“The Meaning of Evolution” by George Gaylord Simpson (1949) Fifty years of debates between biology, philosophy, and theology.
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Abstract
Fifty years ago, a scientific essay considered at the time to be a milestone in the history of ideas about evolution was published: The Meaning of Evolution, by the most brilliant paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History at the time, George Gaylord Simpson. These were the years when Teilhard de Chardin, a friend of the agnostic Simpson, attempted a synthesis, which was conflictive for him, between the Christian faith and the new evolutionary ideas. Precisely in that year, 1949, Teilhard wrote The Human Zoological Group. For Simpson, the patterns of the fossil record can be understood in terms of mutation and natural selection. Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process, a position very distant from that of Teilhard. The fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Simpson's controversial essay offers us today the opportunity to reflect on science and theology with important educational and pastoral implications. Furthermore, the respectful friendship between Simpson and Teilhard can provide pastoral guidelines for encounters with non-believers.
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