Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Audiobook5 hours
A Meaning to Life
Written by Michael Ruse
Narrated by John Lee
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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About this audiobook
Does human life have any meaning? Does the question even make sense today? For centuries, the question of the meaning or purpose of human life was assumed by scholars and theologians to have a religious answer: life has meaning because humans were made in the image of a good god. In the 19th century, however, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution changed everything-and the human organism was seen to be more machine than spirit. Ever since, with the rise of science and decline of religious belief, there has been growing interest-and growing doubt-about whether human life really does have meaning. If it does, where might we find it?
The historian and philosopher of science Michael Ruse investigates this question, and wonders whether we can find a new meaning to life within Darwinian views of human nature. If God no longer exists-or if God no longer cares-rather than promoting a bleak nihilism, many Darwinians think we can convert Darwin into a form of secular humanism. Ruse explains that, in a tradition going back to the time of Darwin himself, and represented today by the evolutionist E. O. Wilson, evolution is seen as progress-"from monad to man."
The historian and philosopher of science Michael Ruse investigates this question, and wonders whether we can find a new meaning to life within Darwinian views of human nature. If God no longer exists-or if God no longer cares-rather than promoting a bleak nihilism, many Darwinians think we can convert Darwin into a form of secular humanism. Ruse explains that, in a tradition going back to the time of Darwin himself, and represented today by the evolutionist E. O. Wilson, evolution is seen as progress-"from monad to man."
Author
Michael Ruse
Michael Ruse was formerly the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the History and Philosophy of Science Program at Florida State University. He is a philosopher and historian of science, mainly evolutionary theory, and has been much involved in fighting Creationism. The author or editor of over fifty books, he is the founding editor of the journal Biology and Philosophy. A sometime Guggenheim Fellow and Gifford Lecturer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the recipient of four honorary degrees and other honors.
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