Evolution quotes 31 May 2010 Evolution itself, it must be remembered, does not necessarily mean, applied to society, the movement of man to a desirable goal. It is a neutral, scientific conception, compatible either with optimism or with pessimism. According to different estimates it may appear to be a cruel sentence or a guarantee of steady amelioration. And it has been actually interpreted in both ways. In order to base Progress on Evolution two distinct arguments are required. If it could be shown that social life obeys the same general laws of evolution as nature, and also that the process involves an increase of happiness, then Progress would be as valid a hypothesis as the evolution of living forms. … In fact, upon the neutral fact of evolution a theory of pessimism may be built up as speciously as a theory of optimism. [John Bagnell Bury, The idea of progress; an inquiry into its origin and growth, 1920] Evolution History Philosophy Quotes Social evolution EvolutionHistoryPhilosophyQuotes
Biology New SEP article on innateness 7 Aug 2009 Speaking of Paul Griffiths, who were were just a little while back, he has a new essay up at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Distinction between Innate and Acquired Characteristics. This is a crucial issue in biology, psychology, and even the law and social science. So this is a… Read More
Administrative More of me in Spanish, and information again 4 Aug 200818 Sep 2017 A blog post by the incredibly multilingual John Wilkins (who knew he spoke French, Portuguese and Spanish? OK, it’s by proxy, but it’s nearly as good as actually speaking it) is now available in Spanish. Gee but he looks like he knows whereof he speaks… Thanks to Eduardo Zugasti for… Read More
Evolution God and evolution 4: The problem of Purpose B 19 Apr 201323 Jun 2018 Providence and plans The problem for theists is that most theisms assume that God has a plan. This is sometimes called providence: God provides for goals he has, for the benefit of the organisms, and in particular for humans, and for the achievement of his purposes. As soon as Darwin… Read More
Reminiscent of T.H. Huxley’s famous line: “Let us understand, once and for all, that the ethical progress of society depends, not on imitating the cosmic process, still less in running away from it, but in combating it.”