FROM THE FACT OF EVOLUTION TO THE 

 PHILOSOPHY OF EVOLUTIONISM 



Part I: From the Fact of Evolution 



STATEMENTS made by serious students of contempo- 

 rary evolutionary theory seem to be, even to this day, 

 in open conflict about the " fact of evolution." At the 

 Darwin Centennial Celebration held at the University of Chi- 

 cago (November, 1959) , the statement was constantly reiter- 

 ated: " Biologists one hundred years after Darwin take the 

 fact of evolution for granted, as a necessary basis for interpret- 

 ing the phenomena of life." ^ Huxley repeated the point: " The 

 evolution of life is no longer a theory; it is a fact and the basis 

 of all our thinking." " Dr. Sol Tax, chairman of the Convention, 

 summed up the panel discussions by extending the concept to 

 all areas of scientific endeavor: 



But perhaps most of our schools still teach evolution, not as a fact, 

 but as only one alternative among explanations of how the world 

 has come to be what it is. No matter what gets done about our 

 religious beliefs, this particular phenomenon must now come to an 

 end. We cannot deal with the difficult problems of the world unless 

 our education takes account of demonstrated einpirical fact. (Italics 

 added.) ^ 



However, in one of the most critical papers submitted at the 

 Centennial, Dr. E. C. Olson suggests an underlying confusion 

 involved in these statements. He writes: 



It is certain that few negative responses would result from the 

 simple question " Is the general concept of organic evolution valid? " 



"^ Evolution After Darwin, edited by Sol Tax (Chicago, 1960) III, 107. This 

 three-volume work contains the University of Chicago Centennial papers and 

 discussions and will be used as a constant reference. Hereafter, the work will be 

 signified by the initials EAD. 



Uhid., p. 111. ^Ihid., p. 247. 



327 



