Evolution as a religion: strange hopes and stranger fears

Mary Midgley

Language: English

Published: Mar 29, 2002

Description:

Review

Midgley is one of the most acute and penetrating voices in current moral philosophy. Her great gift is clarity, both of thought and, especially, of expression. . To follow her reasoning . is like watching a ballet dancer walking in the street: there is a litheness, a gracefulness, an ease of articulation, which attests to years of learning lightly worn.
–John Banville, _ The Irish Times_

A graceful, refreshing and enlightening book, applied philosophy that is relevant, timely and metaphysical in the best sense.
–_ The New York Times Book Review_

Product Description

According to a profile in The Guardian, Mary Midgley is 'the foremost scourge of scientific pretensions in this country; someone whose wit is admired even by those who feel she sometimes oversteps the mark'. Considered one of Britain's finest philosophers, Midgley exposes the illogical logic of poor doctrines that shelter themselves behind the prestige of science. Always at home when taking on the high priests of evolutionary theory - Dawkins, Wilson and their acolytes - she has famously described evolution as 'the creation-myth of our age'. In Evolution as a Religion, she examines how science comes to be used as a substitute for religion and points out how badly that role distorts it. As ever, her argument is flawlessly insightful: a punchy, compelling, lively indictment of these misuses of science. Both the book and its author are true classics of our time.