Darwin and design : does evolution have a purpose? / Michael Ruse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ruse, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology)--Philosophy.

Evolution (Biology).

Teleology.

Physical Description:

x, 371 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2003.

Summary:

The Intricate forms of Living Things bespeak design, and thus a creator: nearly 150 years after Darwin's theory of natural selection called this argument into question, we still speak of life in terms of design -- the function of the eye, the purpose of the webbed foot, the design of the fins. Why is the "argument from design" so tenacious, and does Darwinism -- itself still evolving after all these years -- necessarily undo it? The definitive work on these contentious questions, Darwin and Design surveys the argument from design from its introduction by the Greeks, through the coming of Darwinism, down to the present day. In clear, non-technical language Michael Ruse, a well-known authority on the history and philosophy of Darwinism, offers a full and fair assessment of the status of the argument from design in light of both the advances of modern evolutionary biology and the thinking of today's philosophers -- with special attention given to the supporters and critics of "intelligent design." The first comprehensive history and exposition of Western thought about design in the natural world, this important work suggests directions for our thinking as we move into the twenty-first century. A thoroughgoing guide to a perennially controversial issue, the book makes its own substantial contribution to the ongoing debate about the relationship between science and religion, and between evolution and its religious critics.

Contents:

1 Two Thousand Years of Design 9

2 Paley and Kant Fight Back 31

3 Sowing the Seeds of Evolution 51

4 A Plurality of Problems 69

5 Charles Darwin 89

6 A Subject Too Profound 107

7 Darwinian against Darwinian 129

8 The Century of Evolutionism 151

9 Adaptation in Action 171

10 Theory and Test 195

11 Formalism Redux 223

12 From Function to Design 249

13 Design as Metaphor 271

14 Natural Theology Evolves 291

15 Turning Back the Clock 313.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [339]-357) and index.

ISBN:

067401023X

OCLC:

50899040