# materialism produces belief in evolution



## Scott (Mar 23, 2006)

More thoughts arising from the lecture series. Pre-Darwinian views of evolution are interesting and relevant to the creation/evolution debate. Some early Greek philosophers affirmed undeveloped forms of evolution on the basis of philosophy, as opposed to observation. Anaximander is one example. These philosophers were materialists. That is to say, that believed that the world could be explained in purely materialistic terms. The origins of creatures posed problems to their philosophy. "œBiological origins posed problems for Greeks intent on devising purely materialistic explanations for natural phenomena. Creation implied a creator; to deny a creator, Anaximander and the atomists proposed crude theories of evolution." From a purely materialist view, there were not many other options. Aristotle chose the only other viable one, namely that species were eternal.

Belief in evolution as a consequence of belief in a naturalistic philosophy was revived during the Enlightenment, particulalry in France. Larson notes that this renewed interest in evolution was associated with a breakdown in religious authority. Committed materialists, such as Denis Diderot and Baron d´Holbach, proposed that all living forms developed by chance mutations from spontaneously generated organisms. They held these views as as a consequnece of a priori commitments, not observation. It was generally agreed that the evidence of the time pointed in another direction (creation). The closest evidence, suggested by William Herschel, was polyps. If you cut them in two, each would grow back into an individual creature. He thought that this evidenced evolution.

It is interesting to see how early forms of evolution were based on a priori commitments to materialism. They were not based on evidence. Once a person accepts a matrialistic starting point, there aren´t really many options on origins. Creation is ruled out in advance, based on philosophical considerations (we still see this today when people say that creation is, by definition, inconsistent with science). descent from a common ancestor is an option. The eternality of species is another (Aristotle's choice).

Anyway, I think that this historical excerpt is useful for demonstrating that materialism tends to produce belief in evolution, irrespective of the evidence. The fact that guys like Diderot and d´Holbach held to evolution without evidence highlights the importance of dealing with worldview commitments in discussions about evolution.

[Edited on 3-23-2006 by Scott]


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## Cuirassier (Mar 23, 2006)

Hmmm interesting!

I have always seen these "commonly concurring", not necessarily causally linked .... 

Thanks for the post - it will give me something to ponder further ... 

dl

[Edited on 3-23-2006 by Cuirassier]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Mar 23, 2006)

It is noteworthy that the grandfather of Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin was a materialist and proposed evolutionary theories on the origins of life that significantly pre-dated the voyage of the _Beagle_.


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## rmwilliamsjr (Mar 23, 2006)

i've seen the converse discussed:

evolution leads to materialism

but this is the first time i've seen this argument.
There is a similiarity to M.Ruse's _The Evolution-Creation Struggle_
where he outline's how Darwin used popular culture, economics and philosophy to build the structure of evolutionary theory. but more importantly how it became a legitimate science in the reconstruction of Darwin with genetics in the early 1920's that resulted in the neodarwinian or modern synthesis.

see Chapter 5-the Failure of a Professional Science in Ruse for more of the development of these ideas.


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## Scott (Mar 23, 2006)

"i've seen the converse discussed: evolution leads to materialism"

I think there is a strong association either way. Belief in evolution can lead to naturalism. I think statistically, though, that most people who believe in evolution are not materialists. Professional scientists tend to be, though.


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## Scott (Mar 23, 2006)

"It is noteworthy that the grandfather of Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin was a materialist and proposed evolutionary theories on the origins of life that significantly pre-dated the voyage of the Beagle."

yeah, Larson noted that. He also noted that evolution was "in the air" so to speak. Lamarck is a good example of that.


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