ancestor, the central idea of this movement is the need for design in the process of Evolution, and they don't necessarily deny the Evolution from a common ancestor. Nevertheless, Neo-Darwinists often accuse the Intelligent Design movement of being unscientific and having religious motives. As a result, despite the scientific efforts of the Intelligent Design movement, there is no positive view of it in academia. But another interesting approach to Evolution is the third-way or post-Darwinian Evolution. It is opposed to intelligent design, but it has crucial criticisms of the Neo-Darwinian Evolution reading based on new biological evidence. But Neo-Darwinists confrontation with this evidence does not seem to be consistent with their claim to follow empirical evidence.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  • Axe, Douglas (2016) Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed. First edition. New York, New York: HarperOne.
  • Behe, Michael J. (1996) Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. New York: Free Press.
  • Behe, Michael J. (2007) The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism. New York: Free Press.
  • Conway Morris, Simon (2003) Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Conway Morris, Simon (2009) “The Predictability of Evolution: Glimpses into a Post-Darwinian World.” Naturwissenschaften 96 (11): 1313–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0607-9.
  • Conway Morris, Simon (2013) “Life: The Final Frontier for Complexity?” In Complexity and the Arrow of Time, edit. Charles H. Lineweaver, Paul C. W. Davies, and Michael Ruse, 135–61. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO978113922 5700.010.
  • Conway Morris, Simon (2015) The Runes of Evolution: How the Universe Became Self-Aware. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press.
  • Coyne, Jerry A. (2009) Why Evolution Is True. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Darwin, Charles (2009) The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Including an Autobiographical Chapter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Dawkins, Richard (1995) River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life. Science Masters. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  • Dawkins, Richard (1996) The Blind Watchmaker. W. W. Norton and Company.
  • Dembski, William (1998) The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities. Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Dembski, William (2004) The Design REvolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press.
  • Dembski, William (2007) No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Dennett, Daniel C. (2006) “Atheism and Evolution.” In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edit. Michael Martin, 1st ed., 135–48. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521842700.009.
  • Forrest, Barbara (2001) “The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent DesignCreationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream.” in Intelligent DesignCreationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives, Robert T. Pennock. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
  • Futuyma, Douglas J. (2005) Sunderland, Massachusetts U.S.A: Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers.
  • Futuyma, Douglas J.; Mark Kirkpatrick (2017) Fourth edition. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers.
  • Gould, Stephen Jay (1977) Ever since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History. 1st ed. New York: Norton.
  • Kauffman, Stuart (2008) Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason and Religion. New York: Basic Books.
  • Kauffman, Stuart (2013) “Evolution beyond Newton, Darwin, and Entailing Law: The Origin of Complexity in the Evolving Biosphere.” In Complexity and the Arrow of Time, edit. Charles H. Lineweaver, Paul C. W. Davies, and Michael Ruse, 162–90. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139225700.011.
  • Kauffman, Stuart (2014) At Home in the Universe The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. Cary: Oxford University Press, USA.
  • Lewontin, richard (1997) “Billions and Billions of Demons.” The New York Review, January 9, 1997. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1997 /01/09/billions-and-billions-of-demons/.
  • Meyer, Stephen (2010) Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. New York; Enfield: HarperOne; Publishers Group UK distributor.
  • Meyer, Stephen (2013) Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design. First Edition. New York, NY: HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.
  • Monton, Bradley John (2009) Seeking God in Science: An Atheist Defends Intelligent Design. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press.
  • Noble, Denis (2017) Dance to the Tune of Life: Biological Relativity. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Pennock, Robert T. (1999) Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
  • Rafferty, John P. (2011) New Thinking about Evolution. New York: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services. https://archive.org/details/newthinkingabout0000unse.
  • Shapiro, James Alan (2011) Evolution: A View from the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River, N. J: FT Press Science.

Yockey, Hubert P. (2005) Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life. New York: Cambridge University Press. 

Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 15, Issue 37 - Serial Number 37
Special Issue: Interaction Between Sciences and Philosophy (In Persian)
2021
Pages 271-301

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics