Oen's Ape and Darin's Bulldog Beyond Darinism and Creationism [Paperback]

After Richard Owen criticized Darwins Origin, he was labeled a creationist by many, and his work on ape anatomy was derided by Darwins bulldog Thomas Huxley.In this close analysis of Owens texts, Christopher E. Cosans argues that Owens thought was much more sophisticated than Huxley portrayed it.In addition to considering Owen and Huxleys anatomical debate, Owens Ape and Darwins Bulldog examines their philosophical dispute.Huxley embraced the metaphysics of Descartes, while Owen felt philosophy of science should rest on Kants claim that sense-perception does not tell us how things-in-themselves really are. Owen thought the creationist-Darwinist dispute was unproductive, and held that both 19th century special creationists and Darwins suggestion in the Origin that God created the first life forms unnecessarily brought supernatural causation into science.

With the hindsight of how the theory of evolution has progressed over the last three centuries, the Owen-Huxley debate affords the history and philosophy of science a case study. It sheds light on theories of knowledge that have been advanced by Quine, Wittgenstein, Hanson, and Putnam. Owens Ape and Darwins Bulldog also examines Malthus, Mill and Marx for the influence of economic thought on early evolutionary theories, and considers broader ideas about how science and society interact.

Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldog introduces a brilliant, new and insightful perspective into the philosophy behind Richard Owen's methods and reasoning. 2010Part history of science, part history of philosophy, part philosophy of sciencebut all in the service of the pragmatic dimensions of science in society. I know of no other book quite like this one.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: On the Origin of the Darwin Wars
Analytic Table of Contents

1. The Parable of the Hippopotamus Major
2. Philosophical Anatomy and the Human Soul
3. Evolution and the Discovery of thelóÅ