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Co-Discoverer of Natural Selection Believed in "Overruling Intelligence" Guiding Evolution: New Book

By Hilary White

June 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The life work of Alfred Russel Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin and the unsung scientist who "co-discovered" evolution, suggests that there is no necessary conflict between the theory and religious belief in a divine intelligence, a new book has said. In fact, the book proposes, it was Wallace's lifetime of objective investigations that led him in the end to a belief in an "overruling intelligence" guiding the development of life, a belief similar to that of contemporary supporters of Intelligent Design theory.

Michael A. Flannery, author of the book "Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Intelligent Evolution: How Wallace's World of Life Challenged Darwinism," points to the history of the evolutionary theory to demonstrate that Darwin's materialistic ideas excluding the possibility of a divine intelligence, were already well entrenched in his mind long before the publication of his book "On the Origin of Species."

Flannery said that his book is an effort to "recast" the current dispute between materialist Darwinians and Intelligent Design proponents by examining the history of evolutionary theory. He holds that the "science" versus "creationism" conflict are "popular caricatures" that are "unhistorical and inaccurate."

He points to Wallace, a naturalist, anthropologist and biologist, who had independently developed a theory of natural selection when Darwin published his book. The two parted company in a dispute over the role of natural selection in the development of human intelligence. After years of research into this question, Wallace came to the conclusion that the processes of natural selection were guided by a higher intelligence, whereas Darwin held to the concept of "randomness" in evolution. The difference, Flannery says, is one of metaphysics, which, for Darwin, was already a settled question.

Writing in Forbes magazine, Flannery explained, "Darwin's own theory could hardly be called objectively scientific. Early influences on Darwin's youth established his predisposition to materialism and a dogmatic methodological naturalism long before his voyage on the Beagle."

"In short, Darwin's metaphysic compelled his science. Wallace, on the other hand, was a tireless investigator who increasingly discerned design in nature. Unlike Darwin, Wallace's science compelled his metaphysics."

To buy "Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Intelligent Evolution" go here.

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