Natural Selection Not Inconsistent With Natural Theology - Softcover

Asa Gray

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0371239591 ISBN 13: 9780371239599

Publisher: HardPress, 2021

Synopsis

Natural Selection Not Inconsistent With Natural Theology: A Free Examination Of Darwin's Treatise On The Origin Of Species, And Of Its American Reviewers by Asa Gray. Asa Gray provides a comprehensive, skeptical appraisal of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, presenting a literary survey of the grounds for and against the theory of evolution through natural selection. The piece opens with tempered acceptance of some Darwinian ideas, such as variation and the struggle for existence, but quickly surveys objections rooted in theology, philosophy, and geology. Gray tracks four main lines of inquiry: the grounds for derivation of species, the role of natural selection, the implications for human origins, and the compatibility of Darwin's theory with design and natural theology. He cites independent reviewers (Pictet, Agassiz, Lyell, etc.) and analyzes their positions, arguing that while Darwin's theory explains many phenomena, it does not render final causes obsolete and may be harmonized with religious belief. The work ends with a cautious stance: derivative hypotheses are plausible and potentially useful, but not proven, and the science should proceed while maintaining respect for religious commitments.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371239591
• ISBN 13: 9780371239599
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 104