Cosmic evolution and the meaning of life

by John G. Messerly [The following is an excerpt from The Meaning of Life: Religious, Philosophical, Transhumanist, and Scientific Perspectives, Darwin & Hume Publishers, 2013] Are there trends in evolution — cosmic, biological, and cultural — that support the claim that life is meaningful, or is becoming meaningful, or is becoming increasingly meaningful? Perhaps there …

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The (ongoing) evolution of evolutionary theory

by Massimo Pigliucci Nature magazine recently ran a “point-counterpoint” entitled “Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?” [1] Arguing for the “Yes, urgently” side were Kevin Laland, Tobias Uller, Marc Feldman, Kim Sterelny, Gerd B. Müller, Armin Moczek, Eva Jablonka, and John Odling-Smee. Arguing for the “No, all is well” thesis were Gregory A. Wray, Hopi …

The varieties of denialism

by Massimo Pigliucci I have just come back from a stimulating conference at Clark University about "Manufacturing Denial," which brought together scholars from wildly divergent disciplines — from genocide studies to political science to philosophy — to explore the idea that "denialism" may be a sufficiently coherent phenomenon underlying the willful disregard of factual evidence …

What can evolutionary biology learn from creationists?

by Joanna Masel You might expect a professional evolutionary biologist like myself to claim that my discipline has nothing to learn from creationists. And I certainly do find all flavors of evolution-denialism sadly misguided. But I also find it reasonable to assume that any serious and dedicated critic should uncover something interesting about the object …