God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Chapter 2: Why Teleological Principles Are Inevitable for Reason

24 CHaPteR 2 8 Why฀Teleological฀Principles฀฀ Are฀Inevitable฀for฀Reason Natural฀Theology฀after฀Darwin One฀of฀the฀most฀amiable฀characteristics฀of฀Charles฀Darwin฀is฀doubtless฀ his฀modesty.฀In฀his฀Autobiography,฀which฀was฀begun฀in฀1876฀and฀continued฀ to฀receive฀additions฀until฀1882,฀he฀sincerely฀avers฀that฀his฀work฀has฀been฀ “over฀and฀over฀again฀greatly฀overpraised”1 ฀and฀never฀claims฀to฀be฀particularly ฀talented฀in฀metaph ysical฀matters:฀“My฀po wer฀to฀follow฀a฀long฀and฀ purely฀abstract฀train฀of฀thought฀is฀very฀limited;฀I฀should,฀moreover,฀never฀ have฀succeeded฀with฀metaphysics฀or฀mathematics”฀(140).฀Needless฀to฀say,฀ he฀understood฀that฀his฀rev olution฀in฀biolog y฀had฀transfor med฀the฀concept ฀of฀species฀and฀lessened฀the฀gap฀between฀humans฀and฀other฀animals;฀ for฀he฀sho wed฀in฀detail฀ho w฀the฀principle฀of ฀natural฀selection฀could฀ ฀ explain฀innumerable฀facts฀in฀the฀org anic฀realm฀that฀had฀been฀previously฀ regarded฀as฀ir reducible,฀including฀the฀existence฀ of฀species฀and฀human฀ behavior฀in฀all฀its฀facets .฀Still,฀the฀enor mous฀impact฀that฀On฀the฀Origin฀of฀ Species฀of฀1859฀had฀immediately฀outside฀of the scientific community฀of฀ Why฀Teleological฀Principles฀Are฀Inevitable฀ 25 biologists฀on฀ the฀public฀at฀larg e฀and฀its฀ quick฀spillover฀to฀religious฀and฀ philosophical฀issues฀seem฀quite฀surprising.2 ฀Only฀one฀sentence฀at฀the฀end฀ of฀the฀book฀hints฀about฀the฀origin฀of ฀humankind,3 ฀dealt฀with฀in฀his฀later฀ works฀of฀1871฀and฀1872,฀and฀there฀are฀no฀explicitly฀antireligious฀conse quences ฀drawn฀in฀this฀or฀in฀any฀of฀Darwin’s฀published฀books.฀Only฀at฀the฀ end฀of฀Variation฀of฀Animals฀and฀Plants฀under฀Domestication฀of฀1868฀did฀Darwin ฀ask,฀fully฀aware฀of฀transgressing฀the฀limits฀of฀his฀own฀discipline,฀some฀ critical฀questions฀regarding฀the฀compatibility฀of฀the฀mechanism฀of฀natural฀ selection฀with฀traditional฀theism.฀Darwin ’s฀intellectual฀self-฀ restraint,฀which฀ distinguishes฀him฀so฀strongly฀from฀some฀of ฀the฀contemporar y฀neo- ฀ Darwinists฀as,฀for฀example,฀Richard฀Dawkins,4 ฀was฀not฀simply฀a฀cautionary ฀move,฀due฀to฀concern฀for฀his฀wife฀or฀fear฀of฀social฀ostracism:฀he฀had฀ thought฀seriously฀about฀religious฀issues฀in฀the฀years฀immediately฀after฀his฀ return฀from฀his฀voyage฀around฀the฀world฀and฀had฀come฀to฀the฀conclusion฀ that฀his฀theory฀did฀not฀entail฀atheism.฀It฀is฀thus฀proper฀to฀star t฀the฀following reflections with an analysis of฀his฀quite฀subtle฀religious฀ideas ,฀which฀ are฀certainly฀not฀inferior฀to฀those฀of฀most฀contemporary฀scientists฀addressing ฀religious฀issues฀( I).฀I฀then฀put฀them฀into฀the฀context฀of ฀a฀more฀ general฀development฀of฀the฀concepts฀of฀God฀and฀nature฀and฀discuss฀the฀ most฀important฀attempt฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀to฀render฀Darwinism฀ compatible฀with฀theism,฀namely,฀that฀by฀Asa฀Gray.฀The฀focus฀on฀Gray฀is฀ due฀to฀the฀simple฀reason฀that฀progress฀in฀philosophy฀is,฀if฀it฀takes฀place฀at฀ all,฀of฀a฀very฀different฀nature฀than฀in฀science;฀therefore ,฀we฀can฀learn฀from฀ philosophical reflections of฀past฀centuries฀far฀more฀than฀w e฀can฀lear n฀ from scientific theories of฀the฀same฀time฀(II).฀Finally,฀I฀discuss฀in฀which฀ sense฀even฀after฀the฀Darwinian฀revolution฀a฀teleological฀interpretation฀of฀ nature฀remains฀not฀only฀a฀possibility,฀but฀a฀necessity฀(III). i. In฀the฀ chapter฀of ฀his฀ Autobiography฀dedicated฀to฀“R eligious฀belief ”— pages฀published฀in฀complete฀for m not earlier than 1958 since the first edition฀of฀1887฀had฀been฀subjected฀to฀family฀censorship—Darwin฀de scribes ฀the฀reasons฀that฀led฀to฀the฀fading฀of฀the฀Anglican฀belief฀in฀which฀ he฀had฀been฀educated.฀After฀all,฀he฀had฀for฀some฀time฀contemplated฀ 26฀ Philosophical฀Theology ฀ becoming฀an฀Anglican฀minister .฀He฀claims ,฀and฀as฀far฀as฀w e฀know฀his฀ development,฀truthfully,฀that฀he฀had฀nev er฀had฀strongly฀dev eloped฀religious ฀sentiments฀(91);฀certainly฀he฀had฀never฀been฀an฀Evangelical.฀But฀at฀ the฀same฀time฀he฀had฀imbibed฀traditional฀Anglican฀theolog y,฀and฀at฀the฀ beginning฀of฀his฀voyage฀on฀the฀Beagle,฀during฀which฀his฀favorite฀book฀was฀ John฀Milton’s฀Paradise฀Lost,฀he฀was฀sometimes฀scorned฀by฀orthodox officers ฀“for฀quoting฀the฀Bible฀as฀an฀unansw erable฀authority฀on฀some฀point฀ of฀morality”฀(85).฀How฀did฀the฀slow฀evaporation฀of฀these฀beliefs,฀which฀ he฀in฀vain฀tried฀to฀resist,฀come฀about?฀T he฀reasons฀and฀causes฀Darwin฀ mentioned฀have฀relatively฀little฀to฀do฀with฀his฀great฀scientific discovery.฀ What฀are฀they?฀We฀can฀subdivide฀the฀chapter฀in฀question฀into฀three฀main฀ sections. In the first (A),฀Darwin฀analyzes฀the...