The wise man's eyes are in his head;
but the fool walketh in darkness:
Ecclesiastes 2:14
"Even Darwin’s closest friends (Joseph Hooker, Asa Gray, Thomas Huxley) had reservations about the creative power of natural selection to accomplish all that Darwin claimed it could. Darwin was wracked by doubts and fears for his theory, his letters show, both before and after publication.
Spurred into action by Alfred Russel Wallace’s surprise letter from Malaysia in 1858 outlining a theory of speciation remarkably similar to his own, Darwin rushed to write his most famous book, The
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Painfully aware that it was short on evidence, he insisted just as often that it would be followed up by a “big book” on speciation with all the footnotes, observations and authorities expected to justify his hypothesis as scientific.
Darwin had two-thirds of this “big book” complete before 1859, but he never published it.
Darwin had two-thirds of this “big book” complete before 1859, but he never published it.
Q: Why?
As stated, Darwin never did provide the evidence he promised for his theory that everyone was expecting after his “abstract” (The Origin of Species) was published, even though many of his correspondents told him they were eagerly waiting for it. Here are some rhetorical tricks Darwin used to string his customers along.
The ‘I’m too sick’ excuse: Darwin frequently complained of his weak constitution and frequent illnesses. Yet somehow, he had the energy to collect specimens and write several long books, including The Descent of Man with 300,000 words and a number of shorter treatises, to say nothing of hundreds of handwritten letters.
The ‘You’ll hate me’ excuse: In many of his letters, Darwin used a type of reverse psychology employing obsequious self-deprecation to coax scientists of known conservative views to be merciful in their criticisms, hoping they would respect his humility—phony as it may have been.
The Flank Move: To his closest associates, Darwin confided that his next book after The Origin, a treatise on Orchids (1861), would outflank his “enemies” by showing what a careful observer he was.
The Turnaround Move: Frequently in The Origin and in some of his letters, Darwin would confess freely that it seemed absurd that organs of perfection such as the eye could have come about through slight chance variations. But then he would immediately turn around and say things like, ‘But I can see no reason why it is impossible to imagine it happening.’
As stated, Darwin never did provide the evidence he promised for his theory that everyone was expecting after his “abstract” (The Origin of Species) was published, even though many of his correspondents told him they were eagerly waiting for it. Here are some rhetorical tricks Darwin used to string his customers along.
The ‘I’m too sick’ excuse: Darwin frequently complained of his weak constitution and frequent illnesses. Yet somehow, he had the energy to collect specimens and write several long books, including The Descent of Man with 300,000 words and a number of shorter treatises, to say nothing of hundreds of handwritten letters.
The ‘You’ll hate me’ excuse: In many of his letters, Darwin used a type of reverse psychology employing obsequious self-deprecation to coax scientists of known conservative views to be merciful in their criticisms, hoping they would respect his humility—phony as it may have been.
The Flank Move: To his closest associates, Darwin confided that his next book after The Origin, a treatise on Orchids (1861), would outflank his “enemies” by showing what a careful observer he was.
The Turnaround Move: Frequently in The Origin and in some of his letters, Darwin would confess freely that it seemed absurd that organs of perfection such as the eye could have come about through slight chance variations. But then he would immediately turn around and say things like, ‘But I can see no reason why it is impossible to imagine it happening.’
Q: Were readers supposed to accept Darwin’s imagination in lieu of evidence, simply on the basis of his audacity as a self-appointed authority? It seems to have worked.
The Either-Or Straw Man Tactic: Darwin usually positioned fixity of species as the only alternative to his theory. Most creationists don’t believe in fixity of species. They allow for a fair degree of variability within created kinds. By setting his theory against only one alternative, Darwin mixed the either-or fallacy with the straw man fallacy.
The Bait-and-Switch Move: Instead of hard evidence, Darwin often used “imaginative scenarios” (just-so stories) to argue his points. These begged the question of natural selection, making it seem as if the story rendered his view intuitively obvious.
The No-Compromise Move: Darwin insisted on strict naturalism for his theory. When Wallace, Gray, Lyell or other associates tried to make some room for God in the human soul, Darwin steadfastly refused. One exception, he argued, would make his whole theory break down.
The X-Men Strategy: Instead of engaging with critics, Darwin would sometimes send his goons to do it. This happened in the famous Huxley-Wilberforce debate. Darwin encouraged his “X-Club” (Huxley, Lyell, and Gray) to write favorable articles, answer critics, and go to meetings in his place, arguing that he was too ill to do it
himself. This contributed to his image as the unapproachable Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.
The Either-Or Straw Man Tactic: Darwin usually positioned fixity of species as the only alternative to his theory. Most creationists don’t believe in fixity of species. They allow for a fair degree of variability within created kinds. By setting his theory against only one alternative, Darwin mixed the either-or fallacy with the straw man fallacy.
The Bait-and-Switch Move: Instead of hard evidence, Darwin often used “imaginative scenarios” (just-so stories) to argue his points. These begged the question of natural selection, making it seem as if the story rendered his view intuitively obvious.
The No-Compromise Move: Darwin insisted on strict naturalism for his theory. When Wallace, Gray, Lyell or other associates tried to make some room for God in the human soul, Darwin steadfastly refused. One exception, he argued, would make his whole theory break down.
The X-Men Strategy: Instead of engaging with critics, Darwin would sometimes send his goons to do it. This happened in the famous Huxley-Wilberforce debate. Darwin encouraged his “X-Club” (Huxley, Lyell, and Gray) to write favorable articles, answer critics, and go to meetings in his place, arguing that he was too ill to do it
Janet Browne expounded on this tactic in her biography, Charles Darwin: The Power of Place. She also suggested that Darwin grew his his long white beard to appear as a wise sage like Moses leading science into the promised land. As a result, visitors to Down House came in a sense of reverence, hoping the Dear Leader would be well enough to spend a few minutes with them groveling at the feet of the god. Huxley schemed to have Darwin interred in Westminster Abbey.
Darwin’s revolutionary takeover of biology was less a conquest due to the power of evidence and more a psychological victory through skillful use of rhetorical devices."
Darwin’s revolutionary takeover of biology was less a conquest due to the power of evidence and more a psychological victory through skillful use of rhetorical devices."
CEH
