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| Named Person: | Charles Darwin; Charles Darwin |
|---|---|
| Material Type: | Internet resource |
| Document Type: | Book, Internet Resource |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Michael Ruse |
| ISBN: | 0521631440 9780521631440 |
| OCLC Number: | 43287802 |
| Description: | xi, 242 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. |
| Contents: | Prologue -- Darwinism -- Christianity -- Origins -- Humans -- Naturalism -- Design -- Pain -- Extraterrestrials -- Christian ethics -- Social Darwinism -- Sociobiology -- Freedom and determinism -- Epilogue. |
| Responsibility: | Michael Ruse. |
| More information: |
Abstract:
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WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Adequately written, I disagree with viewpoint
Michael Ruse is an academic philosopher of science who has struggled with the nature of evolution and its relationship to ethics and religion throughout his career. He has written a number of books critiquing Creationism, but he is usually more willing to engage and debate creationists than some other...
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Michael Ruse is an academic philosopher of science who has struggled with the nature of evolution and its relationship to ethics and religion throughout his career. He has written a number of books critiquing Creationism, but he is usually more willing to engage and debate creationists than some other writers.
In this book, he explores how one could reconcile Darwin's theory of evolution via natural selection with some form of Christianity. The book is readable, and he presents his ideas clearly. I personally do not agree with his way of reconciling the two, but his theory is coherent.
As I see it, there are at least two ways to reconcile some form of Christianity and evolution. One is to view evolution as God's way of acting in the world. The brutish parts of life are necessary for progress. One ends up with a Leibnizian/Panglossian philosophy of this being the best of all possible worlds. The world was created by God, so the world is good, and evolution is the source of goodness, though the process can be painful.
A second way is to associate natural selection with original sin. What is the Garden of Eden story about? Sex. What is the resurrection to deliver us from? Death. What drives natural selection? Sex and death. In this view, Christ calls us specifically to act contrary to our reproductive interests. God's kingdom is not of this world. Evolution is an accurate description of how the world works, but religion calls one to transcend worldly things.
Clearly, Ruse's reconciliation is of the first variety. The problem with this view is that it argues that the ends justify the means; that might equals right. While this can work with some forms of muscular Christianity, one can see the tension with the main body of Christian doctrine. If one choses the second path, there is left the question: if God is all loving, why did God create such a nasty world? That, it seems to me, is a much more contained question than the myriad problems raised by Ruse's solution.
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Related Subjects:(13)
- Evolution (Biology) -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
- Evolution (Biology) -- Philosophy.
- Darwin, Charles, -- 1809-1882.
- Religion and science.
- Évolution (Biologie) -- Aspect religieux -- Christianisme.
- Darwinisme.
- Religion et sciences.
- Geloof en wetenschap.
- Evolutietheorie.
- Naturwissenschaften.
- Darwinismus.
- Evolutionstheorie.
- Christentum.
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