Darwinian EvolutionAntony Flew In little more than a hundred years the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin has conquered the thinking world. No other body of ideas has enjoyed such unrivaled success. But precisely because of its scientific status, Darwinism has sometimes been invoked to sustain other ideas and beliefs with a much less solid foundation. "Darwinian Evolution "is a study of the historical background of Darwin's ideas, of their logical structure, and of their alleged and actual implications. Flew explores the Scottish Enlightenment, an important and often neglected aspect of Darwin's intellectual background. He compares Darwin with such figures as Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and Karl Marx, emphasizing not the similarities, but the differences between the natural and social sciences. Flew argues that social science must do what natural science does not: take account of individual choice. He examines the creationist controversy in Britain and the United States and discusses the possibility of a human sociobiology. In his new introduction, Flew updates his book by discussing relevant works that have appeared since it was published thirteen years ago. He discusses two different tendencies among both social scientists and those who develop or promote social policies according to various findings in the social sciences: (1) to assume there is no such thing as human nature; and (2) to take no account of the possibility that differences between sets of individuals may be genetically determined. Flew maintains that both these tendencies violate Darwin's theory. "Darwinian Evolution "is an intriguing study that should be read by sociologists, biologists, philosophers, and all those interested in the impact of Darwin and his work. |
From inside the book
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Antony Flew. DARWINIAN EVOLUTION Social Policy and Social Theory Series David Marsland , Series.
... EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE 120 1. A Guarantee of Progress ? 121 2. From Is to Ought 124 3. Seeing in an Evolutionary Perspective 129 BIBLIOGRAPHY 133 INDEX 145 INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION Darwinian Evolution was originally ...
... evolution " and the starting point is Darwin . So chapter 1 begins with an account of Darwin's own life and work , followed by a summary of his theory as it was first publicly presented in The Origin of Species . From a consideration of ...
... Evolution should see realizations of these tendencies as cases of refusal to accept a most important implication of Darwin's theory . That most im- portant implication is that our own in several ways unique species evolved from what we ...
... Evolution , " in M. Fairburn and W.H. Oliver , eds . , The Certainty of Doubt : Tributes to Peter Munz ( Wellington : Victoria University Press , 1996 ) . Here Freeman deploys evidence showing that Franz Boas and his closest associates ...
Contents
FROM DARWINS ORIGIN TO TODAYS SYNTHETIC THEORY | 1 |
CHARLES DARWIN 180982 | 2 |
THE ARGUMENT OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES | 10 |
BLENDING VARIATION ANDOR SALTATORY MUTATION? | 20 |
DIFFICULTIES OBJECTIONS AND SOME ANSWERS | 23 |
THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS | 32 |
THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF DARWINS THEORY | 33 |
THE CHALLENGE TO RELIGIOUS ASSUMPTIONS | 51 |
MAKING VISIBLE THE INVISIBLE HANDS | 83 |
AN ATHEIST PROVIDENCE GUARANTEEING UTOPIA? | 92 |
THE CHALLENGE OF SOCIOBIOLOGY | 113 |
PROGRESS SOCIAL DARWINISM AND AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE | 120 |
A GUARANTEE OF PROGRESS? | 121 |
FROM IS TO OUGHT | 124 |
SEEING IN AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE | 129 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 133 |
SOCIAL SCIENCE EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY | 73 |
MALTHUS POWERS CHECKS AND CHOICE | 74 |
INDEX | 145 |