Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew - Hardcover

Stewart-Williams, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521762782 ISBN 13: 9780521762786

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Synopsis

If you accept evolutionary theory, can you also believe in God? Are human beings superior to other animals, or is this just a human prejudice? Does Darwin have implications for heated issues like euthanasia and animal rights? Does evolution tell us the purpose of life, or does it imply that life has no ultimate purpose? Does evolution tell us what is morally right and wrong, or does it imply that ultimately nothing is right or wrong? In this fascinating and intriguing book, Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental philosophical questions raised by evolutionary theory and the exciting new field of evolutionary psychology. Drawing on biology, psychology and philosophy, he argues that Darwinian science supports a view of a godless universe devoid of ultimate purpose or moral structure, but that we can still live a good life and a happy life within the confines of this view.

About this title

Book Description:

Is religion compatible with evolution? Is religious faith intellectually flawed? Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental questions raised by Darwin's theory of evolution. Drawing on philosophy, biology and the exciting new field of evolutionary psychology, he makes a strong case for a naturalistic, atheistic view of the universe.

About the Author:

Steve Stewart-Williams is a lecturer in psychology at Swansea University. Before taking this position, he did his PhD at Massey University in New Zealand, and then did a postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University in Canada. His research and writing covers a diverse range of topics, including the placebo effect, the philosophy of biology, and the evolution of altruism and mating behaviour.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0521762782
• ISBN 13: 9780521762786
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352