Purpose and Desire - What Makes Something Alive and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to

A professor, biologist, and physiologist argues that modern Darwinism's materialist and mechanistic biases have led to a scientific dead end, unable to define what life is--and only an openness to the qualities of "purpose and desire" will move the field forward. Scott Turner contends. "To be scientists, we force ourselves into a Hobson's choice on the matter: accept intentionality and purposefulness as real attributes of life, which disqualifies you as a scientist; or become a scientist and dismiss life's distinctive quality from your thinking. I have come to believe that this choice actually stands in the way of our having a fully coherent theory of life." Growing research shows that life's most distinctive quality, shared by all living things, is purpose and desire: maintain homeostasis to sustain life. In Purpose and Desire, Turner draws on the work of Claude Bernard, a contemporary of Darwin revered among physiologists as the founder of experimental medicine, to build on Bernard's "dangerous idea" of vitalism, which seeks to identify what makes "life" a unique phenomenon of nature. To further its quest to achieve a fuller understanding of life, Turner argues, science must move beyond strictly accepted measures that consider only the mechanics of nature. A thoughtful appeal to widen our perspective of biology that is grounded in scientific evidence, Purpose and Desire helps us bridge the ideological evolutionary divide.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: J Scott Turner, J. Scott Turner
• Editore: Harper Collins Usa
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 30.09.2017
• EAN: 9780062651563
• ISBN: 978-0-06-265156-3
• Pagine: 352
• Dimensioni: 152 mm x 229 mm x 29 mm
• Categorie: Saggistica > Filosofia, religione > Religione: tematiche generali, opere di consultazione; EVOLUTION: GENERAL, SCIENCE: Life Sciences / Evolution, SCIENCE: Life Sciences / Biology, RELIGION: Religion & Science, RELIGION: SCIENCE AND RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY: Religious, SCIENCE: Life Sciences / Cell Biology, PHILOSOPHY: Metaphysics, SCIENCE: Life Sciences / Molecular Biology, RELIGION: Philosophy, SCIENCE: Life Sciences / Developmental Biology, RELIGION: Psychology of Religion, RELIGION: Christian Education / General