Wednesday: Darwin
Wednesday morning in my office/study/den, just finishing a fresh-brewed pot of hot, black coffee, about four teacups, which would have been two mugs. Early, after three a.m. but before four a.m. and with the shutter tilted for privacy (it really doesn't matter, no one ever comes way down here to the far east end of Level 7, especially at this hour, except the PCNH carrier, who has already left the paper and I've opened the door into the pushing north wind to retrieve it for Linda, who's still sleeping), looking out on Beck Avenue.
I can see as far as the traffic light by St Andrew Baptist Church, where Beck crosses Highway 98. In my mind and history, St Andrews ends there (or more so at St Andrews School, Beck and 15th Street; beyond that went into Little Dothan), so from 7H I can see the entirety of it. From the pretty much self-sustained fishing village I grew up in, with our own fish houses and docks with large and small commercial fishing boats, and fish markets and ice plant and hardware store and post office and gas station and drugstore and barbershop and cafe and tavern, St Andrews has become a place of restaurants; and not all seafood, there's Mexican and pizza and a couple others. What we need is a motel, replacing the demolished one that faced Beck Avenue and jutted out into Lake Ware.
At this age, an aware person, which so far I still seem to be, needs to be mindful of him/herself, keeping watch as goofiness sets in and one slips off into senility or gradually or quickly some degree of dementia. The problem is that one doesn't see it as soon as others do, or in many cases, not at all. It's easier to see from outside than from inside. I'm sort of keeping watch by noticing what I blog.
At the same Time I'm trying to stay on top of that advice from my theology professor at seminary, not to let up, but continue lifelong to study and read. Jenson got that from observing that so many people, once ordained, move on to the pressing business of managing their parish church, and career development of getting ahead and moving up to larger parishes, and never open another book. One Episcopal priest I knew spoke constantly of "when I get my big church", and I knew a couple of Baptist and Methodist pastors who relished the prestige of pastoring a "First Church".
Where am I now, at eighty-six and counting? Several times retired and trying to keep on reading. Basically motivated by two things: Jenson's advice, and a question on my General Ordination Exam, "Is your faith settled or still developing?"
Never settled, never, never settled. Even and especially now.
've finished one novel since Christmas, and've got another one to read, probably next after I finish Charles Darwin's Autobiography, which I got into from "The Poisonwood Bible" and from "Inherit the Wind" - - and contemplating the religious fundamentalism that grew up in the early 20th century in response to 19th century modernism including development and general acceptance of scientific evolution probably most identified with Charles Darwin.
So, I'm not yet reading his "The Origin of The Species" but have it, and also "The Descent of Man" with its thesis indicated in the title of chapter one: "The Evidence of the Descent of Man from some Lower Form", saved on desktop in case I decide to; but currently reading his autobiography, also saved on desktop; all because I grew up when Darwin was still being slammed vehemently because "Origin" was rumored to have taken down Genesis One; so, he was widely slammed and damned as an ungodly atheist, but by popular reputation, not by having read "Origin".
Darwin specifies in more than one place in Autobiography that he is not atheist but an Agnostic. Autobiography has a section on "Religious Belief". I'm not finished with it yet, the autobiography is over 250 pages* and I'm only halfway, but I've read through to his "Religious Belief" section and a couple dozen pages beyond, and copy-and-pasted it below, not sure whether there's more on the subject later.
Written to inform and entertain his family after his death, Autobiography is fast reading, especially online onto the computer screen where print size can be enlarged. *[On finishing The Autobiography, I find that it is only 145 pages, the rest being Appendix &c. TW]
The below is an excerpt from front title page and pages 86-95, with text and footnotes.
Baptized in the Church of England and at one time studying for the priesthood (after backing out of medical studies to be a physician in the footsteps of his father), Darwin was at first devoutly orthodox but slowly came to terms with his doubts that developed in his life as a highly regarded and widely published scientist, botanist, geologist, zoologist. Whereas my own contemplations and interests are from gazing out into the Universe, his was from "inward", scientific observations of evolutionary development of life on the Earth and of the Earth itself. Darwin was married to a Unitarian, Emma, who was quite devout and brought up their children as Unitarian, and he takes pains to make clear that they were respectful of each other's beliefs and comfortable with their religious differences.
Here's what Charles Darwin said about his religious beliefs as he wrote about himself over the last few years of his life. Why is this of special interest to me? Stirred by my "Christmas reading" and because of my lifelong experience of hearing Darwin condemned by folks, even including Episcopalians, who never read any of his writing. I want to see for myself what he was all about. And, blogging, for mental exercise, about what's going on in my life!
T
THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
CHARLES DARWIN
1809–1882
With original omissions restored
Edited with Appendix and Notes
by his grand-daughter
NORA BARLOW
COLLINS
ST JAMES'S PLACE, LONDON
1958
CHARLES DARWIN'S own reflections on his life and work, written between the ages of 67 and 73,
Religious Belief
DURING THESE two years1 I was led to think much about religion. Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality. I suppose it was the novelty of the argument that amused them. But I had gradually come, by this time, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a sign, etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian. The question then continually rose before my mind and would not be banished,—is it credible that if God were now to make a revelation to the Hindoos, would he
1 October 1836 to January 1839.—F. D.
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permit it to be connected with the belief in Vishnu, Siva, &c., as Christianity is connected with the Old Testament. This appeared to me utterly incredible.
By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported,—that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become,—that the men at that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us,—that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events,—that they differ in many important details, far too important as it seemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses;—by such reflections as these, which I give not as having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as is the morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors and allegories.
But I was very unwilling to give up my belief;—I feel sure of this for I can well remember often and often inventing day-dreams of old letters between distinguished Romans and manuscripts being discovered at Pompeii or elsewhere which confirmed in the most striking manner all that was written in the Gospels. But I found it more and more difficult, with free scope given to my imagina-
tion, to invent evidence which would suffice to convince me. Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished.
And this is a damnable doctrine.1
Although I did not think much about the existence of a personal God until a considerably later period of my life, I will here give the vague conclusions to which I have been driven. The old argument of design in nature, as given by Paley, which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural selection has been discovered. We can no longer argue that, for instance, the beautiful hinge of a bivalve shell must have been made by an intelligent being, like the hinge of a door by man. There seems to be no more design in the variability of organic beings and in the action of natural selection, than in the course which the wind blows. Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
1 Mrs. Darwin annotated this passage (from "and have never since doubted"…. to "damnable doctrine") in her own handwriting. She writes:—"I should dislike the passage in brackets to be published. It seems to me raw. Nothing can be said too severe upon the doctrine of everlasting punishment for disbelief—but very few now wd. call that 'Christianity,' (tho' the words are there.) There is the question of verbal inspiration comes in too. E. D." Oct. 1882. This was written six months after her husband's death, in a second copy of the Autobiography in Francis's handwriting. The passage was not published. See Introduction.—N. B.
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But I have discussed this subject at the end of my book on the Variation of Domestic Animals and Plants,1 and the argument there given has never, as far as I can see, been answered.
But passing over the endless beautiful adaptations which we everywhere meet with, it may be asked how can the generally beneficent arrangement of the world be accounted for? Some writers indeed are so much impressed with the amount of suffering in the world, that they doubt if we look to all sentient beings, whether there is more of misery or of happiness;—whether the world as a whole is a good or a bad one. According to my judgment happiness decidedly prevails, though this would be very difficult to prove. If the truth of this conclusion be granted, it harmonises well with the effects which we might expect from natural selection. If all the individuals of any species were habitually to suffer to an extreme degree they would neglect to propagate their kind; but we have no reason to believe that this has ever or at least often occurred. Some other considerations, moreover, lead to the belief that all sentient beings have been formed so as to enjoy, as a general rule, happiness.
Every one who believes, as I do, that all the corporeal
1 My father asks whether we are to believe that the forms are preordained of the broken fragments of rock which are fitted together by man to build his houses. If not, why should we believe that the variations of domestic animals or plants are preordained for the sake of the breeder? "But if we give up the principle in one case,…no shadow of reason can be assigned for the belief that variations alike in nature and the result of the same general laws, which have been the groundwork through natural selection of the formation of the most perfectly adapted animals in the world, man included, were intentionally and specially guided."—Variations of Animals and Plants, 1st Edit. vol. ii. p. 431.—F. D.
and mental organs (excepting those which are neither advantageous or disadvantageous to the possessor) of all beings have been developed through natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, together with use or habit,1 will admit that these organs have been formed so that their possessors may compete successfully with other beings, and thus increase in number. Now an animal may be led to pursue that course of action which is the most beneficial to the species by suffering, such as pain, hunger, thirst, and fear,—or by pleasure, as in eating and drinking and in the propagation of the species, &c. or by both means combined, as in the search for food. But pain or suffering of any kind, if long continued, causes depression and lessens the power of action; yet is well adapted to make a creature guard itself against any great or sudden evil. Pleasurable sensations, on the other hand, may be long continued without any depressing effect; on the contrary they stimulate the whole system to increased action. Hence it has come to pass that most or all sentient beings have been developed in such a manner through natural selection, that pleasurable sensations serve as their habitual guides. We see this in the pleasure from exertion, even occasionally from great exertion of the body or mind,—in the pleasure of our daily meals, and especially in the pleasure derived from sociability and from loving our families. The sum of such pleasures as these, which are habitual or frequently recurrent, give, as I can hardly doubt, to
1 "together with use or habit" added later. The many corrections and alterations in this sentence show his increasing preoccupation with the possibility of other forces at work besides Natural Selection. See P. 15—N. B.
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most sentient beings an excess of happiness over misery, although many occasionally suffer much. Such suffering, is quite compatible with the belief in Natural Selection, which is not perfect in its action, but tends only to render each species as successful as possible in the battle for life with other species, in wonderfully complex and changing circumstances.
That there is much suffering in the world no one disputes. Some have attempted to explain this in reference to man by imagining that it serves for his moral improvement. But the number of men in the world is as nothing compared with that of all other sentient beings, and these often suffer greatly without any moral improvement. A being so powerful and so full of knowledge as a God who could create the universe, is to our finite minds omnipotent and omniscient, and it revolts our understanding to suppose that his benevolence is not unbounded, for what advantage can there be in the sufferings of millions of the lower animals throughout almost endless time? This very old argument from the existence of suffering against the existence of an intelligent first cause seems to me a strong one; whereas, as just remarked, the presence of much suffering agrees well with the view that all organic beings have been developed through variation and natural selection.
At the present day the most usual argument for the existence of an intelligent God is drawn from the deep inward conviction and feelings which are experienced by most persons. But it cannot be doubted that Hindoos,
Mahomadans and others might argue in the same manner and with equal force in favour of the existence of one God, or of many Gods, or as with the Buddists of no God. There are also many barbarian tribes who cannot be said with any truth to believe in what we call God: they believe indeed in spirits or ghosts, and it can be explained, as Tyler and Herbert Spencer have shown, how such a belief would be likely to arise.
Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred to, (although I do not think that the religious sentiment was ever strongly developed in me), to the firm conviction of the existence of God, and of the immortality of the soul. In my Journal I wrote that whilst standing in the midst of the grandeur of a Brazilian forest, 'it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, admiration, and devotion which fill and elevate the mind.' I well remember my conviction that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body. But now the grandest scenes would not cause any such convictions and feelings to rise in my mind. It may be truly said that I am like a man who has become colour-blind, and the universal belief by men of the existence of redness makes my present loss of perception of not the least value as evidence. This argument would be a valid one if all men of all races had the same inward conviction of the existence of one God; but we know that this is very far from being the case. Therefore I cannot see that such inward convictions and feelings are of any weight as evidence of what really exists. The state of mind which grand scenes formerly
[page] 92 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN
excited in me, and which was intimately connected with a belief in God, did not essentially differ from that which is often called the sense of sublimity; and however difficult it may be to explain the genesis of this sense, it can hardly be advanced as an argument for the existence of God, any more than the powerful though vague and similar feelings excited by music.
With respect to immortality,1 nothing shows me how strong and almost instinctive a belief it is, as the consideration of the view now held by most physicists, namely that the sun with all the planets will in time grow too cold for life, unless indeed some great body dashes into the sun and thus gives it fresh life.—Believing as I do that man in the distant future will be a far more perfect creature than he now is, it is an intolerable thought that he and all other sentient beings are doomed to complete annihilation after such long-continued slow progress. To those who fully admit the immortality of the human soul, the destruction of our world will not appear so dreadful.
Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with the reason and not with the feelings, impresses me as having much more weight. This follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with his capacity of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity. When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some
1 Addendum added later to end of paragraph—N. B.
degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a Theist.
This conclusion1 was strong in my mind about the time, as far as I can remember, when I wrote the Origin of Species; and it is since that time that it has very gradually with many fluctuations become weaker. But then arises the doubt—can the mind of man, which has, as I fully believe, been developed from a mind as low as that possessed by the lowest animal, be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions? May not these be the result of the connection between cause and effect which strikes us as a necessary one, but probably depends merely on inherited experience? Nor must we overlook the probability of the constant inculcation in a belief in God on the minds of children producing so strong and perhaps an inherited effect on their brains not yet fully developed, that it would be as difficult for them to throw off their belief in God, as for a monkey to throw off its instinctive fear and hatred of a snake.2
1 Addendum of four lines added later. In Charles's MS. copy the interleaved addition is in his eldest son's hand. In Francis's copy it is in Charles's own hand.—N. B.
2 Added later. Emma Darwin wrote and asked Frank to omit this sentence when he was editing the Autobiography in 1885. The letter is as follows:—
"Emma Darwin to her son Francis. 1885.
My dear Frank,
There is one sentence in the Autobiography which I very much wish to omit, no doubt partly because your father's opinion that all morality has grown up by evolution is painful to me; but also because where this sentence comes in, it gives one a sort of shock—and would give an opening to say, however unjustly, that he considered all spiritual beliefs no higher than hereditary aversions or likings, such as the fear of monkeys towards snakes.
I think the disrespectful aspect would disappear if the first part of the conjecture was left without the illustration of the instance of monkeys and snakes. I don't think you need consult William about this omission, as it would not change the whole gist of the Autobiography. I should wish if possible to avoid giving pain to your father's religious friends who are
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I cannot pretend to throw the least light on such abstruse problems. The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic.
A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones. A dog acts in this manner, but he does so blindly. A man, on the other hand, looks forwards and backwards, and compares his various feelings, desires and recollections. He then finds, in accordance with the verdict of all the wisest men that the highest satisfaction is derived from following certain impulses, namely the social instincts. If he acts for the good of others, he will receive the approbation of his fellow men and gain the love of those with whom he lives; and this latter gain undoubtedly is the highest pleasure on this earth.
{In 1870 he wrote to J. D. Hooker (More Letters, Vol. I, p. 321.) "Your conclusion that all speculation about preordination is idle waste of time is the only wise one; but how difficult it is not to speculate! My theology is a simple muddle; I cannot look at the universe as the result of blind chance, yet I can see no evidence of beneficent design, or indeed of design of any kind, in the details."}