Darwin, Humanism and Science (IHN)

[Alex]

Darwin, Humanism and Science
3 August 2009
International Humanist News (IHN)
http://www.iheu.org/darwin-humanism-and-science-0

More than 500 people packed into Conway Hall, London on 6 June 2009 to hear Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling and a host of other leading figures from the world of science and education speak of the momentous legacy of Charles Darwin and his contribution to our understanding of the natural world and our place within it.

The conference, jointly organised by IHEU, the British Humanist Association, the European Humanist Federation and the South Place Ethical Society, heard speaker after speaker decry the denigration of evolution – the central unifying concept of all of biology – by politicians, religious leaders and others, attempting to lead the world back into another dark age of superstition and ignorance. First in to bat, introduced by BHA president Polly Toynbee, was Richard Dawkins. Using the final paragraph of Darwin's The Origin of Species as his text for the day, he treated us to a masterly analysis of every sentence, showing how modern discoveries have served only to strengthen Darwin's case – and how, for example, we can now prove that all species alive today must have had a common ancestor. Dawkins was the first, but by no means the last, to discuss the problem of intelligent design "Intelligent design: is not an explanation of anything, it is a failure to explain". Human beings may believe they are the ultimate achievement of evolution, but the starfishes know they are. They have survived, unchanged, for millions of years.  ...

...One of the main weapons of the creationists is describing evolution as "just a theory". [James] Williams urged us to always use the term "scientific theory" when referring to evolution, in order to avoid confusion with the popular usage of the word "theory" as synonymous with "guess". We should also point out that the facts of evolution are as well established as any in the whole of science. No one treats gravity, for example, as "just a theory". We must not allow woolly thinking to confuse the discoveries of science – the facts – with theories regarding how these facts came about. Williams also highlighted a campaign that should receive wide support not just in the UK but across Europe to bring back the teaching of evolution in primary schools.

Johan de Smedt, of the University of Ghent, discussed the cognitive biases, such as essentialism, teleology and the design stance, that make it difficult for us to come to terms with the reality of unguided evolution. We have evolved to seek patterns and causes in the world we inhabit and it can be quite difficult to accept that the answer to some of the biggest questions, such as the purpose of life, is that there isn't one. There is no designer and therefore our lives have no pre-determined purpose.  ...

...A scientific explanation of a phenomenon should not be confused with its justification. The Theory of Evolution does not prescribe how the world should be: it describes how it is and explains why it is. The moral argument fails because the Theory of Evolution is independent of good and evil: it does not tell us what to do. But it does have wide-reaching consequences on our world view.

150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, religious beliefs have passed their sell-by date, but millions of people still consume "the rancid products of faith". To offer an alternative, the Theory of Evolution must be combined with a modern Humanist philosophy. Evolutionary Humanism is not about Humanists lending their support to the teaching of evolution, but an acknowledgement of the fact that our ethics have evolved over time as human civilisation has developed. It combines scientific naturalism with a recognition that cultural evolution has led to a more humane and Humanistic society – without any need to invoke the supernatural.

Evolutionary Humanists don't believe in holy dogma or absolute truth; they trust the principle of critical testing, to let incorrect ideas die rather than have people die for them.  ...