Evolutionary emergence of purposive goals and values : a naturalistic teleology / Donald A. Crosby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crosby, Donald A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2023]

Summary:

Where do the purposes, values, and existential meanings of the world come from? For many, they are conferred on the world and on humans within the world by a supernatural, transcendent, personal divine creator and sustainer. For others, they result from a God or divine presence residing within nature. For still others, they give evidence of mind and spirit as primordial principles suffusing nature from the outset and in all of its forms. In Evolutionary Emergence of Purposive Goals and Values, Donald A. Crosby takes issue with each of these views. His thesis is that mind, meaning, purpose, and value come into existence with the evolutionary emergence of life, and that evolution itself gives evidence of the creative power of two primordial natural principles: matter-energy and time. There is no overarching purpose, value, or meaning of nature as such, but there is a plethora of such factors evident in the evolved life forms of nature here on earth. This fact is especially evident in the day-to-day experiences, aspirations, and concerns of us evolutionarily-evolved human beings. Purpose, meaning, and value are therefore gifts of evolutionary nature, not of any supernatural or non-natural principle, presence, or power.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Six Interpretations of Teleology

Two Meanings of Telos

Teleology and Values

Evolutionary Origin and Development of Telic Values

Panpsychism and Emergent Novelty

Organization as the Key to Mind

Teleology and Two Kinds of Religious Faith

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438493985

1438493983

OCLC:

1410920871