Back to Darwin: A Richer Account of Evolution. By John B. Cobb, ed. Xiv + 434 Pp., Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2008, $36.00. Darwin Loves You: Natural Selection and the Re-Enchantment of the World. By George Levine. Xxiii + 304 Pp., Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 2006, $18.95.
Who was Darwin? What did Darwin posit? What are the implications of Darwin’s theory of natural selection? John Cobb and George Levine seek to tackle these questions. Indeed, both of these titles, in their own distinct manner, attempt to go back to Darwin. John Cobb (professor emeritus at Claremont School of Theology) edits a volume of essays, combining leading scientists, philosophers, and theologians that seek to critically discuss the metaphysical assumptions of Neo-Darwinism and offer ways in which evolutionary theory may be broadened in today’s postmodern environment. Levine attempts to demonstrate that Darwin’s theory does not necessarily entail a denial of either moral or aesthetic value. In the paragraphs that follow, the books shall be rudimentarily examined in turn.
For Cobb, science and religion do not need to be in opposition to one another. Whereas science cannot formulate theories that do not have implications for theology, this fact need not be viewed as negative. Rather, Cobb maintains that Process Thought can effectively meet the supposed challenges that science raises with theology. Cobb believes that theology has been revised more so than science in their interactions, and this book makes initial steps toward a revision of evolutionary theory in light of theology. Several caveats are in order before one begins reading this volume. It should be noted that none of the contributors to this volume deny the correctness of evolutionary theory in its essential claim of common descent. All of the contributors, moreover, view the Bible as prescientific in its characterization of creation. However, they dislike the machine-like characterization of modern evolutionary theory with its logical conclusion of undercutting traditional religious and humanist values. Additionally, the contributors to this volume are opposed to the typical exclusion of God, a priori, that one finds in the formulation of modern evolutionary theory. They collectively advance an integrationist approach to the dialogue between science and religion.
The contributors to Cobb’s volume are quite diverse in their views. None of the authors are full-fledged Neo-Darwinists (not even the biologist Ayala), nor are any of the authors advocates of Creationism (or its postmodern manifestation: Intelligent Design). Rather, all of the contributors are interested in the relation of science and religion, explicitly, so the book exhibits an organization with this question in view (what could be referred to as theistic evolution). Thus, the book as a whole is a critique of Neo-Darwinism, and it calls for revisions to its modern formulation. Their proposed revision includes a role for God without any distortion of the scientific evidence. They contend that the elimination of God in the course of events in the natural world is a result of the metaphysics underlying modern evolutionary theory rather than any requirement of science as such. They use Whitehead as a resource to advance their non-reductionist understanding of science (dialoguing with emergence theory along the way). Pointedly, they contend that allowing roles for subjectivity and purpose within science provides a fuller explanation of the data that is provided by scientific endeavors.
Cobb’s volume is organized into four parts. The first provides extensive background information from the biologist, Francisco J. Ayala. Part two is composed of nine essays that collectively argue the notion that mainstream evolutionary theory is too narrow in its orientation, and suggests alternative views of evolutionary theory. Part three of the volume is a collection of essays that elucidates the constrictions of the metaphysics underlying Neo-Darwinism. Part four, in many ways, is the culmination of the book’s argument. Therein, it is advocated that a scientific account of the world can be fruitfully and successfully incorporated into a theistic worldview.
In his book, Levine (professor emeritus of English at Rutgers University) asserts that Darwin’s radical idea does not lead, necessarily, to the worst aspects of dog-eat-dog capitalism. Rather, he posits that the ideological and political implications of Darwin’s ideas are contingent, and not constitutive. In this book, Levine avers that Darwin is instead a great figure around which to build an argument for the possibility of value and meaning in a world gone completely secular. He finds Darwin to be inspiring and exciting, and contends that if his readers would go to Darwin’s texts unhindered by unnecessary presuppositions, they would find him to be the same. Darwin’s prose exhibits and intense love of nature and of this world. Levine contends that Darwin is the model of an engaged secularism, one that is radically secular, yet affectively, aesthetically, and morally enchanting. He has written this book with the purpose of explicating a model of passionate, world-loving secularity. Levine has sought to reinvent Darwin, so to speak, by seeing him inside his historical moment, but at the same time by trying also to understand how what he was doing transcended the limits of that moment. One of the most important implications of Darwin’s contributions, Levine asserts, is the value placed upon the most diverse and improbable forms of life found upon earth.
Levine moves fluidly between the writings of Darwin and the events of his life within the individual chapters of this text. Throughout, Levine highlights the unheroic and culture-bound nature of Darwin’s work and life. Although each chapter could be seen to stand alone, it is probably best to view them as one long argument that asserts the notion that scientific rationality can be accompanied by a deep sense of the value of things. Chapter one lays out the overall argument of the book, and introduces some key social debates about Darwin. Moreover, this chapter describes the basic ‘charges’ leveled against Darwin by religious fundamentalists, and proposes the possibility of an enchanted scientific world. Levine addresses possible arguments against his rereading of Darwin in chapter two. Chapter three discusses many examples of how Darwin’s theories have been used to defend non-laissez-faire positions, which is an important contribution because it shows how Darwin’s views can be to support ideologically diverse positions. Chapter four focuses specifically on the modern controversies surrounding sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, whose implications have often been challenged.
Chapter five signals the transition in Levine’s argument. In fact, one could perceive this chapter as the fulcrum upon which the book hinges. Chapters one through four depicted the possibly disenchanting aspects of Darwin’s theories, but in this chapter, Levine peers into Darwin’s biography. Therein, he recounts the traumatic emotional crises that impacted Darwin, and emphasizes the relation of these experiences to his rational temperament. In so doing, Levine illuminates the connections between Darwin’s language, life, and theory. Chapter six develops this thinking, and applies it to the sexual selection theory advanced by Darwin. He contends that, notwithstanding the culture-bound assumptions and characterizations, the validity and quality of Darwin’s ideas are not belied. Chapter seven is the culmination of the argument. Therein, Levine makes a powerful case for the enchanting power of Darwin’s theories. He argues for the cultural, spiritual, and ethical value of seeing the world through Darwin’s eyes.
In sum, if one is looking to revisit Darwin in order to attain a fuller picture of who and what he was (and thereby continues to be), these two volumes are indispensible. Cobb presents Darwin fairly and in a balanced manner. Levine offers a new perspective to Darwin’s theory while not white-washing his life. Taken together, these two volumes have the potential to radically reorient one’s conception of the historical Darwin.
Bradford McCall
Regent University