How I came to believe: More about Darwin (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, October 12, 2015, 13:16 (3329 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: In one breath you criticize Darwin for not dealing with the problem of the origin of life...
DAVID: I did not criticize Darwin about the origin of life. Look back at what I have said.-I complained at the misrepresentation of Darwin's theory as “atheism's creation myth”. You “took me to task” for this: “Life is a continuum from first life to now. The two parts of the story are inseparable. First life had to contain the mechanisms that allowed for evolution to more complexity. I agree Darwin did not offer any explanation as to origin of life, but his Swiss-cheese theory of how evolution works offers no backward-looking hint to help us.” I took this last observation as criticism of Darwin's refusal to speculate on the “inseparable” origin of life, since you were anxious to defend the above misrepresentation.-dhw: ...and in the next you say that there is no misrepresentation when an author writes that Darwin's theory of evolution purports to explain the origin of life.-DAVID: And I disagree with your interpretation.-You agree that Darwin's theory does NOT offer any explanation as to the origin of life, and yet you agree that Darwin's theory purports to explain the origin of life?
 
DAVID: Yes, everyone uses and abuses Darwin.I don't condone what you interpret as distortions. I understand their opinion in a different light. Darwin stands for chance, not purpose, and you can't deny that. -You don't condone what I “interpret” as distortions, but you disagree that “purports to explain the origin of life” means purports to explain the origin of life, so it's not a distortion? I understand their opinions too, but Darwin's reliance on chance in the form of random mutations has nothing to do with the misrepresentation of his theory as being atheistic. As for purpose, the only one you are prepared to offer us is God's intention to produce and feed humans, and of course Darwin does not subscribe to this. That does not make his theory atheistic. Survival is his overriding purpose (to which I would add improvement, substituting my hypothetical autonomous inventive mechanism for his random mutations). -You asked me about Darwin's views on religion, and I referred you to 
www.victorianweb.org/science/darwin/religion2.htmlCached-DAVID: Thank you. No wonder you defend him so strongly. He is in fellowship with you regarding religion, but I am sure you do not follow his views of races in Descent of Man.-I wonder what you will come up with next in your efforts to discredit Darwin. Much of what he says about religion puts him in fellowship with you as well, and no, I do not follow his views of race in relation to some of his assumptions, any more than I follow his theory of random mutations and gradualism. However, his comments on race need to be seen against the background of his vehement opposition to slavery and his profound humanitarianism. It suits anti-Darwinists to call him a racist, but the term needs careful differentiation. It is one thing to assume cultural inferiority (which he does), and quite another to regard people of different race as unworthy of respect (which he does not). I have found a useful website that illustrates the latter point. (I hope you can find it. I can't get this to link.)- Darwin on race and slavery 
 commondescent.net/articles/darwin_on_race.htmCached
In order to counter the smear and innuendo spewed forth by many antievolutionists on the subject of Darwin and racism, here are some of Darwin's actual words ... -SAMPLE QUOTE: "As man advances in civilisation, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races. If, indeed, such men are separated from him by great differences in appearance or habits, experience unfortunately shews us how long it is, before we look at them as our fellow-creatures." ? Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871), CHAPTER IV