Evolution As A Religion: Strange Hopes And Stranger Fears

Evolut ion as a Religion ‘Midgley is one of the most acute and penetrating voices in current moral philosophy. Her great gift is clarity, both of thought and, especially, of expression. . . . To follow her reasoning . . . is like watching a ballet dancer walking in the street: there is a litheness, a gracefulness, an ease of articulation, which attest to years of learning lightly worn.’ John Banville ‘There is no doubt many will share her views, and will appreciate, as I do, the honesty of her declarations, and the unpretentious yet high moral tone of her prose.’ The Times Literary Supplement ‘Such is her liveliness that she is never tedious, and the book held my attention to the end. . . . This is a book for anyone, lay or professional, with a lively mind.’ British Book News First published in 1985 by Methuen & Co. Ltd Revised edition first published in Routledge Classics 2002 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. © 1985, 2002 Mary Midgley; Introduction © 2002, Mary Midgley All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-36168-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-37426-6 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–27833–3 (pbk) ISBN 0–415–27832–5 (hbk) Mary Midgley Evolution as a Religion Strange hopes and stranger fears Revised edition, with a new introduction by the author London and New York To the Memory of Charles Darwin Who Did Not Say These Things C ONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction to the Routledge Classics Edition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Evolutionary Dramas Do Science and Religion Compete? Demarcation Disputes The Irresistible Escalator Choosing a World The Problem of Direction Scientist and Superscientist Dazzling Prospects Black Holes: Jacques Monod and the Isolation of ‘Science’ Freedom and the Monte Carlo Drama Scientific Education and Human Transience Mixed Antitheses Science, Scepticism and Awe The Service of Self and the Service of Kali Who or What is Selfish? Dreaming and Waking The Limits of Individualism vii viii 1 11 22 33 40 54 64 76 86 95 104 112 122 134 143 155 163 vi contents 18 The Vulnerable World and Its Claims on Us Notes Index 174 192 201 A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book has grown out of an article of the same name published by Basil Blackwell in 1985 in a book called Darwinism and Divinity, edited by John Durant. I am grateful to the publishers for permission to reprint its scattered elements here. The only other parts which have appeared before are as follows: in chapter 17, about half of an article called ‘Towards a new understanding of human