Re: Darwin's deity (was Philosophy of Science)

Bill Hamilton (hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com)
Wed, 24 Jan 1996 12:06:34 -0500

Stephen writes(re a passage in Origin of Species which seems to personify
natural selection, or at least endow it with the proprety of purpose)

>I find it interesting that materialists must still speak and write
>like theists! It seems they cannot bear to live out their philosophy
>consistently?

Francis Schaeffer noted this tendency in Monod, too. Of course one of the
big themes of Schaeffer's ministry was that people are not able to live
consistently by materialist assumptions. There's always a point in their
thinking where an inconsistency arises. Particualrly he liked to point out
that B. F. Skinner, after he had endeavored to destroy consciousness as a
real entity, then talked about how we were free to determine what we should
become -- a neat trick for creatures who only "think" they are conscious.

Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)