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THEORIES OF EXISTENCE.
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Discusses natural theology arguments re: divine creation & Darwin's theories of speciation & natural selection.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses natural theology arguments re: divine creation & Darwin's theories of speciation & natural selection.
Paper Introduction:
The influences of nature and nurture have been at the heart of much controversy for many years. In recent years, it has focused on examining the effects of genetic inheritance and those of the environment in which individuals are raised and live.
In Darwin=s time, a similar argument raged, but with different views of what constitutes Anature@ and what constitutes Anurture.@ This paper will examine these issues.
SECTION ONE
Nature usually refers to what is innate in the individual, i.e. the genetic inheritance from the parents. In Darwin=s time it had a slightly different meaning. Nature had a much broader meaning then. Nature, at that time, covered a broad spectrum of factors. It embraced all of the natural world - land, sea, air, flora
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Island speciesoften are found to resemble species on the nearest mainland, which could besimply explained by their sharing common ancestors. The influences of nature and nurture have been at the heart of muchcontroversy for many years. If the environmentchanges, only those organisms which can adapt to the new conditions willsurvive. In this way, he was not completely abandoning his religious trainingand beliefs, but rather modifying them to accommodate for the action ofnature on nature in shaping its course. Darwinism and the divine in America.Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. (1988). In recent years, it has focused on examiningthe effects of genetic inheritance and those of the environment in whichindividuals are raised and live.In Darwin=s time, a similar argument raged, but with different views ofwhat constitutes Anature@ and what constitutes Anurture.@ This paper willexamine these issues.SECTION ONE Nature usually refers to what is innate in the individual, i.e. However, his observations inSouth America and the Galapagos islands gave him cause to question thisbelief (Mayr, 1991, p. In Darwin=s time it had a slightlydifferent meaning. Why is there evidence ofintermediate species? Nurture referred to theenvironment of a living organism, and what was required for its existence.This could be food supply, parental nurturing, learning experiences, etc.,and therefore referred mostly to human life. In the religious hypothesis, everythingabout a person is designed by God. Darwin foundthat creation, as described in the bible, was contradicted by almost everyaspect of the natural world (Mayr, 1991, p. Darwin=s own observations showed the presence of numerous, slight,hereditable differences among individuals in a species that might explainhow adaption took place by means of secondary agents (nurture), in whichvariants better adapted to environmental changes would be more likely tosurvive than the original species (Roberts, 1988, pp. However, they proposed noexplanation as to why changes in circumstances were necessary. At the end of his 5-year voyage, when hisspecimens were analyzed and catalogued, it became evident that a singleancestor could give rise to divergent species and statements in hiswritings from then on show that he now firmly believed in the origin of newspecies through geographic speciation and the theory of evolution by commondescent (Mayr, 1991, pp. If youbelieve in the absolute power of God, then you could believe this, but inthe light of Darwin=s studies, the interaction of nature and nurturepresents a more tenable theory of speciation. Natural selection was due to a combination of nature (theability of a particular organism to adapt) and nurture (the effect of theenvironment on the organism). What divine purpose could such anomalies serve? H. Why would a wise and benevolent Goddesign a creature whose only means of defense leads to its own death?Evolution of species also explains the presence of rudimentary andvestigial organs in some species. Darwinbelieved that the environment determined whether or not an individual wouldsurvive to reproduce, and hence nurture played an important role in speciessurvival. Nature had a much broader meaning then. 1 3). 2, lines 9-1 ). (1964). Hecould not accept that God was responsible for the creation of the enormousdiversity and adaptations he observed in nature. Mayr, E. Lack of nurture could similarly bring about the demiseof species, but not their creation. Therefore, the theory of anevolving planet with species evolution seems the most logical. 1991, p. Divine creation proponents believed changestemmed from God=s willingness to Ainterfere in other respects should theuniverse demand such an imposition@ (Roberts, 1988, p. This wouldnecessitate the interaction of nature and nurture. He believed that his hypothesis of natural selectionaccounted for the characteristics of organisms, most commonly cited asevidence of divine creation, by a continuous process of random variationand natural selection: A...new and improved varieties will inevitablysupplant and exterminate the older, less improved and intermediatevarieties,@ Darwin concluded (Roberts, 1988, p. Using the religious reasoning of divine creation, no explanationemerges as to why species needed to disappear. Natural Theology proposes that it is all due to amaster plan, but there are so many instances cited above which a masterplan cannot explain. Darwin observed that every species had adaptations, from species-to-species songs or courtship to specialized food and specific enemies. Darwin=s theory of speciation ran counter to the religiousexplanation. Science and religion. Their vestigial nature in present species could be due to the forcesof nurture, which rendered them no longer necessary. One long argument. Such religious arguments by Paley and others were the basis ofnatural theology, and placed all responsibility for the design oforganisms, their adaptations, and their behavior, squarely on the divinecreator, leaving no room for the influence of nurture. M. In hisbook, Natural Theology, Paley set out to prove that the study of naturalhistory inevitably led to belief in a divine creator (De Beers, 1964, p.14). Thereligious view of Darwin=s theory by American Protestant intellectuals wasthat it tended to Aefface every impression of an acting Deity@ (Roberts,1988, p. Darwin felt he could explain the emergence and gradual perfection ofvarious species by allowing for gradations in perfection of organs andspecies, with a struggle for existence leading to the preservation ofprofitable deviations of a structure or instinct (Brooke, 1991, p. When hefirst left college and embarked on the voyage of the H. 2, line 11). 16, para. Looking at fossil records, more ancient fossils often displaycharacteristics intermediate between later related forms. By considering both Natural Theology and Darwin=s theories onspeciation and natural selection, it seems obvious that there is aninteraction between nature and nurture, and that it cannot be explained byNatural Theology alone. 5). Thiswould presuppose that everything was not created perfect, which would runcounter to the theory that everything God did or made was perfect. ASuch facts as thepresence of peculiar species of bats, and the absence of all other mammalson oceanic islands, are utterly inexplicable on the theory of independentacts of creation,@ proclaimed Darwin (Brooke, 1991, p. The master plan proposed by natural theologists isthat everything is created by God and is therefore perfect in form andfunction, yet there are countless examples to be found in the natural worldwhere this is not so. 1, lines 11-12). 57, para. nurture,can bring about significant changes in organisms. This left no room for the effects of nurture orthe environment. After all,the sting of a bee is hardly an advantageous creation, since the bee diesonce it has stung (Brooke, 1991, p. 1, lines 7-8). Nature, atthat time, covered a broad spectrum of factors. (1991). This denies anyeffect of the environment - home life, education, work experiences, socialpressures, culture - on an individual. When all this evidence is taken together, Darwin=s theories appear tobe a much more logical and believable explanation of speciation, and allowfor the interaction between nature and nature. Speciation in NaturalTheology is by divine design only, and leaves no room for an interactionbetween nature and nurture. It can be readily accepted that theserepresent organs which were present in a ancestor for whom they played arole, since they are of no use to the current species (Brooke, 1991, p.278). Historical records such as fossilsattest to the existence of species which no longer exist, and show hownatural forces could have led to their disappearance. An individual is created in a certainway, and changes in the person can only come from God. He deemed this to beAutterly inexplicable on the theory of creation@ (Brooke. 16, para. Garden City, NY: Doubleday &Company, Inc. References Brooke, J. H. Even such simple tests as raising crop plants from seeds harvestedfrom high-yield plants to maximize crop production, the hybridization offlowering plants to create new colors or superior blooms, and the breedingof desired characteristics in animals, attest to the fact that nurture canhave an affect on nature, something that is not allowed for in thereligious theories of species. 275, para. The same can be saidfor such anomaly as the occasional appearance of stripes on the shouldersof some horses, which can be explained if stripes were a feature of anancestor of this species. 2, lines 9-16). He initially studiedtheology, so was not opposed to the idea of a divine entity with overallcontrol of nature, but he could not reconcile absolute power of this beingover creation with evidence from his own observations of nature. thegenetic inheritance from the parents. 277).His theories also explained a recurrent pattern in the geographicaldistribution of a species: in a region where many species of a genus hadbeen produced, there were usually many varieties of that species produced.This follows if all species first existed as varieties. Why were changes in nature necessary, resulting inthe need for new species, or new adaptations within existing species? De Beers, G. As noted at the beginning, it is inconceivablethat either nature or nurture alone could be responsible for all thathappens to an organism. Using this and other examples,such as the ear and other organs, feathers (downy feathers for warmth,flight feathers for flight), webbed feet for movement in water, poison fordefense in snakes, etc., Paley argued that these were unquestionable proofof a controlled design which, he postulated, could only be attributed to amaster designer, and thus proved the existence of God (De Beers, 1964, pps.16-17). It embraced all of thenatural world - land, sea, air, flora, and fauna - in other words, all thatexisted in the world that was not manmade. These conflicting beliefs are crucial in examining human experienceand its effect on individuals. Geological studiesgive clues to the changing conditions on earth over time, and give hints asto why some species disappeared and some new species developed. 2, lines 18-2 ).This attributed unity of type to descent from a common ancestor rather thanto a master plan by a supernatural creator. Paley argued that only divine creation could explain such things asthe difference between the eyes of animals and fishes (De Beers, 1964, p.16): the lenses of fishes= eyes are more spherical than those of landvertebrates, allowing each species to adapt its vision to the refractiveindex of the medium in which it lives - water or air. S. (1991). As Darwin pointed out, the theory of divine creation could notexplain why all forms of life could be placed in groups subordinate toother groups, and all within a few major classes. Darwin believed that adaptivestructures were the reason certain organisms survived, rather than thatthey were part of the master plan. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press. According to Darwin=s theory, the attributes of organisms wereproduced by a combination of the effects of nature and nurture. Adaptations were forced on organisms by the environment in whichthey lived. Neither alone can explain the extinction ofsome species and the emergence of new ones. In this way, nurture brings about changes in nature.Extrapolating from this hypothesis, humans are capable of adapting tochanges in their environment, and can be changed by their environment.Nurture therefore does play a role in human development, as it does in thedevelopment of all organisms, according to the theories of Darwin. 278). They alsoprovide evidence of intermediate species, evidence of evolution withinspecies to adapt to differing natural conditions. According to the religious point of view, everything that existed wascreated by God, and therefore everything was nature, or natural. 17, para. Only those organisms which could adapt to their environmentsurvived. There would beno reason for changes in nature requiring adaptation of species to knewenvironments, requiring interference by God. In a strugglefor limited resources, individuals within a species who were better adaptedto the prevailing conditions would survive and thus produce the largestnumber of progeny, thus resulting in a change within the species to apredominance of the most adaptable forms. Whilethis would appear to run contrary to religious beliefs in divine creation,even Darwin admitted that such an interaction between nature and nurturecould be directed by a divine being.SECTION TWO It is impossible to conceive that either nature or nurture alone couldaccount for the immense diversity of organisms on the planet Earth, ortheir continued existence. 4-5). Nor could he accept, astheologians of the time did, the idea of a perfect world. things external to nature. Beagle, hetoo believed in the stability of species. It also encompassed suchthings as discipline, morality, obedience - all things which are imposed onthe individual during growth and development to produce a person who cansurvive and prosper in society, i.e. 1, lines 4 and7). If everything on earth is created by God,then such alterations to species could not be made by man. This is another example of theforces of nurture acting to bring about changes within a species. Darwin did not come about his theories lightly. A theory of the gradual evolution of species has the further advantageof being able to accommodate examples of imperfect adaptation. They saw changes in organisms as new designs to fit new circumstances,rather than new circumstances resulting in changes in design of existingorganisms so that they could survive. 278, para. Roberts, J. Thus Darwin=s theory included a rolefor nurture in the development of individuals. If everything God createdwas perfect, as Paley would have us believe, then why was it necessary todestroy some species and create new ones? Darwin himself proclaimed in his Origin of species (1859) that therewas grandeur in his view of life. It led him to state inhis Autobiography, AThe old argument of design in nature, as given byPaley,...fails, now that the law of natural selection has beendiscovered...There seems to be no more design in the variability of organicbeings and in the action of natural selection than in the course which thewind blows.@ (Mayr, 1991, p. He believed that from a simplebeginning, in which living powers had been Abreathed into@ a few forms, themost beautiful and wonderful organisms had evolved, and referred to Alawsimpressed upon matter by the Creator,@ allowing for the role of a divinecreator in the origin of life (Brooke, 1991, p. In other words, man has no controlover his destiny, and is unaffected by nurture. Charles Darwin. It presupposes that an individualcannot learn from experience or change their lot in life because it is allpredetermined in the master plan. If God created a perfect world, there would be noneed for the creation new species or the demise of others. The forces of nature coulddestroy species - wind, rain, floods, earthquakes, etc. 15,). 17, para. If we look at Darwin=s theory of divergence from a common ancestor, wecan see a historical explanation for the pyramidal, hierarchicalarrangement of groups within groups that is a feature of many taxonomicschemes. No such interaction was possible in the religious viewpoint, whichproposed that every such adaptation was part of the divine design, and thatevery variation in an organism was designed so the organism could survivein a changing environment. 3). How could this be reconciledwith the theories of Natural Theology? In Darwin=s hypothesis, the effects of the environment, i.e. - but how couldthey create them? Paley reasoned that if all things were created by God, they must beperfect, and be perfectly adapted to the environments in which they lived(De Beer, 1964, p. 277,para. Almost everything Darwin learned in his natural history studies wasmore or less in conflict with the dogma of a divine creator (Mayr, 1991, p.13). The only changes that can take place arethose decided and brought about by God. AWhat plainermanifestation of design can there be than this instance?@ he asked (DeBeers, 1964, p. Cambridge, Mass: HarvardUniversity Press. 5-6).
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