PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF EVOLUTION 



1 . Introduction 



The doctrine of evolution belongs to those scientific theories 

 which have had repercussions far outside the field of science 

 proper. The fact that scientific theories have these reper- 

 cussions should not amaze us. Specialization may be a necessity 

 in science, due to the abstract character of human knowledge, 

 but behind the overwhelming variety of scientific methods and 

 disciplines attuned to special problems, stands the unity of the 

 human mind. The hidden motive of all human quest of knowl- 

 edge about nature, about the material world, is the desire of 

 man to know more about himself. Man wants to know his own 

 origin, his nature, his destination, in short the meaning of his 

 existence. For that very reason, even physics and chemistry, 

 which at first sight seem to be sciences interested only in the 

 structure of the material world around man, continually have 

 given rise to discussions of a more general nature. In the past 

 and present, physicists and chemists have claimed that their 

 discoveries were of the greatest importance for theology, 

 philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc. It is true, of course, 

 that many times these claims have been proven false and that 

 the scientists in question did not respect the limits of com- 

 petency characteristic of their science. This, however, is not 

 the issue at the moment. Important as it is to respect the 

 proper boundaries between the different sciences, between 

 science, philosophy, and theology, we should never forget 

 that the different disciplines are not separated from one 

 another by watertight compartments. The continual reper- 

 cussions which scientific theories, rightly or wrongly, have 

 had outside their own field clearly show that man in trying 

 to understand nature first of all tried to understand himself, 

 and justly so. For man knows that he, too, belongs to nature: 

 nature is in him as it is around him. 



What is true with respect to physics and chemistry, is still 

 more true with respect to biology. In studying living nature, 

 biology also studies man. Therefore, it is only natural that 

 the theory of evolution, a biological doctrine, from the 

 beginning has been tied up with philosophical and theological 

 controversies about the position of man in the midst of nature. 

 But apart from the general reason why any biological dis- 

 cipline has a close relationship with our quest of self-knowl- 



59 



