Evolution

My favorite philosopher, Eric Voegelin, did not go into the problem of Evolution that much, but one remark of his stuck in my mind over the years -- namely that, in his estimation, both sides of the controversy are applying fallacious and flawed argumentation, based upon a "hypostatization" of symbolisms and a mishandling of the mystery of structure in reality.

In this spirit I have found one of the best refutations of Darwinian Evolution Theory -- and it was written in 1860! The anonymous writer seems to have a good handle, for the most part, on the philosophical essentials of the problem.

The article is framed and titled as a review of Darwin's book Origin of Species:

Art. V.--Darwin on the Origin of Species

After you click the above link, go to the table of contents, where you will see many articles. Go to the one titled as above, and click the title. This will take you to the beginning of the article, on page 101.

The article is about 48 pages long and it is the best logical refutation of Darwin I have ever seen. Unfortunately (and oddly) that article has no author's name attached.

The challenge for promoters of Evolution Theory today would be to offer a counter-refutation to the logical points. Keep in mind that this 1860 refutation is not a scientific refutation, it is a logical refutation -- indeed, a philosophical refutation in the classic sense. A science-based counter-refutation may certainly adduce scientific points that the challenger thinks must be brought into the discussion, since much science has occurred since 1860 -- but those scientific points must be shown to be relevant to the logic of the 1860 refutation, or they must show how that logic is flawed.