Taking Darwin Seriously

A Naturalistic Approach to Philosophy

By: Michael Ruse

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Paperback | 1 August 1998 | Edition Number 2

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340 Pages

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22.86 x 15.88 x 2.54

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First published a decade ago, Michael Ruse's Taking Darwin Seriously established itself as one of the most important works on evolutionary naturalism since Darwin's own Origin of Species in 1859. Updated with a new preface and final chapter, this timely volume challenges the threadworn arguments as well as the new claims of creationism seeping into mainstream education, science, and philosophy, and reestablishes solid arguments supporting the science of Charles Darwin.

Applying evolutionary biology to traditional philosophical problems, this volume establishes a naturalistic approach to our understanding of life's major problems. Ruse argues thoughtfully that to understand the problems of knowledge (epistemology) and of moral thought and behavior (ethics), we must know that we are the end-products of the natural process of evolution rather than the special creation of a supernatural god. At the same time, he warns evolutionists who would fashion an atheistic secular religion from their science.

Written in an easy style to interest the professional and the general reader, this book is a pillar of philosophy intended as a direct challenge to all those who would push creationism as a credible alternative to scientific evolution in public schools, universities, and as a general theory of public consumption.

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Non-Fiction Philosophy History of Western Philosophy Medieval & Renaissance Philosophy Science Biology, Life Sciences Life Sciences in General Evolution Ethics & Moral Philosophy Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary Subjects Interdisciplinary Studies General Studies

Preface to the Second Edition
Preface
The Biological Background	p. 1
The fact of evolution	p. 1
The path of evolution	p. 4
The theory of evolution: natural selection	p. 16
The theory of evolution: modern genetics	p. 18
Good science?	p. 20
Evolutionary Epistemology	p. 29
Evolution as analogy	p. 31
Herbert Spencer and the law of progress	p. 37
Stephen Toulmin's Darwinian model	p. 45
The analogy considered: the fact of evolution	p. 46
The analogy considered: the path of evolution	p. 49
The analogy considered: the cause of evolution	p. 53
Donald Campbell's Darwinian variations	p. 58
Karl Popper and the revision of Darwinism	p. 61
Evolutionary Ethics	p. 67
Moral issues	p. 68
Evolution and ethics	p. 71
Herbert Spencer and the moral value of progress	p. 73
Spencerian problems	p. 75
William Graham Sumner and Social Darwinism	p. 78
Thomas Henry Huxley and his stand against nature	p. 82
Hume's law and the naturalistic fallacy	p. 86
Is the natural innately good?	p. 90
Edward O. Wilson and the foundations of morality	p. 93
The evolution of the moral sense	p. 99
Human Evolution	p. 103
The fact of human evolution	p. 104
The path of human evolution	p. 109
The cause of human evolution	p. 115
The problem of culture	p. 123
The biology of language	p. 126
Ape language	p. 134
Is culture independent of biology?	p. 140
Epigenetic rules	p. 143
Darwinian Epistemology	p. 148
The nature of science	p. 149
Scientific reasoning	p. 155
The case for a biological backing	p. 160
The case for (continued)	p. 164
The case against	p. 168
The rivals to science	p. 174
Philosophical precursor: Kant?	p. 178
Philosophical precursor: Hume?	p. 182
Common-sense realism	p. 184
Metaphysical scepticism	p. 192
Konrad Lorenz and the biological a priori	p. 196
The ultimate foundations	p. 199
Darwinian Ethics	p. 207
Substantive ethics	p. 208
Meta-ethics	p. 213
The evolution of morality	p. 217
The empirical evidence: social animals	p. 223
The empirical evidence: chimpanzees	p. 227
The empirical evidence: humans	p. 230
Substantive ethics reconsidered: utilitarianism	p. 235
My family and other animals	p. 238
To give and not to count the cost	p. 242
Substantive ethics reconsidered: Kantianism	p. 244
Moral disagreements	p. 247
Darwinian meta-ethics	p. 250
Objectifying morality	p. 252
Stepping around Hume's law	p. 256
Freedom of choice	p. 258
Possible precursor: Kant?	p. 262
Possible precursor: Hume?	p. 266
Looking forward	p. 269
Darwin's New Critics on Trial	p. 280
References	p. 298
Index	p. 316
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Taking Darwin Seriously

A Naturalistic Approach to Philosophy

At a Glance

Paperback

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