Existence: Creation Or Evolution Essay, Research Paper

Philosophy 102

Dr. Harrison / T.A. Mark Faller / THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

March 16, 1998

The Existence of Species: Creation or Evolution?

Since the beginning of time, man has been plagued with the question of how humans, along with all other forms of life on the earth, came into existence. For a long period of time most scientists believed that God created all species individually. This was because in the beginning of history, science and religion had not yet been separated, and people could just cling to the idea of divine intervention and not have to worry about anything else. There were not any real ideas to challenge the idea of the creationist theory, in which God created humans and other life forms. Then came Charles Darwin and the ideas of evolution and natural selection, to compete with the creationist’s philosophies. Darwin was a very traveled man, which allowed him to fashion a large amount of evidence for his theory, especially from his travels on the Beagle. The approach of Darwinism sparked other people to come up with competing ideas. At the time Darwin developed his theory, however, he knew nothing of how controversial his notions would become from the time when he devised the concepts to present day and time. So now people are faced with the implicit question: How did humans and other species come into existence?

Phase I: Possible hypotheses for how creatures came into existence are:

C1Evolution / Natural Selection

C 1/1Jean Lamark

C 2/1Thomas Malthus

C 3/1Darwin

C2 Divine Intervention / God

C 1/2Wallace

C3Pagan Myths

C 1/3Sun God

C4Alien Creation

C 1/4Aliens reproduced onto Earth

C 2/4Aliens created humans

Evidence:

(”T” indicates trace evidence and “N” indicates non-trace evidence)

From his travels on the Beagle, Darwin found that: Pampean formations on fossils had armor like armadillos. (T) Closely allied animals replace one another. (N) There is a manner in which islands differ. (N) Thomas Malthus suggests natural selection, that population would always outs trip food supplies and nature would select and produce adaptations. (N)

S1Humans have emotions and mental skills. (N)

S2Animals do not have moral value. (N)

S3People adapt to environments. (N)

S4Animals adapt to environments. (N)

S5The fossil record contains few transitional forms. (T)

S6Animals have complex organs. (N)

S7Animals have instincts. (N)

S8Species when crossed become sterile. (N)

S9The Bible explains how humans were created by god. (N)

S10Pagan beliefs are that the “Sun God” created humans. (N)

S11The sun is not a god; it is a star. (N)

S12Life forms from other planets created life on earth. (N)

S13There is no proof of life-form existence on other plants. (N)

Evidence supporting Rival Conclusions:

S1C2, C3, C4

S2C2, C3, C4

S3C1

S4C1

S5C2

S6C2

S7C2

S8C2

S9C2

S10C3

S11

S12C3, C4

S13

Contradictories:

S1

S2C1

S3

S4

S5C2

S6

S7

S8C3

S9

S10

S11C4

S12

S13

(Lines indicate direct contradictories while dashes indicate evidence weakening a conclusion.)

Explanations of Rival Conclusions:

The conclusion of evolution and natural selection, C1, is further explained by C 1/1, C 2/1, and C 3/1, the discoveries of Lamark, Malthus, and Darwin, respectively. This conclusion was based around the idea that man evolved and underwent natural selection, the process of nature selecting which species would adapt and survive the struggle for existence. Lamark found that organisms had a tendency to increase in complexity and a capacity to gain characteristics useful to them in special environments, which supported the evolution theory. A huge portion of Darwin’s hypothesis, specifically the concept of natural selection, came to him after reading Malthus’s book on population growth. Malthus inspired the curiosity of Darwin as to how species would compete once there was a need for competition for food, land, and survival.

Darwin’s main hypotheses were that DH1organic beings struggle for existence, DH2undergo natural selection and that DH3species of organic beings have evolved. He had auxiliary hypotheses that DH4the geological record is very imperfect, DH5there are transitional forms of complex organs, and DH6mental qualities vary and are inherited.

Rival conclusion C2, Divine intervention, is explained in the Bible which says that species were separately created by God. In conclusion C 1/2, Wallace, a creationist, thought that divine intervention was the only theory which could explain our mental and moral facilities.

The Pagan Myths, C3, were that the sun was a God and created humans and species, C 1/3. There really is no evidence to this conclusion and it is contradicted by S11, in which scientists have found the sun to be a star, not a god.

C4, Alien creation, is a far-fetched theory that other life-forms in the universe could have created humans and species on Earth. This perception is supported further by C 1/4 and C 2/4, but is completely contradicted by S13, since there is no proof of other life-forms in the universe existence.

Phase II:Darwinism v Creation

Ultimately, the two rival conclusions are C1, Evolution / Natural Selection and

C2, Divine Intervention / God. There simply is not enough evidence in favor of C3, Pagan Myths, or C4, Alien Creation. Furthermore, Darwin does not support his hypothesis strongly enough to negate the “time-honored” concept of creationists.

Darwin’s theory is immeasurably questionable in that he relies on his own hypotheses to support each another. He also does not rely on concrete evidence in his arguments. For instance, Darwin simply hypothesizes that there are transitional forms of complex organs when he cannot find anything to strongly support or explain the complexity of animals’ organs. He simply utilizes a circular argument believing eventually he will convince philosophical thinkers into his pattern of logic. Another of Darwin’s obstacles is being unable to explain S1: humans have emotions and mental skills, and S2: animals do not have moral value. He makes the devastating mistake of introducing, as his own evidence, discussions of objections to his theory in S5-S8. Darwin uses the creationist theory to fall back on when he is unable to explain the fossil record inconsistencies, complex organs & instincts of animals, and the fact that species become sterile when crossed.

How did these phenomena occur? Darwin blames them on God and divine intervention. While Darwin cannot explain the existence of the Bible and its representations, he realizes that separate creation more strongly supports and more clearly explains these inconsistencies in the theory of the existence of species. The fact that species undergo natural selection is weakened by lack of evidence in the fossil record, complex organs, and the instincts of animals. While Darwin never denies God, using explanations from the creationist notion serve to weaken the evidence of his own supposition originally intended to compete with the belief of divine intervention. Darwin’s dependency on the creationist theory shows, in fact that he lacks confidence in his notions and actually wonders if his theory is the best explanation of the existence of humans and species or not! Basically, Darwin shows, through his own evidence and hypotheses that the creationist Theory explains what he cannot!

In support of the C2, Divine Intervention / God, there is the Bible which has been read and interpreted differently for many years, but still all Bible-based religions believe that God created humans and species in the beginning. One might present the argument of how truthful or valid the Bible is, but it has withheld the test of time, and has supporters all over the world who would not believe anything but the fact that God created life. Darwin was one of the first scientists to challenge the creationist theory, and in fact, as one can see, he only made it stronger, by falling back on the concept for what he could not explain. At the time of introduction of Darwin’s concepts, they involved too much conceptual change for scientists and logicians of the time. Since Darwin has no real, valid arguments against creationists and because his own theories explanatory hurdles are so infinite, the divine intervention theory is remarkably more conceivable.

New Supporting Evidence:

New evidence which could support or prove various theories consist of . . .

C1Evolution / Natural Selection

S14A discovery of great fossil animals covered with armor like that on existing armadillos. (T)

S15Closely allied animals replacing their own in proceeding southward over the continent. (T)

S16Scientists discover a continent where there are no missing links between the death of animals. (T)

S17The exponential rate of population growth outstrips slow rates of growth in food. (N)

S18Findings of new fossils show traces of man from ape to human. (T)

S19A meteorite hits earth and humans / species begin evolution. (T)

S20Logicians findings confirm the falsehood of the Bible. (T)

C2Divine Intervention / God

S21God comes to earth: Judgement Day. (T)

C4Alien Creation

S22Aliens are found in a UFO with human DNA. (T)

S23An alien is discovered on Earth and claims to have created all species. (T)

S24Human DNA is uncovered on the planet Mars. (T)

Contradictories from new evidence:

S14

S15C1

S16

S17C2

S18

S19C3

S20

S21C4

S22

S23

S24

Findings of the above evidence S14 through S20 would strengthen Darwin’s theory and weaken the divine intervention, Pagan, and alien concepts. S21 would ultimately solve the implicit question of species’ existence, nullifying all other theories. And finally, S22 through S24 would void Darwin, divine intervention and Pagan Myth concepts altogether.

Supporters of Darwinism could quite possibly come up with strong supporting evidence in favor of the theory with further investigation of the Earth and past species or human occupants. Many people believe that God will come one day and answer all questions of existence, strictly a religious belief. Pagan Myths have already been voided out. And finally, the likelihood of finding support for the Alien creation theory is very unlikely, since scientists have since the beginning of time been unable to find other life-forms in the universe and earthlings do not see aliens every day.

In short, at the current time, Darwinism does not have enough strong, clear, and supportive evidence. The Bible has not been found a hoax, and suggests a very reliable story for the creation of species. Darwin relies too much himself on the creationist theory, making the divine intervention / God theory the most plausible explanation of the existence of humans and other species!