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2560px-En_attendant_Godot,_Festival_d'Avignon,_1978_f22
Photo: A scene from "Waiting for Godot," 1978, by Fernand Michaud, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Existentialist Science: Darwin as Proto-Absurdist

The existentialist story might arguably start with Charles Darwin and his conception of the chance evolution of life. Read More ›
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Image: Alfred Russel Wallace, plaster relief by A. Bruce-Joy, via Wikimedia Commons.

New Thoughts on Evolution: Views of Professor Alfred Russel Wallace, O.M., F.R.S.

"The scales on the wings of a moth," he said quietly, "have no explanation in Evolution. They belong to Beauty, and Beauty is a spiritual mystery." Read More ›
Wallace's flying frog
Photo: Wallace's flying frog, via Wikimedia Commons.

Alfred Russel Wallace’s Greatest Journey

Alfred Russel Wallace took a journey Darwin could not follow. He went from natural selection to natural theology. Read More ›
wedding
wedding
Image Credit: Wedding photography - Adobe Stock

The Toxic Assumptions of Evolutionary Psychology about Men

As Darwinism is discredited scientifically, we should challenge the way it has shaped the secular code for masculinity. 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 ›
Charles Darwin statue Shrewsbury
Charles Darwin statue Shrewsbury
Photo: Statue of Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury Library, by Bs0u10e01 / CC BY-SA.

Darwin, Lyell, and a Tale of Two Faiths

Darwin found himself in the unhappy position of having his faith undermined by what he saw as the non-directed processes of geological and biological evolution. Read More ›
Thomas_Love_Peacock_by_Henry_Wallis
Image: Thomas Love Peacock, National Portrait Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

On Darwinism and the Abdication of Reason

It is a pity that Darwin’s homeland no longer boasts a satirist of the caliber of Thomas Love Peacock to exploit this rich seam of comic absurdity. Read More ›
ectoplasm
Photo: A medium exuding "ectoplasm," by Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Why Words Matter: Sense and Nonsense in Science

One might, with Darwin, theorize that the development of the biosphere was simply down to that empirically unattested variant of chance, "natural selection." Read More ›
Queen_Victoria_by_Bassano 2
Photo: Queen Victoria, by Alexander Bassano, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwin and the Victorian Crisis of Faith 

Fleeming Jenkin (the distinguished Scottish scientist who with Lord Kelvin spearheaded the laying of the transatlantic cable) was particularly scathing. Read More ›
Auschwitz I - Birkenau
Photo: Entrance to Auschwitz II-Birkenau death camp, by Nelson Pérez [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Listen: How Darwinism Fueled Nazi Racism, White Nationalism

Since Darwin was a peaceable Victorian gentleman and naturalist, what connection could there be between him and Hitler and contemporary white nationalism? Read More ›

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