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What does Fodor’s “anti-darwinism” mean to natural theology?

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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

Abstract

In the current dialogue of “science and religion,” it is widely assumed that the thoughts of Darwinists and that of atheists overlap. However, Jerry Fodor, a full-fledged atheist, recently announced a war against Darwinism with his atheistic campaign. Prima facie, this “civil war” might offer a chance for theists: If Fodor is right, Darwinistic atheism will lose the cover of Darwinism and become less tenable. This paper provides a more pessimistic evaluation of the situation by explaining the following: Fodor’s criticism of adaptationism (as the backbone of Darwinism), viz., his refutation of any counterfactual-supporting laws on the macro-evolutionary level, implies that a law-maker is dispensable on this level. This will either encourage skepticism against the omniscience (at least that concerning the future of macro-evolution) of the Creator, or render the notion of God less appealing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Yingjin Xu

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  1. Yingjin Xu
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Correspondence to Yingjin Xu.

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Xu, Y. What does Fodor’s “anti-darwinism” mean to natural theology?. Front. Philos. China 6, 465–479 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-011-0150-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-011-0150-6

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