Purpose : what evolution and human nature imply about the meaning of our existence

Purpose What evolution and human nature imply about the meaning of our existence

Samuel T. Wilkinson

Book - 2024

"By using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence. Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence, that life has no fundamental meaning. We are merely the accumulation of tens of thousands of intricate molecular accidents. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of God. But is this true? With respect to our evolution, nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. We are pulled in diffe...rent directions: selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation, lust and love. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence. This purpose, at least one of them, is to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. Our life is a test. This is a truth, as old as history it seems, that has been espoused by so many of the world's religions. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature--including how evolution shaped us--are evidence for the existence of a God, not against it. Closely related to this is meaning. What is the meaning of life? Based on the scientific data, it would seem that one such meaning is to develop deep and abiding relationships. At least that is what most people report are the most meaningful aspects of their lives. This is a function of our evolution. It is how we were created"--Dust jacket flap.

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Subjects
Evolution > Religious aspects.
Meaning (Philosophy)
Evolution (Biology) > Religious aspects.
Meaning (Philosophy) > Religious aspects.
Religion and science.
Bible and evolution.
Published
New York : Pegasus Books 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Samuel T. Wilkinson (author)
Edition
First Pegasus Books cloth edition
Physical Description
xiii, 338 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-327) and index.
ISBN
9781639365173
  • Preface
  • 1. Science, Religion, and the Meaninglessness of Existence
  • 2. Evolution: Random Chance or Guided Process?
  • 3. Evolution: Our Biological and Psychological Heritage
  • 4. Selfishness and Altruism
  • 5. Aggression and Cooperation
  • 6. Lust and Love
  • 7. Free to Choose
  • 8. The Meaninglessness of Existence Revisited: An Enlightened View of Human Nature
  • 9. The Good Life
  • 10. The Good Society
  • 11. Final Thoughts
  • Acknowledgments
  • Illustration Credits
  • Bibliography
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A searching overview of scientific evolution that includes a plug for a personal God. Religion has been in decline across the developed world for several centuries, with some blaming the rise of Charles Darwin, whose theory of natural selection seemed to eliminate the need for a purpose in life. Many scientists rejected Darwin at the time, but by the 20th century, hard evidence had convinced the scientific community, if not the general public. As knowledge of life and the universe grew, there were fewer reasons to postulate a God to manage matters beyond human understanding. Wilkinson, associate director of the Yale Depression Research Program, emphasizes that, despite dazzling advances in income and health, humans are no happier. Despair, hopelessness, and mental illness--especially depression--are epidemic. Perhaps, he suggests, we are missing something. The popular (but not scientific) view casts evolution as a mindless, survival-of-the fittest process that dooms us "to live, breathe, die, and whittle away our hours in a world without meaning." Wilkinson argues that evolution is not random, but directed, and that a true understanding requires a Supreme Being "who is benevolent, who created us, and wants us to be happy." Except for the first and last chapters, the author rarely mentions God; rather, he provides an expert account of evolution in which altruism plays as great a role as selfishness, groups as well as individuals evolve, and Homo sapiens' superb ability to cooperate may be the leading factor in our spectacular achievements. Among its other countless accomplishments, science has discovered the single greatest element in human health and happiness: "a good marriage and family life." Relying on solid research, Wilkinson illuminates related topics, including free will, sex, and the elements of "a good life" and "a good society." An insightful explanation of evolution and human nature in which religion is neither excluded nor central. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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