Saturday, February 12, 2011

Polygenism

Nathan O'Halloran, SJ, Moving forward with polygenism?

I note that the author writes "proved" with scare quotes? The modern scientific method does not provide demonstrations; at best it gives probable arguments, if that. The "epistemological status" is even worse when it's not just a scientific claim (concerning causes and effects) but a historical one as well.

Something from Mark Shea in 2009.

2 comments:

Geremia said...

Why are some people so obsessed with polygenism? What is the allure? I really do not understand.

papabear said...

I don't think polygenism has an allure per se, except for the allure of being an established scientific fact based on arguments about DNA evidence and the like...

Some Catholic apologists believe it is necessary to keep up with the latest "science" (and accept its findings) in order to save the credibility of Christianity.

Some more discussion at this post on First Things First Thoughts.

I'll have to try to dig up something that lays out the "evidence" for polygenism.