Alfred Wallace’s Views Hold Up Well Today — Unlike Those of His Friendly Rival Charles Darwin
On a classic episode of ID the Future, science historian Michael Flannery concludes his conversation with host Michael Keas about his book Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace’s World of Life Challenged Darwin. Wallace was co-founder with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution by random variation and natural selection. Unlike Darwin, however, he saw teleology or purpose as essential to life’s history, and a teleological view as essential to the life sciences. According to Flannery, Wallace’s views on the nature of the cell, the special attributes of humans, the irreducible nature of life, and the fine-tuning of the universe hold up well today. They are also remarkable in foreshadowing modern intelligent design theory. Wallace and Darwin disagreed on much of this, yet they maintained a mutual respect. In this, Flannery says, the two are a great model for scientists who disagree today.
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