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Post details: Darwinism and popular culture: Darwinian conservatism means "disintegration of morality"?

10/04/08

by Denyse O'Leary 03:37:17 pm, Categories: Commentary - OpEd, 394 words

Darwinism and popular culture: Darwinian conservatism means "disintegration of morality"?

by Denyse O'Leary
ARN correspondent

That's St. Edward's University's Stephen Craig Dilley's view in a recent edition of Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies (Vol XX, 2008, whose theme this year is globalization).

Dilley is responding to Larry Arnhart, who has been promoting Darwinian conservatism (= why traditional Christians and others should embrace survival of the fittest).

His book-length efforts have been contested, and have prompted a book-length rejoinder from John West.

Here's the abstract:

ENLIGHTENMENT SCIENCE AND GLOBALIZATION
by Stephen Craig Dilley

Abstract
An important intellectual challenge posed by globalization is how the Enlightenment interacts with traditional non-Western worldviews. This essay analyzes a key facet of this challenge: the union of Darwinism with traditional conservative values. Political scientist Larry Arnhart argues that Darwinism provides a biological foundation for conservative notions of human nature, traditional morality, family values, private property, limited government, and the like. A foundation for his view is an Enlightenment claim that the laws of nature and material causes are sufficient to produce "emergent" human minds capable of the kind of free will consistent with moral responsibility. Yet Arnhart's stance implies determinism of the mind and the disintegration of morality. As such, members of the global community who hold conservative values ought to re-examine the parameters of Enlightenment science in light of a more traditional view, which has a richer understanding of the human mind, will, and moral responsibility.

Of course, Darwinian conservatism means the disintegration of morality. The money shot is destroying the reputation of anyone who suggests that before the fix is in, and it doesn't matter any more.

Also just up at The Post-Darwinist:

Darwinism and popular culture: Only trolls would carry out Gallagher's orders, but for some reason he wants them carried out by gentlemen.

Theistic evolution: Straw men forked? Arguments for intelligent design addressed? Pigs fly?

Science and society: Here a tic, there a tic, everywhere a heretic ...

Darwinism and popular culture: Taking the fun out of fundamentalism - no hope for the one who does not accept ...

Toronto-based Canadian journalist Denyse O'Leary (www.designorchance.com) is the author of the multiple award-winning By Design or by Chance? (Augsburg Fortress 2004), an overview of the intelligent design controversy. She was named CBA Canada's Recommended Author of the Year in 2005 and is co-author, with Montreal neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A neuroscientist's case for the existence of the soul (Harper 2007).

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