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Evolution, religions and global Bioethics

par Perbal, Laurence
Référence Bioethics, global and societal aspects, Brussels & Komotini, Bruxelles, page (489-500)
Publication Publié, 2007

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Résumé :

Creationist theories are still present in the United States and in Europe. The Darwinian theory of evolution is often considered as the starting point of important debates between religions and evolutionists. In this paper, we are principally interested in evolutionary creationism (or theistic evolutionism). The existence of a divine design in nature, the spiritual status of human beings and the emergence of human species as the purpose of evolution are some of those debates. The post-Darwinian period around 1900 is full of that kind of speculations and polemics. We introduce some of those post-Darwinian theories which are similar to contemporary creationist theories. Moreover, we note that some creationist theories which accept evolution initiate sometimes an interesting theoretical debate on the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution. Those debates concern the primacy of selection as the major motor of evolution, its gradualist aspect or the adaptationist interpretations of biological phenomena. Some neo-Darwinian evolutionists denounce an excessive ‘biologisation’ of some human behaviors which raises important ethical questions. But creationist theories pretend improperly that this ‘biologisation’ is the sign of a philosophical materialism that would be very dangerous for our society.