Wednesday, 11 December 2024
On Darwinian mythmaking and mythbusting.
A New Scholarly Book Trying to Debunk Myths about Charles Darwin and His Theory
In a new book published by Cambridge University Press, Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods, an array of prominent Darwin scholars attempt to dismantle 24 myths about Darwin and his theory. Many of these essays are excellent examples of historians setting the record straight. However, while myth-busting is a venerable pursuit for historians, caution must be exercised, especially when dealing with ideologically loaded subjects. Indeed, ironically, in a few cases in this volume, which I will discuss in subsequent posts, the debunkers need to be debunked themselves, because instead of correcting falsehoods, they end up creating or perpetuating falsehoods.
Problems with “Mythology”
Indeed, the whole notion of mythology can at times be problematic, because some scholars brand as “myth” interpretations of other scholars with whom they disagree. For example, James G. Lennox, in his chapter on Darwin and teleology (which I will discuss in a subsequent post), informs us that the Darwinian biologist Michael Ghiselin has dubbed as myth the view that Darwin’s theory included teleology. Lennox states, “In this chapter, then, my aim is to show that what Michael Ghiselin claims to be a myth is in fact reality, and that his assertion that Darwin rid biology of teleology is itself a myth.” (p. 183) So here we have two scholars insisting that the other one is embracing a myth.
A related problem is that in some cases, the scholars in this volume disagree among themselves on what is mythical. For example, David Depew in his essay claims that in addition to natural selection, Darwin also believed in group selection. (p. 177) In his essay on Darwin and race, Erik L. Peterson seems to agree, strongly implying that Darwin believed in group selection. (p. 255) The late Michael Ruse, however, in trying to distance Darwin from Alfred Russel Wallace, claims rather emphatically that Darwin rejected group selection. (pp. 133-34)
So, Which Is the Myth?
On this particular issue of group selection, it seems to me that Ruse is the one perpetuating a misconception about Darwin. Ruse uses rather twisted logic to maintain his position. After quoting a passage in Descent of Man where Darwin discusses tribes competing with other tribes (which is group selection), Ruse makes the bizarre claim that this is not really group selection. Why not? Well, Ruse informs us that right after this discussion of tribes competing, Darwin promoted what we call today “reciprocal altruism.” Therefore, Ruse oddly asserts, Darwin could not be promoting the idea of group selection. (I should note that Ruse is wrong about the placement of this passage, as it actually comes three pages earlier than the one about the tribes, but this is a minor point). Ruse’s logic is fallacious, because group selection and reciprocal altruism are not contradictory. Darwin believed them both. No wonder Depew and Peterson disagree with Ruse, as do a host of other Darwin scholars.
Before I critique the other essays that are problematic, let me draw attention to some of the myths about Darwin that this volume properly addresses. John Hedley Brooke refutes the myth that the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley demolished Anglican Bishop Samuel Wilberforce at their famous 1860 debate before the British Association for the Advancement of Science. It seems that the debate (or discussion) was more of a toss-up. I was surprised to learn from Brooke’s essay that one scientist who had embraced Darwinism before this event actually abandoned Darwinism as a result of the discussion that day. (p. 151)
White Supremacy and Genocide
An interesting essay by Erik L. Peterson refutes the myth that Darwin believed in racial equality. Peterson acknowledges that Darwin hated slavery, but shows that it was not because he believed in racial equality. Both in Descent of Man and in his correspondence Darwin not only clearly expressed belief in the racial superiority of Europeans, but he insisted that the Europeans’ triumph in the racial struggle for existence — which would result in the racial extermination of allegedly inferior races — would bring evolutionary advance to the human species. In an 1860 letter to Lyell, Darwin stated, “White man is ‘improving off the face of the earth’ even races nearly his equal.” Right after quoting this, Peterson comments, “Here again, we might find jarring Darwin’s cavalier references to white supremacy and genocide as supportive of his overall theory.” (p. 254)
In another essay Richard W. Burkhardt Jr. counters the widespread idea that Darwin rejected Lamarck’s ideas about use and disuse and the inheritance of acquired characteristics. To be sure, Burkhardt explains that Darwin stressed the primacy of natural selection and considered Lamarckian mechanisms secondary. However, Darwin did not dismiss them outright, as some later Darwinians, such as the German biologist August Weismann, did.
John Van Whye makes a strong case against the claim that Darwin delayed publication of The Origin of Species for twenty years, allegedly because he was afraid to make his views public. Van Whye shows that Darwin divulged his theory to many of his contemporaries in his correspondence. None of Darwin’s family or contemporaries ever claimed that Darwin delayed publishing his theory. Indeed, the idea that he delayed only arose in the mid 20th century. During those twenty years between discovering his theory and publishing it, Darwin was studying and doing research to buttress and refine his theory.
Just a Sampling
This is just a sampling of the many interesting and useful essays in this work. However, as I indicated, some of the essays are problematic, and I will address a few of these in the coming days.
The throne of JEHOVAH'S Son demystified.(yet again)
RS reads: “Of the Son he says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.’” (KJ, NE, TEV, Dy, JB, NAB have similar renderings.) However, NW reads: “But with reference to the Son: ‘God is your throne forever and ever.’” (AT, Mo, TC, By convey the same idea.)
Which rendering is harmonious with the context? The preceding verses say that God is speaking, not that he is being addressed; and the following verse uses the expression “God, thy God,” showing that the one addressed is not the Most High God but is a worshiper of that God. Hebrews 1:8 quotes from Psalm 45:6, which originally was addressed to a human king of Israel. Obviously, the Bible writer of this psalm did not think that this human king was Almighty God. Rather, Psalm 45:6, in RS, reads “Your divine throne.” (NE says, “Your throne is like God’s throne.” JP [verse 7]: “Thy throne given of God.”) Solomon, who was possibly the king originally addressed in Psalm 45, was said to sit “upon Jehovah’s throne.” (1 Chron. 29:23, NW) In harmony with the fact that God is the “throne,” or Source and Upholder of Christ’s kingship, Daniel 7:13, 14 and Luke 1:32 show that God confers such authority on him.
Hebrews 1:8, 9 quotes from Psalm 45:6, 7, concerning which the Bible scholar B. F. Westcott states: “The LXX. admits of two renderings: [ho the·osʹ] can be taken as a vocative in both cases (Thy throne, O God, . . . therefore, O God, Thy God . . . ) or it can be taken as the subject (or the predicate) in the first case (God is Thy throne, or Thy throne is God . . . ), and in apposition to [ho the·osʹ sou] in the second case (Therefore God, even Thy God . . . ). . . . It is scarcely possible that [’Elo·himʹ] in the original can be addressed to the king. The presumption therefore is against the belief that [ho the·osʹ] is a vocative in the LXX. Thus on the whole it seems best to adopt in the first clause the rendering: God is Thy throne (or, Thy throne is God), that is ‘Thy kingdom is founded upon God, the immovable Rock.’”—The Epistle to the Hebrews (London, 1889), pp. 25, 26
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