From Inconsistency to Consistency of Theism and Darwinian Evolution: A Critical Approach to Four Perspectives

Abstract

In this paper, we present four philosophical approaches and their prominent advocates toward the problem of relationship between Darwinian evolution and theistic beliefs: (1) Atheistic Inconsistency: there is a deep conflict between Darwinian evolution and theism; among atheists, Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett could be regarded as the best representatives in this branch. (2) Theistic Inconsistency: A deep conflict could also be seen among theists, M.H. Tabātabā’ī’s Quranic exegesis is one of the most significant sources in this regard from Islamic side, correspondent to the same in other theistic religions. (3) Theistic Consistency: There is a concord between theism and Darwinian evolution; we have considered Alvin Plantinga and Murtazā Mutaharī in this category. (4) Reductionist Consistency: Theism and Darwinian evolution, or science and religion in general, are two different and noncompeting levels of explanation; John Haught advocates such reductionist consistency between science and religion. Having mentioned the four above classes and a few of many representatives of each category and some important questions toward these approaches, we have attempted to show that the alleged consistency between theistic beliefs and Darwinian evolution by the principle of natural selection fails.

Keywords

• keywords: darwinian evolution
• darwinism
• theism
• compatibilism
• incompatibilism
• atheism