Re: [asa] Darwin's anti-slavery Sacred Cause

I like Desmond and Moore's book, but I think they overstate their
argument that common ancestry was more original to Darwin than was
natural selection. I suppose it fits with their thesis that Darwin's
anti-slavery view, which entailed the common ancestry of all races of
humans, was essential for Darwin to then imagine the possibility of
broader common ancestry for all living things.

In contrast, I still believe that common ancestry in general had already
been proposed by others, and that what Darwin (and Wallace) contributed
most significantly, besides evidence for evolution, was the idea of
natural selection as the major mechanism.

But as history, the book is great. Most fascinating to me are Darwin's
comments about slavery in the U.S., and his views on the Civil War.

Chuck

Charles (Chuck) F. Austerberry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Hixson-Lied Room 438
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178
Phone: 402-280-2154
Fax: 402-280-5595
e-mail: cfauster@creighton.edu
http://groups.creighton.edu/premedsociety/
 
Nebraska Religious Coalition for Science Education
http://nrcse.creighton.edu
 
 

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Received on Mon Feb 16 14:08:30 2009