HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Darwin's Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of…
Loading...

Darwin's Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution (edition 2009)

by Adrian Desmond, James Moore (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2304115,894 (3.91)11
There is a mystery surrounding Darwin: How did this quiet, respectable gentleman, a pillar of his parish, come to embrace one of the most radical ideas in the history of human thought? Darwin risked a great deal in publishing his theory of evolution, so something very powerful--a moral fire--must have propelled him. That moral fire, argue authors Desmond and Moore, was a passionate hatred of slavery. They draw on a wealth of fresh manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and even ships' logs to show how Darwin's abolitionism had deep roots in his mother's family and was reinforced by his voyage on the Beagle as well as by events in America. Leading apologists for slavery in Darwin's time argued that blacks and whites were separate species, with whites created superior. Darwin believed that the races belonged to the same human family, and slavery was therefore a sin.--From publisher description.… (more)
Member:JBD1
Title:Darwin's Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution
Authors:Adrian Desmond
Other authors:James Moore (Author)
Info:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:Biography, Science, Natural History

Work Information

Darwin's Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution by Adrian Desmond

  1. 00
    Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin (vguy)
    vguy: Good accessible picture of where the science of human origins is today.
  2. 00
    The Incredible Human Journey by Alice Roberts (vguy)
    vguy: Tracks the spread of Homo s around the world. Discusses the theory of plural origin which Darwin set out to quash. (it ain't dead yet!). Load of information but presented in lively way.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 11 mentions

Showing 4 of 4
The power of Darwinism fascinates. The theory of evolution through natural selection devastated every secular and sacred shibboleth held tightly for millennia. What has most impressed me is the utter victory of naturalism over super naturalism and, as logic inevitably demands, the complete redefinition of man's place in the universe. Even 150 years after its arrival on the intellectual stage the controversy rages, not among scientists certainly, but in the desperate and fragile efforts to disparage it by proponents of creationism and intellectual design. To my mind, the reality of naturalistic origins does not allow any foot hold for supernatural first causes. But, to me, this does not lead us to nihilism, but suggests a path of optimism for the future of the planet.

In On the Origins of Species, Darwin was cautious about explicitly expressing the implications of his theory on the matter of man's place in existence. He was certainly aware that such a conclusion would immediately be drawn and most certainly it was. Even such a stalwart scientific supporter as Asa Gray could not abandon the anchor of divinity as the ultimate first cause.

This fascinating book focuses on the relationship of Darwin's work to his strong abolitionist beliefs and to the debate raging on the morality of slavery. Darwin, his family and circle were among the staunchest abolitionists in England, advocating vigorously for emancipation in the Commonwealth and the Americas. Darwin's scientific logic compellingly supported the notion that the races of human kind had a unitary ancestor and were not distinct species. The so-called polygenisists held that the races were created separately and as species distinct from each other could be placed in a hierarchy of superiority without moral qualms. Great store was placed on the discernible differences among the races, but Darwin's work said these were not species differentiation but rather variations caused by environmental factors. The most obvious evidence for species commonality was the success of inter-racial reproduction.

In the context of the intense and ugly racism of the 19th century, Darwin's view was scorned by other scientists and polemicists who were determined to prove the racial superiority of Caucasians and, hence, the morality of subjugating the lesser species, principally blacks. America's renowned scientist, Louis Agassiz, was the foremost of the scientists making this claim. The aura of this pseudo science was eagerly grasped by those who sought to counter the growing intensity of moral opposition to slavery. This inevitably led its adherents down the primrose path of ascribing to genetic differences the futility of the "lessor" races ever being able to achieve the lofty heights of culture and progress achieved by the Anglo-Saxon race.

Thus to Darwin we owe another debt of gratitude. By impelling us to accept our less than divine status he has opened up the potential for diminishing the effects of our hubris on the earth. Recognizing the commonality of all humans points us toward a moral stance that best positions the perpetuation of our species. After all, isn't morality a successful and highly important evolutionary trait? ( )
1 vote stevesmits | Nov 14, 2019 |
Fascinating account of Darwin's intellectual milieu and motivation. I knew of the Malthus stimulus and of Wallace's nearly scooping him, but the case here is that slavery was the driver. His family Unitarian background and first-hand experiences on the Beagle trip combined to form his thinking throughout. So the point was to prove mankind's origin was singular not plural, so "all men are brothers". Seems odd to think anything else, but there are still those who do.
The story is fascinating and detailed, including why he spent so much time on barnacles and pigeon-breeders, as well as why he left "Man" out of the Origin. the simultaneous US Civil War makes a dramatic part of the context. Sometimes a little hard to follow with its huge cast of twitcher-clerics, propagandists and profs. But well worth the effort.
Carlyle comes out as a prize s*** as well as such an awful prose-writer. For some reason he kept a place at the fringe of Darwin's circle despite being a rabid "niggerology" firebrand. ( )
1 vote vguy | Jun 26, 2013 |
This book shows how science and polical and cultural values are mixed togethier. Darwin hated slavery to undermind slavery he wanted to show how the different races had started as one. in other words blacks and whites are not in any way different. Darwin was a careful and through scientist that followed the facts, and those facts led to natural section and sexual section as the force behind evolution. ( )
1 vote michaelbartley | May 23, 2009 |
Showing 4 of 4
Readers of Adrian Desmond and James Moore's earlier biography, Darwin (Michael Joseph, 1991) — and of Desmond's subsequent Huxley: From Devil's Disciple to Evolution's High Priest (Penguin, 1998) — will expect much from this new reading of Darwin's life and values. They will not be disappointed. In Darwin's Sacred Cause, Desmond and Moore assimilate the relevant secondary literature, but also go much further. They offer us a new reading of Darwin's life and scientific work, based on two well-known facts about him: he felt physical revulsion when confronted by cruelty and he loathed slavery.
added by jlelliott | editNature, W.F. Bynum (pay site) (Feb 12, 2009)
 

» Add other authors (5 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Adrian Desmondprimary authorall editionscalculated
Moore, Jamesmain authorall editionsconfirmed
Moerdijk, HenkTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
I was quite delighted ... to hear of all your varied accomplishments and knowledge, and of your higher attributes in the sacred cause of humanity. --- Darwin, writing in 1859 to the naturalist/anti-slavery activist Richard Hill, the first gentleman "of colour" in the Jamaican magistracy, assigned to adjudicate between former slave-holders and slaves
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

There is a mystery surrounding Darwin: How did this quiet, respectable gentleman, a pillar of his parish, come to embrace one of the most radical ideas in the history of human thought? Darwin risked a great deal in publishing his theory of evolution, so something very powerful--a moral fire--must have propelled him. That moral fire, argue authors Desmond and Moore, was a passionate hatred of slavery. They draw on a wealth of fresh manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and even ships' logs to show how Darwin's abolitionism had deep roots in his mother's family and was reinforced by his voyage on the Beagle as well as by events in America. Leading apologists for slavery in Darwin's time argued that blacks and whites were separate species, with whites created superior. Darwin believed that the races belonged to the same human family, and slavery was therefore a sin.--From publisher description.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.91)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2
2.5
3 1
3.5 1
4 9
4.5 2
5 2

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,660,309 books! | Top bar: Always visible