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Among French Jewish intellectuals who rejected Zionism in the early twentieth century was Rene Worms, a sociologist who used sociological theories as well as 'franco- judaisme,' the French-Jewish model of assimilation, to oppose it. In 1920-21, during debates organized by the Societe de sociologie de Paris on the future of Palestine and Zionism, Worms used various theories to counter Jewish nationalism. Influenced by biology and race science, he began by denying the existence of a Jewish race, emphasizing the racial heterogeneity of modern Jews. His understanding of the evolution of modern religions toward universalism, influenced by Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim, also discredited Zionism. Finally, his sociology of nationality, interwoven with Ernest Renan's conception of the nation, precluded any national claim to Judaism. This article examines the arguments Worms made and compare them to those of other speakers in debates between sociologists in Paris. Key words: French Judaism, Rene Worms, sociology, Zionism, From the 1890s until World War I, a period referred to as a 'time of contempt,' the majority of French Jews rejected Zionism, while a small segment of the country's [...]

As a scientific theory, evolution by natural selection is a historic success. Its use in human affairs has a murkier history. In Darwin's time, evolutionary theory was distorted by philosophers [...]

The story of Noah's drunkenness (Gen 9:20-27) is famously plagued with several difficulties. Noah pronounces a severe curse in response to a seemingly minor crime. His son Ham committed the [...]

'Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin.'--Oscar Wilde 'Only the scientific view of the world corresponds closely to reality; the anthropocentric worldview is mostly just fantasy: [...]

PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTATION IS PART OF THE HUMAN experience, and it is just as much a part of science as it is part of other human institutions. Scientists try to convince [...]

IN FEBRUARY OF 2014, SCIENCE EDUCATOR BILL NYE engaged in a debate with the president of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, on the topic of evolution and creationism. (1) The [...]

Christians who accept Darwinian evolution are, it is sometimes said, trying to have it both ways. If evolution is driven by random mutations, we cannot be part of a divine [...]

IN 2005, THE PARENTS OF SEVERAL STUDENTS ATTENDING Dover High School in Dover, Pennsylvania, sued the Dover Area School District over their decision to require high school biology teachers to [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01126.x Byline: Philip Clayton (1) Keywords: biosemiotics; emergence of life; evolutionary theory; incarnation; Charles Sanders Peirce; philosophy of language; Andrew Robinson; science/religion research programs; semiotics; Christopher Southgate; symbols of ultimacy; trinitarian theologies Abstract: Abstract. This Afterword looks back over both parts of the discussion of 'God and the World of Signs'-'Semiotics and the Emergence of Life' in the previous issue of Zygon and 'Semiotics and Theology' in this issue. Three central questions in this extended debate are identified: What is the nature of biological organisms and biological evolution? What is the relationship between the natural world and the Triune God of the Christian theological tradition? What should be the goals of Science/Religion Studies? I summarize the answers that Christopher Southgate and Andrew Robinson have given in their program and the challenges raised by their critics. Their strengths and weaknesses are assessed. In the conclusion I ask readers to imagine that this particular research program were to be taken as a model program in science-and-religion research (with some tweaking) and then consider the features of the program that could function as standards for scholars working in other areas of the dialogue. Author Affiliation: (1)Ingraham Professor at Claremont School of Theology and Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the Claremont Graduate University, 1325 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711.

There is reasonable evidence suggesting that humans have an innate tendency toward being religious. Consequently, religion is unlikely to disappear; the question then is how this feature will impact on future society. Three scenarios are discussed: One, science will dominate; two, religion will dominate; and three, the present conflict between the two is resolved. The latter scenario may happen through a realization that religion has the potential for doing more good than bad, in terms of individual quality of life and in improving society. Obtaining maximum benefit of religion will require a concept of God that is compatible with science, and that can be accepted as a common core for the various faiths. Science may help in this endeavor. KEYWORDS: Evolution, rationality, religion, science. DOI: 10.1080/02604027.2010.484734

In a move that has puzzled commentators, Derrida's The Animal that Therefore I Am rejects claims for continuity between the human and the animal, aligning such claims with the ideology of 'biologistic continuism.' This problematization of the logic of the human-animal limit holds implications for how we are to understand life in relation to auto-affection, immanence in relation to transcendence, and naturalism in relation to phenomenology. Derrida's abyssal logic parallels the 'strange kinship' described by Merleau-Ponty, though only if this strangeness is intensified as 'hetero-affection' by incorporating death into life. Following Merleau-Ponty and Elizabeth Grosz, we locate the creative moment of this abyssal intimacy in the transformative productions of sexual difference. 'This positive account of the excess of hetero-affection reconciles phenomenology with evolution and offers a figure for thinking the thickening and multiplying of the differences between human and non-human, living and nonliving, corporeal and cosmic. Keywords animals, biologism, Derrida, evolution, Merleau-Ponty, phenomenology DOI: 10.1163/156916410X509940

Few address the extent to which William James regards the neo-Lamarckian account of 'direct adaptation' as a biological extension of British empiricism. Consequently few recognize the instrumental role that the Darwinian idea of 'indirect adaptation' plays in his lifelong efforts to undermine the empiricist view that sense experience molds the mind. This article examines how James uses Darwinian thinking, first, to argue that mental content can arise independently of sense experience; and, second, to show that empiricists advance a hopelessly skeptical position when they insist that beliefs are legitimate only insofar as they directly correspond to the observable world. Using his attacks on materialism and his defense of spiritualism as examples, I particularly consider how Darwinian thinking enables him to keep his empiricist commitments while simultaneously developing a pragmatic alternative to empiricistic skepticism. I conclude by comparing his theory of beliefs to the remarkably similar theory of 'memes' that Richard Dawkins uses to attack spiritualistic belief--an attack that James anticipates and counters with his pragmatic alternative. Keywords: Darwinism, Lamarckism, Dawkins, Empiricism, Faith, Materialism, Science., Introduction William James is remembered for challenging empiricistic skepticism by expounding a more encompassing 'radical empiricism.' Strangely, he is not much noted for applying the same strategy to Darwinism, yet [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01094.x Byline: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson (1) Keywords: anti-Semitism; Aristotle; conflict model; Darwinism; early modern science and technology; Philip Hefner; irony; Judaism (Reform, Modern Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox); natural philosophy; religion; science; secularism; Hayden White Abstract: Abstract. Philip Hefner identifies three settings in which to assess the future of science and religion: the academy, the public sphere, and the faith community. This essay argues that the discourse of science and religion could improve its standing within the secular academy in America by shifting the focus from theology to history. In the public sphere, the science-and-religion discourse could play an important role of promoting tolerance and respect toward the religious Other. For a given faith community (for example, Judaism) the discourse of science and religion can ensure future intellectual depth by virtue of study and ongoing interpretation. The essay challenges the suggestion to adopt irony as a desirable posture for science-and-religion discourse. Author Affiliation: (1)Professor of history and director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874302, Tempe, AZ 85287-4302; e-mailhava.samuelson@asu.edu.

Since the time of Darwin the conception of evolution has developed beyond the boundaries of science to include philosophy and now theology in its scope. After noting the positive reception of the evolutionary idea by theologians even in Darwin's time, the article traces its philosophical development from Hegel to the work of Karl Rahner. It then uses the philosophical anthropology developed by Rahner to reformulate the essentials of Christian faith ('Christology within an evolutionary view of the world'), in a way that is consonant with a scientific and secular world view. It is the author's view that secularity--understood as in the recent work of Charles Taylor--is the result of an evolution in the sphere of culture and provides both a standard for truth in religion and a basis for dialogue between the religions of the world.

1. Biological Explanations of the Meaning of Life The aim of this paper is to make an unlikely connection between the old question about the meaning of life and some [...]

In the second part of the Critique of Judgment, Immanuel Kant provides a transcendental analysis of the bases of our fight to employ teleological conceptions in biology. A living organism exemplifies the conception of a natural end insofar as the organization of the parts to form a whole is the result of a process in which the organism is both cause and effect of itself. Kant's analysis of the concept of a natural purpose is guided, in part, by his general theory of logic. By examining the manner in which the logical modes of relation are used as a basis for analyzing the concept of a natural purpose, I hope to accomplish two goals: (1) to compare Kant's analysis of the category of community to the analysis of the concept of a natural purpose; (2) to evaluate some of the strengths and weaknesses of Kant's account of community and natural purpose; (3) to consider one criticism of Kant's use of the logical form of the disjunctive as a basis for the analysis of these conceptions that is developed by Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce indicates that Darwin's theory of biological evolution was one of the primary causes that led him revisit Kant's logic and his analysis of the categories of relation.

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01001.x Byline: Hector N. Qirko (1) Keywords: altruism: inclusive fitness; induced altruism; kinship recognition clues; reciprocal altruism; suicide terror Abstract: Abstract. In recent years, much has been learned about the strategic and organizational contexts of suicide attacks. However, motivations of the agents who commit them remain difficult to explain. In part this is because standard models of social learning as well as Durkheimian notions of sacrificial behavior are inadequate in the face of the actions of human bombers. In addition, the importance of organizational structures and practices in reinforcing commitment on the part of suicide recruits is an under-explored factor in many analyses. This essay examines the potential applicability of evolutionary models of altruism to the understanding of commitment to suicide on the part of terrorist organizational recruits. Three evolutionary models of sacrificial behavior in nonhuman species and many categories of human behavior are explored cross-organizationally: reciprocity, inclusive fitness theory, and induced altruism. Reciprocal altruism is unlikely to be a major motivator in suicide attacks because the costs exhibited by attackers are too high to be adequately compensated. However, the role of evolved self-deception in perceptions of personal death, and thus of rewards in the afterlife, is potentially illuminating. Inclusive fitness theory can help explain the motivations of attackers because rewards to kin often are offered by organizations to suicide recruits. However, suicide bombers also often act out of revenge for the loss of or injury to relatives, and inclusive fitness theory generally, as well as more specific theoretical models of retaliatory aggression, may not adequately account for the bombers' actions. Predictions from induced altruism theory appear to be well supported because suicide terror organizations tend to be tightly structured around practices intended to maintain and reinforce commitment though the manipulation of kinship-recognition cues. Author Affiliation: (1)Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996; e-mailhqirko@utk.edu.

Science, and with it our understanding of evolutionary processes, is itself undergoing evolution. The evolutionary framework still most frequently used by the general public to describe and guide processes of societal development is erroneously grounded in Darwinian perspectives or, at the very least, draws facile analogies from biological evolution. The present inquiry incorporates fresh insights on the general systemic nature of developmental dynamics from the most recent advances in the transdisciplinary realm of the sciences of complexity (e.g., general evolution theory, cybernetics, information and communication theory, chaos theory, dynamical systems theory, and nonequilibrium thermodynamics). The description of the evolutionary trajectory of complex dynamical systems as irreversible, periodically chaotic, and strongly nonlinear agrees with certain features of the historical processes of societal development. But there are additional features of the evolutionary dynamic of natural systems that are seldom portrayed as part of human developmental deportment. These features include elements such as the convergence of existing systems at progressively higher levels of organization, the increasingly efficient utilization of environmental energy, and the complexification of system structures in states that are progressively further removed from chemical and thermodynamic equilibria. The sciences of complexity offer insight into the laws and dynamics that govern the evolution of complex systems across a variety of disciplinary areas of investigation. Through a study of the isomorphisms across disciplinary constructs in the theoretical analyses of the principles governing the evolution of human societies, it is possible to enrich the account of developmental dynamics at the socio-civilizational level. Such an account would further our understanding of the phenomenon of societal development and provide the means for the purposeful guidance of this phenomenon in accordance with general evolutionary principles. This article sets forth the type of considerations, and outlines a general research agenda, for inquiry toward an operational model of the evolutionary development of social systems. KEYWORDS: Evolution, societal development, sustainability, syntony, systems design.

Although the Neo-Darwin Theory of Evolution is one of the most celebrated theories in science, nonetheless it has received many criticisms. These criticisms are documented and a new transdisciplinary theory of origin is introduced. Darwin's original argument was that natural selection, through heritable changes, changed simple organisms over time. These heritable changes are responsible for the complex plethora of life seen around us today. Darwin's original theory, however, was reconstructed after the fact into a mutation-based theory. This mutation-based theory in its current form is an insufficient and indeed unnecessary transdisciplinary explanation. A subsequent statistical comparison between the six extant scientifically based primary theories of origin was undertaken and based on current biological knowledge a statistically significantly (p < .05) best fit phenotypic model emerged. KEYWORDS: Entropy, extinction, meta-theory, natural selection, phenotypic.

'The universe was not pregnant with life nor the biosphere with man. Our number came up in the Monte Carlo game.' --Jacques Monod Chance and Necessity, 1971. IF YOU ARE [...]

DARWIN WAS NOT A PHILOSOPHER. He can be fairly called a 'philosophical naturalist,' an expression that he favors when referring to the most thoughtful of his colleagues. (1) But insofar [...]

The article discusses new way of thinking about the phenomenon of risk aversion based on evolutionary considerations and discusses its philosophical implications.

John Dewey famously argued that Darwin had introduced a new conceptual vocabulary that would completely overhaul the traditional philosophical enterprise. His sense was that the kinds of monumental metaphysical questions [...]

Societal collapse has been a perennial concern of humanity, at least since the early Greeks. Recent publication of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and Ervin Laszlo's The Chaos Window: The World at the Crossroads renew this concern. Despite the urgency in these and many similar calls to action, no consensus theory and practice of evolutionary civilization exists. This article calls for collaborative action by the evolutionary systems community and related disciplines to provide insight into what has been dubbed 'the most important question in the world today' (Smith, 2005, p. 436). KEYWORDS: Evolutionary systems, project proposal, societal collapse.

I was thrilled to be asked to respond to Randall Allsup's paper as his standpoint appears to be close to my own. (1) I take it that his interest in [...]

Life, and therefore evolution, is a creative process; creativity is not an attribute of a few gifted people. The way we think obscures this truth. Three ways of dealing with a problem are creativity, calculation, and choice. Creativity can occur when a single idea is held in two contradictor frames of reference. Thus to be creative we have to put aside our usual ways of thinking, which are based on either/or. When we put aside this way of thinking we will see that things do not change: they are change. KEYWORDS: Creativity, Darwin, evolution, logic, Zen.

Responding to a recent article by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the author argues that evolution of the world and life, through random processes rightly understood, is indeed consistent with divine, transcendent meaning, value, and purpose of creation. After criticizing traditional 'intelligent design' arguments, the article analyzes the key notions of design and randomness. It then draws on the work of Bernard Lonergan to show how it is possible to reconcile the affirmations of divine purpose and the randomness of the evolving world., CARDINAL CHRISTOPH SCHONBORN OF VIENNA recently published an op-ed article in the New York Times entitled 'Finding Design in Nature' (July 7, 2005). In that article he called into question [...]

There are two fundamentally different battles raging in the current debates about evolution. The first pits nearly the entire scientific community against creationists, who believe that they are upholding the [...]

The present study asks the question whether Karl Rahner's treatment of biological evolution holds merit for the dialogue between Catholic theology on the one hand and evolutionary biology on the other. Central to this evaluation will be an emphasis on two core tenets of modern evolutionary biology, namely emergence and the continuity of the evolutionary process. While the former bears relevance for our understanding of how life and anthropologically important phenomena such as 'mind' and 'consciousness' came to be, the latter plays a crucial role in how we view our existence within the earth's fluid and changing biosphere. It comes to the conclusion that Rahner's concept of active self-transcendence recovers the notion of biological evolution as an on-going process where indeed something new emerges, and therefore offers an extremely helpful tool in the interdisciplinary conversation. However, this essay challenges Rahner's understanding of the directedness of the evolutionary process toward the human being as well as his view that in us nature comes to self-consciousness for the first time and suggests alternatives.

A Report on a Conference on Intelligent Design Theory, July 26-27, Kansas City, MO How Do ID Proponents Behave When Preaching To the Choir? DEPENDING ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE, Intelligent-Design (ID) [...]

My critics make serious and sensible points, all of which are undoubtedly true but not all of which I feel that I can accept. Keywords: Darwin; design; natural selection; teleology.

Michael Ruse's Darwin and Design: Science, Philosophy, Religion explains the history and philosophical arguments of the design metaphor of evolution. It recounts the historical uses of the metaphor from Plato to twentieth-century American science. Ruse explores the criticisms of the design metaphor and ultimately concludes that it is a beneficial term. The chief contribution of Darwin and Design is that it offers a clear understanding and comparison of the argument from design and the argument to design. Keywords: Charles Darwin; evolution; evolutionary design; intelligent design; natural theology; William Paley; teleological argument.

Michael Ruse's forthcoming book gives an enjoyable history of teleology in biology, philosophy, and theology. It argues that concepts of cause, final cause, purpose, teleology, function, design, adaptation, contrivance, progress, ends, and value have all been telescoped by most writers in those three disciplines but that these concepts (and especially the concept of design) are nonetheless valid, provided only that we recognize their metaphorical nature. I agree with this basic argument, and Ruse's critiques and historical summaries of these concepts are both useful and delightful. However, I also explore one major and three minor reservations. The minor reservations are that Ruse overdoes the allegation of telescoping, does not adequately explore ways to express teleology more accurately, and erroneously denies the existence of biology-based theologians who make the same point he is making. The major reservation is that, despite all the groundwork he lays, Ruse comes to a conclusion other than the one clearly suggested by his first fourteen chapters. If he followed the evolutionary story just a bit further, to include the evolution of the human brain, he would be in a position to articulate a theologically sophisticated understanding of teleology and avoid an ending that is uncharacteristically tame. Keywords: anthropic principle; design; ends; final cause; intelligent design; Gordon Kaufman; metaphorical accuracy; progress; Michael Ruse; teleology; teleonomy.

Is the adaptive complexity of living organisms the result of evolutionary processes alone? or does it give evidence of intentional design? Michael Ruse appears to argue that we can have it either way. As a scientist I find the argument from design unnecessary. Yet it has great appeal to humans, whose behavior is largely intentional and who look for patterns in events and for the intentions that may have produced them. Keywords: design; evolution; intention.

Though early ideas of evolution saw it as progressive, most modern theories see it as a random walk. The theories of Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Edward O. Wilson, Stuart Kauffman, Steven Rose, and Robert Wesson are surveyed, showing their agreement on the fact of evolution but not on the mechanism. Evolution is an incomplete theory. Any theology should therefore be based only on its broadest features. Generally, evolution is the development of complex forms from simple ancestors. Within a Christian context, it can be seen as a journey toward the unification of all things in Christ, the ultimate complexity. Keywords: complexity; context; evolution; mechanism of evolution; progress; Spirit.

Collective Intelligence (CI) can be formalized as a specific (1) computational process through the use of a molecular model of computations and mathematical logic, in terms of interacting information_molecules, which are chaotically or quasi-chaotically displacing and running natural-based inference processes in their own environment. The formal definition of Collective Intelligence as a property of a social structure of beings of any nature is surprisingly short and abstract (which is astonishing) from definitions of Life. The formal definition of Collective Intelligence proposed by the author in the last few years seems to be valid for the whole spectrum of beings, in human social structures to ants in colonies, and even for bacterial colonies. It has recently been found that the CI definition also has an engineering value. The theory of CI can also be used to better understand Evolution because it allows us to locate and relate Life and Intelligence in Evolution. Moreover, this approach presents Evolution as something more complex than can be concluded from Darwinism. Probably the most surprising fact is that a simple extrapolation of the definition of Collective Intelligence brings us to the conclusion that most probably the first elementary Collective Intelligence emerged on Earth in the 'chemical soup of primeval molecules,' much before Life emerged. Collective Intelligence can be defined with fewer and weaker conditions than Life requires. Perhaps the emergence of that early elementary Collective Intelligence provided the basic momentum to build Life as we now know it. Thus Evolution caused Intelligence to create Life. Our hypothesis is consistent with biochemistry theories that 'primeval biochemical molecules' started to interact, 'firing' the Collective Intelligence of their 'elementary chemical social structure' for survival. This successful action boosted further growth of complexity in that 'elementary social structure,' which finally resulted in the emergence of 'well-defined Life.' Furthermore, it provided a self-propagating cycle of growth of individual and collective Intelligence and individual and collective Life. The Collective Intelligence of ants, wolves, humans, and so forth today is only a higher level of Collective Intelligence development. Thus the present Evolution is a computational process of unidentified complexity where Life, Intelligence, and perhaps other as yet undiscovered components play temporary roles. In this paper we provide formalization and a proposed partial proof for this hypothesis. KEYWORDS: Brownian movements, beings, Collective Intelligence, Darwinism, Evolution, holistic Darwinism, Life, mathematical logic, molecular model of computations, primeval biochemical molecules, probability, quasi-chaotic behavior, social structure.