Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Engagement of Religion and Biology: A Case Study in the Mediating Role of Metaphor in the Sociobiology of Lumsden & Wilson

  • Published:
Biology and Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

I claim that explanations of human behaviour by Edward O. Wilsonand Charles Lumsden are constituted by a religiously functioningmetaphysics: emergent materialism. The constitutive effects areidentified using six criteria, beginning with a metaphorical re-description of dissimilarities between levels of organization interms of the lower level, and consist of conceptual andexplanatory reductions (CER). Wilson and Lumsden practice CER,even though CER is not required by emergent materialism. Theypreconceive this practice by a re-description which conflates thelevels of organization and explain failure of CER in terms oftechnical, not ontological or epistemological reasons. Iinterpret these three practices as a reaction of Wilson againsthis early Christian religious beliefs. Statements by Wilsonindicate this reaction ultimately constitutes his explanations ofsocial, moral and religious behaviour.

Tested knowledge about matter at the lower level functions as ametaphysical belief when applied to the higher level becausethere it is untested. I offer twelve criteria for the diagnosisof religious functions of this metaphysical materialism, five ofwhich are satisfied. I show that the constitutive effects of thismaterialism in sociobiology are due to its religious functions,are beneficial for science and do not destroy its public nature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, P.W.: 1972, ‘More is Different: Broken Symmetry and the Nature of the Hierarchical Structure of Science’, Science 177, 393–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alston, W.: 1967, ‘Religion’, in P. Edwards (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 7, MacMillan & Free Press, New York, pp. 140–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbib, M.A. and Hesse, M.B.: 1986, The Construction of Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Badii, R. and Politi, A.: 1997, Complexity: Hierarchical Structures and Scaling in Physics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooke, J.H.: in press, ‘The Historiography of Religion and Science Interaction’, in J.H. Brooke, M.J. Osler and J.M. van der Meer (eds), Osiris, Volume 16.

  • Bunge, M.: 1963, Causality.The Place of the Causal Principle in Modern Science, Meridian Books, The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, A.L. (ed.): 1978, The Sociobiology Debate.Readings on the Ethical and Scientific Issues Concerning Sociobiology, Harper & Row, New York, pp. 259–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clouser, R.A.: 1991, The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clouser, R.A.: 1996, ‘A Sketch of Dooyeweerd's Philosophy of Science’, in J.M. van der Meer (ed.), Facets of Faith and Science, Volume 2: The Role of Beliefs in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences: An Augustinian Perspective, The Pascal Centre/University Press of America, Lanham, pp. 81–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, I.B.: 1994, Interactions: Some Contacts Between the Natural Sciences and the Social Sciences, The MIT Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corning, P.: 1997, ‘Holistic Darwinism: 'synergistic Selection and the Evolutionary Process’, Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems 20(4), 363–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, T.: 1867, ‘Introduction to the Outlines of a System of Natural Philosophy’, Journal of Speculative Philosophy 1, 194–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, B.D.: 1980, ‘The Importance of Human Individuality for Sociobiology’, Zygon 15(3), 275–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dembski, W.A.: 1996, ‘Transcendent Causes and Computational Miracles’, in J.M. van der Meer (ed.), Facets of Faith and Science, Volume 4: Interpreting God's Action in the World, The Pascal Centre/University Press of America, Lanham, MD, pp. 57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drees, W.B.: 1996, Religion, Science and Naturalism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhart, M. and Russell, A.M.: 1984, Metaphoric Process: The Creation of Scientific and Religious Understanding, Texas Christian University Press, Forth Worth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, S.F.: 1994, Developmental Biology, Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesse, M.B.: 1988, ‘The Cognitive Claims of Metaphor’, The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 2, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holyoak, K.J. and Thagard, P.: 1995, Mental Leaps: Analogy in Creative Thought, TheMIT Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher, P.: 1985, Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature, The MIT Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrman, N.S.: 1981, ‘Human Sociobiology: Wilson's Fallacy’, The Humanist 41(4), 39–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J.: 1977, On the Dynamics of Biological Ensembles: Canonical Theory and Computer Simulation. PhD dissertation (unpublished), University of Toronto.

  • Lumsden, C.J.: 1989, ‘Sociobiology, God, and Understanding’, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24(1), 83–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J. and Trainor, L.E.H.: 1976, ‘On the Physical Content of Kinetic Ising Models’, Canadian Journal of Physics 54, 2340–2345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J. and Trainor, L.E.H.: 1979, ‘Nonequilibrium Ensembles of Self-Organizing Systems: A Simulation Study’, Canadian Journal of Physics 57, 23–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J. and Trainor, L.E.H.: 1985, ‘Hamiltonian Statistical Mechanics and Biological Order: Problems and Progress’, in P.L. Antonelli (ed.), Mathematical Essays on Growth and the Emergence of Form, University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, pp. 3–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J. and Wilson, E.O.: 1981, Genes, Mind, and Culture: The Coevolutionary Process, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden, C.J. and Wilson, E.O.: 1983, Promethean Fire: Reflections on the Origin of Mind, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, M.: 1992, Science as Salvation: A Modern Myth and Its Meaning, Routledge, London/New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nersessian, N.J.: 1988, ‘Reasoning from Imagery and Analogy in Scientific Concept Formation’, in A. Fine and J. Leplin (eds), PSA, Volume 1, pp. 41–47.

  • Nersessian, N.J.: 1992, ‘How Do Scientists Think? Capturing the Dynamics of Conceptual Change in Science’, in R.N. Giere (ed.), ‘Cognitive Models in Science’, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Volume 15, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 3–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, D.R.G.: 1952, Scientism, Man, and Religion, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K.R.: 1959, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Hutchinson & Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K.: 1974, ‘Scientific Reduction and the Essential Incompleteness of All Science’, in F.J. Ayala and T. Dobzhansky (eds), Studies in the Philosophy of Biology.Reduction and Related Problems, University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 280–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, G.: 1982, ‘Sociobiology Redefended’, The Humanist 42(1), 27–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, A.: 1985, The Structure of Biological Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothschild, R.C.: 1989, The Emerging Religion of Science, Praeger, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruse, M.: 1996, Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA/London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schelling, F.W.: 1799, ‘Einleitung zu seinem Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie’, in M. Schroeter (ed.), Schelling's Werke, Volume 2(1927), Beck, München, pp. 269–326. English translation: T. Davidson (1867).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroedinger, E.: 1955, What is Life? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/MacMillan, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soskice, J.: 1985, Metaphor and Religious Language, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trainor, L.E.H.: 1985, ‘Remarks on Emergence in Physics and Biology’, in P.L. Antonelli (ed.), Mathematical Essays on Growth and the Emergence of Form, University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, pp. 201–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trainor, L.E.H. and Wise, M.B.: 1979, From Physical Concept to Mathematical Structure: An Introduction to Theoretical Physics, University of Toronto Press, Toronto/Buffalo/London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trusted, J.: 1996, Beliefs and Biology: Theories of Life and Living, MacMillan Press, London/St. Martin's Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Meer, J.M.: 1996, ‘The Multi-Modal Hierarchy: Distinguishing Parts, Wholes, and Levels of Organization’, in M.L.H. Hall (ed.), Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, Louisville, pp. 507–518.

  • Van der Meer, J.M.: 2000, ‘Progress in Nature and Culture: How Biology Can Have the Best of Both Worlds’, Biology and Philosophy 15, 759–772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Inwagen, P.: 1997, Metaphysics, Westview, Boulder.

  • Waddington, C.H.: 1953, ‘Genetic Assimilation of an Acquired Character’, Evolution 7(2), 118–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waismann, F.: 1965, ‘Language Strata’, in A.N. Flew (ed.), Logic and Language, Anchor Books, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 2nd series, pp. 226–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicken, J.S.: 1978, ‘Information Transformations in Molecular Evolution’, Journal of Theoretical Biology 72, 191–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1975, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1977, ‘Biology and the Social Sciences’, Daedalus 106(4), 127–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1978a, ‘For Sociobiology’, in A.L. Caplan (ed.), The Sociobiology Debate. Readings on the Ethical and Scientific Issues Concerning Sociobiology, Harper & Row, New York, pp. 265–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1978b, ‘Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology’, in A.L. Caplan (ed.), The Sociobiology Debate.Readings on the Ethical and Scientific Issues Concerning Sociobiology, Harper & Row, New York, pp. 291–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1978c, On Human Nature, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1980, ‘The Relation of Science to Theology’, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 15(4), 425–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1982, ‘Toward a Humanistic Biology’, The Humanist 42(5), 38–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1993, ‘Biophilia and the Conservation Ethic’, in S.R. Kellert and E.O. Wilson (eds), The Biophilia Hypothesis, Island Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 31–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: 1998, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O. and Lumsden, C.J.: 1991, ‘Holism and Reduction in Sociobiology: Lessons from the Ants and Human Culture’, Biology and Philosophy 6, 401–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe, L.D. and Gray, J.P.: 1981, ‘Creationism and Popular Sociobiology as Myths’, The Humanist 41(4), 43–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yockey, H.P.: 1977, ‘A Calculation of the Probability of Spontaneous Biogenesis by Information Theory’, Journal of Theoretical Biology 67, 377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zylstra, U.: 1996, ‘The Influence of Evolutionary Biology on Hierarchical Theory, with Special Reference to the Problem of Individuality’, in J.M. van der Meer (ed.), Facets of Faith and Science, Volume 2: The Role of Beliefs in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences: An Augustinian Perspective, The Pascal Centre/University Press of America, Lanham, MD, pp. 287–299.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pascal Centre, Redeemer College, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, L9K 1J4

    Jitse M. van der Meer

Authors
  1. Jitse M. van der Meer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van der Meer, J.M. The Engagement of Religion and Biology: A Case Study in the Mediating Role of Metaphor in the Sociobiology of Lumsden & Wilson. Biology & Philosophy 15, 669–698 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006688908463

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006688908463

Search

Navigation