Creation or Evolution? A Philosophical InquiryCurtis, George Ticknor
Religion
Creation or Evolution? A Philosophical Inquiry
Curtis, George Ticknor
Creation; Evolution
left to owe their existence to the laws of procreation, by a process
which we can not understand, but of which we have proof in the birth of
every child that has been born of woman.
KOSMICOS. We now have the two hypotheses of the origin and
nature of the human mind fairly before us; and here I must point out
to you wherein you do injustice to my side of the question. In the
first place, your assumption of one pair of progenitors of the human
race from whom have diverged all the varieties of the race, does not
encounter the evolution process of man's descent as an animal. It
is either an arbitrary assumption, or it is derived from the Mosaic
account of the creation, which, in a scientific point of view, and
aside from the supposed authority of that story, is just as arbitrary
an assumption as if the book of Genesis had never existed. Take,
therefore, Darwin's hypothesis of the zoölogical series: First, a
fish-like animal, of course inhabiting the water; next, the amphibians,
capable of living in the water and on the land; next, the ancient
marsupials; next, the quadrumana and all the higher mammals, among
whom are to be classed the _Simiadæ_ or monkeys; and out of these came
the hairy, tailed quadruped, arboreal in its habits, from which man is
descended. This long line of descent is filled with diversified forms,
intermediate between the several principal forms which are known to us,
and which were successively the progenitors of man. Now, hear Darwin on
the subject of one pair of progenitors:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account