Evolution and Ethics

March 24, 2007 by Dr. Mc.

Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s Bulldog) makes the following observation in his essay “Evolution and Ethics;” indeed it is the theme of his essay:

“[t]he practice of that which is ethically best–what we call goodness or virtue–involves a course of conduct which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless self-assertion it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading down, all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely respect, but shall help his fellows; its influence is directed, not so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many as possible to survive.”

Huxley is acknowledging that the concept of evolution is diametrically opposed to the concept of ethics, but that ethics nonetheless should be our pursuit. He argues that we must work hard for the social good, and the work is because it contradicts our nature. He does not acknowledge however, nor can anyone defend, how blind evolution could lead an organism (over millions of years) to a condition where its progress depends on contradicting the process that brought it about.

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