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Odds and Ends

Odds and Ends. 1. Are Humans Still Evolving?. --an odd question, because it presupposes that “evolving” is something that goes on “inside” a species. 1. Are Humans Still Evolving?. —Are variations still occurring? Yes. —Are selective pressures at work? Probably, but maybe not.

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Odds and Ends

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  1. Odds and Ends

  2. 1. Are Humans Still Evolving? --an odd question, because it presupposes that “evolving” is something that goes on “inside” a species.

  3. 1. Are Humans Still Evolving? —Are variations still occurring? Yes. —Are selective pressures at work? Probably, but maybe not. —What will humans be like, 100,000 year from now? Who knows?

  4. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

  5. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics 200° 100°

  6. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics 200° 100°

  7. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics 200° 100°

  8. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics 150°

  9. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics 150°

  10. 2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat, by Hans Christian Von Baeyer

  11. 3. What did Darwin himself believe about the relation between evolution and religion?

  12. Religious belief cannot be proved or disproved by arguments. But “the advancement of science” undermines religious belief. • Intelligent design and natural selection are “rival hypotheses.” • Now that natural selection is available, the hypothesis of intelligent design is no longer needed. Thus, the discovery of evolution by natural selection weakens theism, by taking away one of the main reasons for believing in it.

  13. Darwin on Man and the Other Animals

  14. Human beings are: Rational Moral Other animals are not. Philosophical and Religious Tradition Aristotle: “Nature has made all things for the sake of man.” The Bible: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion over every living thing”. Human Dignity Human life and interests are morally important; the lives and interests of other animals are not.

  15. Are humans the only rational animals? “There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties.” • Rengger’s monkeys • Darwin’s worms

  16. Three Morals: 1. Intelligence is not all-or-nothing. 2. The presence or absence of intelligence is an empirical matter. 3. No double standard for humans and nonhumans.

  17. Are humans the only moral animals?

  18. Are humans the only moral animals? The basis of ethics: the social instincts • Capt. Stansbury’s blind pelican • Brehm’s baboons

  19. Wild Minds by Marc D. Hauser

  20. Modern support for Darwin’s view *Northwestern University Medical School, 1964

  21. Human beings are: Rational Moral Other animals are not. Philosophical and Religious Tradition Aristotle: “Nature has made all things for the sake of man.” The Bible: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion over every living thing”. Human Dignity Human life and interests are morally important; the lives and interests of other animals are not.

  22. Human beings are: Rational Moral Other animals are not. Philosophical and Religious Tradition Aristotle: “Nature has made all things for the sake of man.” The Bible: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion over every living thing”. Human Dignity Human life and interests are morally important; the lives and interests of other animals are not.

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