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Is Evolution a Secular Religion? Tion Is Much More Than a Scientific Michael Ruse Theory

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Is Evolution a Secular Religion? Tion Is Much More Than a Scientific Michael Ruse Theory PERCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE ESSAY Creationists have argued that evolu- Is Evolution a Secular Religion? tion is much more than a scientific Michael Ruse theory. They claim that it is a secular religion with its own commandments, major complaint of the Creationists, The same sort of stuff can be found in moral messages, and cathedrals. those who are committed to a the writings of other early evolutionists, AGenesis-based story of origins, is notably in the Philosophie Zoologique, that evolution—and Darwinism in particu- published in 1809 by the Frenchman Jean- sional science—the kind offered in lectures lar—is more than just a scientific theory. Baptiste Lamarck. at universities, with dedicated students and They object that too often evolution oper- Charles Darwin, a serious full-time sci- well-funded research. It was not to be. A ates as a kind of secular religion, pushing entist, set out to change all of this. First, he kind of bastardized Germanic evolution norms and proposals for proper (or, in their wanted to give an empirically grounded did make it into academia—but it was con- opinion, improper) action. Evolutionists basis for belief in the fact of evolution. cerned less with mechanisms and more dismiss this argument as merely another Second, he wanted to persuade his readers with hypothesizing about histories, being rhetorical debating trick, and in major re- of a particular mechanism of evolution, the more connected to Ernst Haeckel’s bio- spects, this is precisely what it is. It is silly natural selection of the successful brought genetic law (“ontogeny recapitulates phy- to claim that a naturalistic story of origins on by the struggle for logeny”) than anything to be leads straight to sexual freedom and other existence. In his first found in the Origin of Species. supposed ills of modern society. But, if we aim, Darwin was spec- As a mature professional re- wish to deny that evolution is search area, evolution was a flop. more than just a scientific theory, It simply did not materialize. the Creationists do have a point. Why was this? Darwin him- The history of the theory of self was an invalid from the age evolution falls naturally into three of 30, and any profession build- parts (1). The first part took place ing had to be done by his sup- from the mid-18th century up to porters, in particular by his the publication of Charles Darwin’s “bulldog,” Thomas Henry theory of natural selection as ex- Huxley. In many respects, pounded in his Origin of Species Huxley played to Darwin the published in 1859. Up until then, role that Saint Paul played to evolution was little more than a Jesus, promoting the master’s T) MASSIMO LISTRI/CORBIS pseudo-science on a par with ideas. But just as Saint Paul mesmerism (animal magnetism) rather molded Jesus’ legacy to or phrenology (brain bumps), used his own ends, so also as much by its practitioners to con- Huxley molded Darwin’s vey moral and social messages as to legacy. At the time that the describe the physical world. At the Origin of Species was end of the 18th century, Charles published, Britain was a Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus, country desperately in wrote evolutionary poetry, hymning need of reform, as re- the progress of life from the monad vealed by the horrors of to man—or, as he put it, from the the Crimean War and the monarch (the butterfly) to the Indian Mutiny. Huxley monarch (the king). He derived this and others worked hard to notion of biological progress from bring about change, trying the successes of the Industrial to move public percep- Revolution and then used it in a cir- Laon Cathedral, Laon, France (top) and tions into the 20th century. cular fashion to justify the cultural the Natural History Museum, London, They reformed educa- progress of the Britain of his day. U.K. (bottom). tion, the civil service, the For example, in his Temple of military, and much else. Nature (2), Erasmus Darwin wrote: tacularly successful. Within a decade of the Huxley’s own work was in higher education, publication of his Origin of Species, think- and he succeeded best in the areas of physi- Imperious man, who rules the bestial crowd, ing people were convinced of the fact of ology and morphology. He realized that to Of language, reason, and reflection proud, evolution. However, regarding his second improve and professionalize these fields as With brow erect who scorns this earthy sod, aim to convince folk about natural selec- areas of teaching and research, he needed And styles himself the image of his God; tion, Darwin had less success. Most people clients (a must in all system building). Arose from rudiments of form and sense, went for some form of evolution by jumps Huxley sold physiology to the medical pro- An embryon point, or microscopic ens! (saltationism), inheritance of acquired fession, just then desperate to change from characteristics (Lamarckism), or some oth- killing to curing. Huxley’s offer of a supply er mode of change. Darwin failed in anoth- of students, ready for specialized medical The author is in the Department of Philosophy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–1500, USA. E- er respect, too. He hoped to upgrade the training, with a solid background in mod- CREDITS: (TOP LEFT) RUGGERO VANNI/CORBIS; (TOP RIGHT) VANNI ARCHIVE/CORBIS; CREDITS:AUSTIN,VANNI/CORBIS; LEFT) STEVE VANNI (BOTTOM RIGHT) LEFT) RUGGERO (TOP PAPILIO/CORBIS; (TOP RIGH (BOTTOM mail: [email protected] study of evolution to a respectable, profes- ern physiology was gratefully received. www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 299 7 MARCH 2003 1523 E SSAY Morphology, Huxley sold to the teaching Dobzhansky in America and E. B. Ford in you open the pages of Evolution or Animal profession, on the grounds that hands-on England—started to put empirical flesh on Behaviour. Then, sometimes from the same empirical study was much better training for the mathematical skeleton, and finally person, you have evolution as secular reli- modern life than the outmoded classics. Darwin’s dream of a professional evolution gion, generally working from an explicitly Huxley himself sat on the new London with selection at its heart was realized. But materialist background and solving all of the School Board and started teacher training there is more to the story than this. These world’s major problems, from racism to edu- courses. His most famous student was the new-style evolutionists—the mathemati- cation to conservation. Consider Edward O. novelist H. G. Wells. cians and empiricists—wanted to profes- Wilson, rightfully regarded as one of the Evolution had no immediate payoff. sionalize evolution because they wanted to most outstanding professional evolutionary Learning phylogenies did not cure belly study it full time in universities, with stu- biologists of our time, and the author of ma- ache, and it was still all a bit too daring for dents and research grants, and so forth. jor works of straight science. In his On regular schoolroom instruction. But Huxley However, like everyone else, they had been Human Nature, he calmly assures us that could see a place for evolution. The chief initially attracted to evolution precisely be- evolution is a myth that is now ready to take ideological support of those who opposed cause of its quasi-religious aspects, regard- over Christianity. And, if this is so, “the final the reformers—the landowners, the squires, less of whether these formed the basis of an decisive edge enjoyed by scientific natural- the generals, and the others—came from the agnostic/atheistic humanism or something ism will come from its capacity to explain Anglican Church. Hence, to revitalize an old religion traditional religion, its chief competition, as Huxley saw the need to that had lost its spirit and vig- a wholly material phenomenon. Theology is found his own church, and or. Hence, they wanted to keep not likely to survive as an independent intel- evolution was the ideal cor- a value-impregnated evolu- lectual discipline” (3). An ardent progres- nerstone. It offered a story tionism that delivered moral sionist, Wilson sees moral norms emerging of origins, one that (thanks messages even as it strived for from our need to keep the evolutionary to progress) puts humans at greater progressive triumphs. process moving forward. In his view, this the center and top and that This all meant that by the translates as a need to promote biodiversity, could even provide moral 1940s and 1950s the study of for Wilson believes that humans have messages. The philosopher evolution was of two sorts. evolved in a symbiotic relationship with na- Herbert Spencer was a great There was serious empirical ture. A world of plastic would kill us hu- help here. He was ever work, very professional, con- mans, literally as well as metaphorically. For ready to urge his fellow taining few or no direct exhor- progress to continue, we must preserve the Victorians that the way to tations to moral or so- Brazilian rainforests and other areas of high true virtue lies through cial action. Along with organic density and diversity (4). progress, which comes from pro- this, almost all of the So, what does our history tell us? Three moting a struggle in society as well leading evolutionists things. First, if the claim is that all contem- as in biology—a laissez-faire so- were turning out works porary evolutionism is merely an excuse to cioeconomic philosophy. Thus, evo- of a more popular na- promote moral and societal norms, this is lution had its commandments no ture, about progress and simply false. Today’s professional evolu- less than did Christianity.
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