Title
Darwin and Design : Does Evolution Have a Purpose? / Michael Ruse.
ISBN
9780674043015
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2004]
Copyright
©2004
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (384 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674043015 doi
Call Number
QH360
Dewey Decimal Classification
576.801
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.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Dez 2022)
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 Two Thousand Years of Design
2 Paley and Kant Fight Back
3 Sowing the Seeds of Evolution
4 A Plurality of Problems
5 Charles Darwin
6 A Subject Too Profound
7 Darwinian against Darwinian
8 The Century of Evolutionism
9 Adaptation in Action
10 Theory and Test
11 Formalism Redux
12 From Function to Design
13 Design as Metaphor
14 Natural Theology Evolves
15 Turning Back the Clock
Sources and Suggested Reading
Illustration Credits
Acknowledgments
Index
