Introduction
Ideas have a radiation and development, an ancestry and posterity of their own, in which men play the part of godfathers and godmothers more than that of legitimate parents. In this dictum of Lord Acton may be seen the relationship between Darwin and Darwinism, between the theory of natural selection and the theories of religion, morality, society, and politics presumably derived from that theory. Of the ancestry of his ideas or the climate of opinion in which they were nurtured, Darwin had little real knowledge or appreciation; of their posterity or the climate which they created, he had, necessarily, even less. It has already been observed how much narrower in extension and more specific in intention were his theories than either the background from which they emerged or the response which they evoked; the image is of an hourglass, with Darwin comprising the narrow waist (Loren, 1958).
Even Darwin's own opinions on religious and social subjects belong to the public realm of Darwinism. They are as much a deduction from his doctrine as is the views of any outsider, and he is as little an authority on the legitimacy of this deduction as anyone else. Indeed, his views often carry less weight than those of others who were able to find more subtle, complex, and profound significances in Darwinism than he himself ever suspected. If, nevertheless, attention persists in focusing upon him, it is because of a natural curiosity to know what even a godfather makes of his godchild.
Darwin's early religious orthodoxy has already been remarked upon. It showed itself in his willingness to join the ministry and in his irreproachably orthodox behavior on the Beagle. Disbelief, by his own account, did not begin to trouble him until after his return from the voyage. He then began to doubt not only the historical authenticity of the Bible-the Gospels, he realized, differed among themselves and must have been written long after the events they purported to describe-but also its teaching.
This essay has the followings:
Total words: 813
Total reference: 2
Total price: £ 19.95
Click here to Order this essay!
Get Professionally written Essays that are:
• Written According to your Exact Requirements
• 100% Original and Non-Plagiarized
• Written by Expert
UK Writers
• Delivered to you before your deadline
Amazingly Low Prices - £9.95/page
