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Flannery2018.Pdf Nature’s Prophet ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology MICHAEL A. FLANNERY The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa 2018 Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 1. Wallace on Man 14 2. The Spirit of Science 28 3. Darwin’s Heretic 52 4. The Science of Spirit 68 5. Wallace’s Integrated World 99 6. Divided Legacy 122 7. Wallace Today 144 Epilogue. Wallace and the Historian’s Craft 162 Appendix. The Evolution of Alfred Russel Wallace: Three Representative Essays 167 Notes 197 Bibliography 237 Index 253 Frontispiece. Sketch by A. Webster of Alfred Russel Wallace that first appeared in the Full Report of the International Workers’ Congress, London, July and August 1896; courtesy of the University of Edinburgh, Special Collections, SD 8400. The old argument from design in Nature, as given by Paley, which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural selection has been discovered. There seems to be no more design in the variability of organic beings, and in the action of natural selection, than in the course which the wind blows. —Charles Darwin, Autobiography My contribution is made as a man of science, as a naturalist, as a man who studies his surroundings to see where he is. And the con- clusion I reach in my book [The World of Life] is this: That every- where, not here and there, but everywhere, and in the very smallest operations of nature to which human observation has penetrated, there is Purpose and a continual Guidance and Control. —Alfred Russel Wallace, New Thoughts on Evolution For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. —1 Corinthians 13:9, 12 (KJV) Preface The purpose of this book is to place Alfred Russel Wallace within a context that allows him to stand out in bold relief against the other leading biolo- gists of his day, most particularly Charles Darwin. The argument is essen- tially this: Wallace’s understanding of the natural and metaphysical worlds eventually became one—an integrated whole of scientific, social, political, and metaphysical thought—through the latter half of his life, forming a revised natural theology over the moribund special creation of William Paley. While some very good work on Wallace’s scientific and social ideas has been done, far less attention has been paid to his natural theology. How Wallace’s embrace of spiritualism and libertarian socialist views functioned synergistically with his scientific, moral, and ethical worldviews becomes an important part of the story. While the focus is clearly on Wallace, he is impossible to discuss without comparing and contrasting him with Darwin. Their association with the theory of natural selection will forever place them on the same page of the history of science, if only, in Wallace’s unfortunate case, often as a footnote. Their relationship was complicated by the stratified class structure of Vic- torian England, and the comparatively lowborn Wallace found himself ne- gotiating a complex lifelong association with wellborn Darwin that varied between that of mentor and protégé, professional colleague, and occasional adversary. Wallace always regarded Darwin highly—even as the Newton of Natural History!—and he always considered himself a Darwinian. But, as will be discussed, this is deceptive. For all of Wallace’s adulation and praise of Darwin, their differences were many and real. This forces a careful and critical analysis of their respective views. As the following chapters will make plain, I view Darwin’s evolutionary theory as vulnerable from several standpoints. This alone will cause controversy. It x • Preface is a sad commentary on today’s marketplace of ideas that books critical of Darwin too often become thrown into the heap of Christian subculture lit- erature that views the bible as a scientific textbook dictating a six-thousand- year-old Earth with dinosaurs floating on the ark among Noah’s menagerie. Readers who hold that view will not find this book congenial company. On the other hand, serious critics of Darwin without such religious motivations (some to be discussed later) can be found in every generation and in many different disciplines since Origin of Species was first published in 1859.1 At least in part, this book fits within that genre. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to correct a misconception that might ac- cumulate as the reader proceeds through the chapters that follow; namely, that I have no respect for Darwin or his prodigious accomplishments. This impression would be false. Darwin was a kindly, thoughtful man—especial- ly to Wallace—and a fearless scientist. It is easy to forget with 20/20 hind- sight how disturbing Darwin’s views were to a generation still steeped in an ideology of biblical special creation. That Darwin was able to overcome his genuine concerns at unveiling a picture of the natural world that made God superfluous, a view that would cause a good portion of his generation to recoil in horror, is a testament to his courage and faithfulness to what he believed to be the truth. It came at a cost and it made him, in Adrian Desmond and James Moore’s words, “a tormented evolutionist.” Even his wife, Emma, worried over the state of his soul! Darwin is also to be applauded for his rhetorical skill. As Edward Manier and John Angus Campbell have explained in detail, Darwin had to combine evidence from many different disciplines (some nascent and ill-defined in his day)—geology, geography, biogeography, invertebrate zo- ology, comparative embryology, anatomy, paleontology, anthropology, and sociology—to establish a new field of inquiry (much of which flew in the face of convention) with its own nomenclature, and he had to present his case convincingly enough to persuade a sufficient portion of his readers to establish his new theory.2 In this sense, Darwin’s achievement was not just theoretical; it was a practical tour de force of argumentation that still has much to teach the student of expository structure. There are few cases in the history of science as impressive as Darwin’s constructive rhetorical feat. It shines forth on nearly every page of Origin. Unfortunately, some of this radiance has obscured Wallace and, because of his controversial views on phrenology, spiritualism, land nationalization, vaccination, women’s rights, cosmology, and biology, he has been shoved into the dark recesses of what many regard as pseudoscience and crank speculation. Even in his own lifetime the notion emerged that Wallace was a good scientist gone bad. Wallace knew it, and he too had the courage of Preface • xi his convictions. In his later years, he fought against this marginalized view, an effort that largely remains buried in the primary-source literature. This book is presented in an effort to recall Wallace’s alternative vision with sympathy. It asks no more than Wallace himself asked for: not for agree- ment but simply a fair place in the history of ideas. Acknowledgments As with all projects of this kind, assistance from many sources helped bring this project to fruition. A few, however, bear special mention. The idea for this comprehensive treatment was really prompted by my participation in the Second International Conference on Alfred Russel Wallace, held No- vember 7–8, 2013, at the Riverside Majestic Hotel in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. My paper “Alfred Russel Wallace, Nature’s Prophet: From Nat- ural Selection to Natural Theology” formed a basis for the present book. Meeting so many Wallace scholars from around the world helped to de- velop my ideas regarding this most fascinating scientific figure. I sincerely thank Dr. Andrew Alek Tuen for organizing the conference and serving as a congenial host for such an impressive gathering. I also want to thank Elizabeth Quarmby Lawrence, assistant rare books librarian at the Centre for Research Collections at the Edinburgh Univer- sity library, for her help in accessing and working with the Wallace Collec- tion described in the bibliography. Her assistance during my visit to this enlightening repository was indispensable in making for a very successful and rewarding research trip. Closer to home I must extend my thanks to several others. First, appre- ciation goes to Peggy Balch, a colleague at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She bore my many Wallace ruminations over the past several years with unflagging support, from direct assistance to her long-suffering equanimity in serving as a sounding board. She was always helpful and encouraging beyond measure. Second, thanks to Beth Motherwell, an ac- quisitions editor at the University of Alabama Press. Her sustained interest kept me on task and goal-directed. Also, I am extremely thankful for the careful editing of Joanna Jacobs and Dawn Hall. Their diligence and at- tention to detail, like all good editors, turned a manuscript into a book and xiv • Acknowledgments rescued me from myself more than once. Finally, I sincerely thank two peer reviewers for their thorough readings. Their careful and critical sugges- tions genuinely and appreciably strengthened the manuscript. Finally, my thanks and deepest appreciation goes to my wife, Dona, who traversed the globe with me as I pursued my passion for Wallace. Not only did she put up with excruciatingly long plane rides, but also her essential work with me on Wallace’s personal library enabled us to examine and notate nearly five hundred books in just a couple of weeks. Her compan- ionship and unflagging support was—as always—an invaluable source of encouragement. All these allies notwithstanding, any errors of omission or commission are solely my own.
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