Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
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Julien Offray de la Mettrie

Charles_Darwin_by_Julia_Margaret_Cameron,_c._1868
Photo: Darwin in 1868, by Julia Margaret Cameron, via Wikimedia Commons.

Teaching Darwin: A Hypothetical Program

Charles Darwin himself contemplated being mistaken, writing “I have asked myself whether I may not have devoted my life to a fantasy.” Read More ›
Darwin's finch
Photo: Darwin's finch, by Victor Gleim, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Natural Selection: The Evolution of a Mirage

Natural selection reveals itself as not just a metaphor but a mixed one: Nature being dumb but nevertheless capable of discrimination. 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 ›

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