Genes, Genesis and God: Values and Their Origins in Natural and Human History (The Gifford Lectures)

Can the phenomena of religion and ethics be reduced to the phenomena of biology? Holmes Rolston says no, and in this sweeping account of the subject, written with considerable verve and clarity, he challenges the sociobiological orthodoxy that would naturalize science, ethics, and religion. The book is thoroughly up to date on current biological thought and is written by one of the most well-respected figures in the philosophy of biology and religion. It is likely to provoke considerable controversy among a wide range of readers in such fields as philosophy, religious studies, and biology, as well as being suitable for courses on science and religion.

If you're going to draw together genetics, science in general, ethics, and religion, by definition it probably won't be a simple read. However,Genes, Genesis and God is so well written that the intelligent lay person can grasp the author's arguments.

Holmes Rolston III is a professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. This book is based on his Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 1997. What role, he asks, do genes play in the evolution of mankind? For Rolston, man is not seen just as a superior animal but as both a creator and creature of culture; this is what distinguishes us from the beasts.

He carefully examines recent evolutionary theories, including Richard Dawkins's "selfish gene" concept, which he finds not only misnamed but misleading.

The first couple of chapters of the book look at genes, what they are and how they work, and what they do and don't do. From this topic he moves on to the genesis of human culture, to the "evolution" of scientific ideas, to ethics, and finally to religion. Religion, he concludes in his final, deeply thoughtful, and clearly argued chapter, which will annoy atheist evolution advocates and fundamentalist creationists alike, does have a survival value for humankind and is not in any way incompatible with genetics or evolutionary theory.

This book is a valuable contribution to the philosophy of science. A single criticism would be that there is no reference to the recent work of Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, who pursue a very similar path of inquiry into the "evolution of the curious mind" in their Figments of Reality. --David V Barrett, Amazon.co.uk