Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Author

Neil Thomas

Artemis
Image: Artemis, goddess of the hunt, with nymphs; a fresco from Pompeii, by ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Ghost of Epicurus and the Doctrine of Natural Selection

The classical pantheon, lacking moral credibility, had become a source of embarrassment to thoughtful Greeks. Read More ›
Phoenix-Fabelwesen
Image: Phoenix, by Bertuch-fabelwesen.JPG: Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (1747–1822)derivative work: Tsaag Valren, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Enlightenment (Re)turn to Atomism

What distinguished thinkers had long called out for its manifest absurdity was now, Phoenix-like, rising from the ashes. Read More ›
Epicurus
Photo: Epicurus, in The Louvre, by Sting, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Darwin and the Ghost of Epicurus

Darwinism, when viewed from a philosophical perspective, might more accurately be understood as a late sub-branch of ancient speculative thought. Read More ›
Dawkins-atheist-bus
Photo credit: Zoe Margolis, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwinian Theory: Science or Speculative Philosophy?

Bottom line: Darwin did not have a single scrap of empirical fieldwork to document his conjectures. Read More ›
Thomas Malthus
Image: Thomas Malthus, by John Linnell, via Wikimedia Commons.

Myth-Making and Malthus

After reading Malthus out of personal interest, it dawned on Darwin how he might usefully appropriate the Malthusian analogy. Read More ›
Erasmus Darwin
Image: Erasmus Darwin, by Joseph Wright of Derby, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Legacy of Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus even touched on the theory of natural selection when he concluded that the strongest and most active animals would propagate the species. Read More ›
Lyell_1840
Image: Charles Lyell in 1840, by Alexander Craig, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwin’s John the Baptist

Catastrophism viewed the planet as having been molded by forces far more powerful than any observable at the present day. Read More ›
HMS_Beagle_by_Conrad_Martens
Image: HMS Beagle, by Conrad Martens.

The Evolution of Natural Selection

Remarkably, Darwin’s evolutionary ideas did not derive from his empirical observations in the South Seas or anywhere else. Read More ›
Denis Diderot
Image: Denis Diderot in 1767, by Louis-Michel van Loo.

Natural Selection: Discovery or Invention?

Denis Diderot mooted the possibility of a creature evolving through habitual functioning into another form of life altogether. Read More ›
Darwin's shoes
Photo: Detail of Darwin statue, Natural History Museum, London, by Rept0n1x (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Materialist Science as Paternalistic Propaganda

Any attempt to demonstrate the sheer untenability of Darwinian postulates is just met with an ever-closer circling of the wagons. Read More ›

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