Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Topic

James Moore

Charles-Darwin
Image source: Discovery Institute.

Darwin’s Sacred Fiction

A book by Adrian Desmond and James Moore holds that Charles Darwin was significantly motivated in his scientific work by abolitionist sentiments. Read More ›
Statue_of_Charles_Darwin_Natural_History_Museum_London_2020_02
Photo credit: Julian Herzog (Website), CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

With “Fluctuating” Convictions, Darwin Faced a Threefold Challenge

In what follows I pose the question of how Darwin fell subject to such wide “fluctuations” in his beliefs and how he came to resolve those tensions. Read More ›
Spine_of_Darwin's_'The_Descent_of_Man'_Wellcome_L0051102
Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Yet Another Scholar Seeks to Airbrush Darwin’s Racist Legacy

Racists for decades, down to today, have looked to Charles Darwin as a champion of their ideas, and if they’re right about anything, it’s that. Read More ›
Charles Darwin statue
Charles Darwin statue
Photo: Darwin statute at the Natural History Museum, by Alan Perestrello, via Flickr (cropped).

Robert Shedinger: Darwin’s Sacred Cause Is “Historical Fiction”

The effect of the book is to misrepresent Darwin in such a way as to make those who reject Darwinism appear to be opposing a saintly anti-abolitionist. Read More ›
William Wilberforce
Photo: William Wilberforce, depicted in a statue at his birthplace in Hull, England; by Steve F-E-Cameron (Merlin-UK), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

A Failed Attempt to Turn Darwin into Wilberforce

Nice try, Desmond and Moore. But criticizing Darwinian evolution does not make one a racist. The real Darwin is a far more ambiguous and conflicted figure. Read More ›
Edward John Eyre
Photo: Edward John Eyre, by Jessamine Buxton, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwin and the “Eyre Affair”: A Speculative Tale

October 7, 1865, saw a revolt break out in Jamaica in which 18 officials and militia men were killed by members of the freed black population. Read More ›
Louis Agassiz
Louis Agassiz
Photo: Louis Agassiz, by William Shaw Warren, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwin and Agassiz: An Imaginary Picture

Given the close relationship Louis Agassiz shared with pro-slavery factions in the South, Desmond and Moore focus much on Darwin’s relationship with Agassiz. Read More ›
Statue of a young Charles Darwin
Photo: Statue of a young Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury School, by Ailurus~frwiki / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Fact Check: Imagining Darwin’s Abolitionism

Desmond and Moore tell us that Darwin assured his sisters that his principles on slavery hadn’t changed despite spending five years living with Captain FitzRoy. Read More ›
HMS Beagle
Image: HMS Beagle at Tierra del Fuego.

“Sacred Cause”? Reconsidering Charles Darwin as Abolitionist

I offer a series of posts here designed to lay out the evidence in detail. It is not merely that Desmond and Moore are selective in the sources they cite. Read More ›
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Photo: Charles Darwin in 1855, by Maull and Polyblank, Literary and Scientific Portrait Club, via Wikimedia Commons.

Remembering Paul Johnson’s Assessment of Darwin

The reviewers that insist this work is “ludicrous,” a “smear,” or a “hatchet job” are wrong; it is none of these. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute