Thompson, R. Paul, and Denis Walsh, Eds. Evolutionary Biology: Conceptual, Ethical, and Religious Issues (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), xi + 243 Pps., $90.00.
Both the fact that evolution occurred and the theory describing the mechanisms by which it occurred are intrinsic to modern biology. Theodosius Dobzhansky captures this well in the much-quoted title of his 1973 paper ‘Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution’. The correctness of this asseveration is even more obvious today. This text is dedicated to Michael Ruse, who needs no introduction, and within it eleven distinguished scholars address the conceptual, metaphysical and epistemological richness of evolutionary theory and its ethical and religious impact, exploring topics including DNA barcoding, three grand challenges of human evolution, functionalism, historicity, design, evolution and development, and religion and secular humanism. The contributors to this volume are philosophers and biologists who have been at or near the forefront of seeking resolutions to pivotal conceptual and societal issues.
In chapter one, which also serves as the volume’s introduction, the prominent evolutionary biologist Francisco Ayala, takes up themes broached in Ruse’s most recent book, The Philosophy of Human Evolution (2012). More specifically, Ayala addresses the question of the evolution of ethical behavior in the transition from ape to human. Part I is composed of two chapters, largely based on religious issues. In chapter two, Elliot Sober argues that evolutionary biology is logically consistent with the conception of a God as presented within the Abrahamic religions. In chapter three, we find Philip Kitcher taking issue with some of the claims made by the ‘modern four horsemen of atheism’ (i.e. Dennett, Dawkins, Hitchens, & Harris).
Part II focuses on systematics and taxonomy, whereas Part III, comprised of three chapters, focuses on the structure of evolutionary theory. Indeed, in his chapter (6), Thompson contends that although Darwin gave a brilliant account of evolution in an ‘informal’ manner, it was not until the late 1920’s that Darwin’s theory was given mathematical support; it was only after this time that the internal structure of the theory and its empirical implications were clearly understood. Jane Maienschein and Manfred Laubichler, in the closing chapter of Part III, discuss the philosophical and theoretical implications of one of the most exciting and expansive areas of biology to emerge in the last quarter-century – evolutionary developmental biology. Part IV is comprised of three chapters that concern function, adaptation, and design. All in all, this title covers a range of philosophical issues of contemporary importance. The volume will be of great interest to those studying philosophy of biology and evolutionary biology.
Bradford McCall, Regent University