Darwinism as religion : what literature tells us about evolution / Michael Ruse.

Darwinism as Religion argues that the theory of evolution given by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century has always functioned as much as a secular form of religion as anything purely scientific. Through the words of novelists and poets, Michael Ruse argues that Darwin took us from the secure world of Christian faith into a darker, less friendly world of chance and lack of meaning.

"The Darwinian Revolution--the change in thinking sparked by Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, which argued that all organisms including humans are the end product of a long, slow, natural process of evolution rather than the miraculous creation of an all-powerful God--is one of the truly momentous cultural events in Western Civilization. Darwinism as Religion is an innovative and exciting approach to this revolution through creative writing, showing how the theory of evolution as expressed by Darwin has, from the first, functioned as a secular religion. Drawing on a deep understanding of both the science and the history, Michael Ruse surveys the naturalistic thinking about the origins of organisms, including the origins of humankind, as portrayed in novels and in poetry, taking the story from its beginnings in the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century right up to the present.... Covering such topics as God, origins, humans, race and class, morality, sexuality, and sin and redemption, and written in an engaging manner and spiced with wry humor, Darwinism as Religion gives us an entirely fresh, engaging and provocative view of one of the cultural highpoints of Western thought." -- Publisher's description

[Oxford] ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2017]

xvi, 310 pages ; 25 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-298) and index.

Prologue -- The eighteenth century -- Before Darwin -- The Darwinian theory -- Reception -- God -- Origins -- Humans -- Race and class -- Morality -- Sex -- Sin and redemption -- The future -- Towards the present -- Darwinism as background -- Darwinian Theory comes of age -- The divide continues -- Conflicting visions -- Epilogue.