Analyzing the Work of Darwin - Essay Example

Darwin: Analysing His Work in Anticipation of Criticism The book by Charles Darwin the origin of Species, wasone book that was to receive a lot of criticism, especially due to the fact that it was written at a time when such ideas, as presented in the book, were not well received, either in the layman world or in the academia. This book was written at a time when religious belief was not only prominent on the society, but also was the main sponsor of academic endeavours. Its perceived attack on religion, or religious faith was a problem with many people of the time. Author himself, Charles Darwin, was not very sure he wanted to publish the finding of his research on this book, be felt that doing so would be killing God, killing his faith that he had had since he was a child. Reading through the book reveals that Darwin was aware of not only what the book would mean to others with regard to their values, but also with regard to his own religious beliefs. Drawing had all his adult life embarked on a research interests that would eventually lead to him have to denounce high faith. But it is not this that most affected him. Charles had friends not only within the scientific world but also in the religious realms. In fact, even those in the academia world were still not completely open to the idea of a scientific theory that ruled out the existence of God. It is probably due to this that Darwin is seen to be cautious with his worlds. Throughout the book, although Darwin is discussing a theory that does not have a place for omnipotent deity, he refrains from discussing this issue boldly and leaves from for the religious people to still see a place for a deity in the new understanding of things. In fact, it is not once that a religious academic claimed that even though they did agree that evolution was real, it was only indication that God had planned it, and created creations with the power to recreate themselves, and that this was an indication that God was even greater. Darwin deliberately left these grey areas in the book, including the subsequent editions, so that he would leave a room for those who would want to look at the issues in this way. The fact that Darwin also anticipated great criticism from those who would believe that his book was an attack on God can also be clearly seen in his choice for diction. Despite the fact that Darwin was a seasoned academic, he used diction that was less scientific and, as a way to appease those who would not necessarily completely like the idea of evolution where God does not have a place in the creation of people, and other species. In this regard, Darwin is seen using vocabulary such as beautiful, wonderful etc., as a way to connect with the religious people of the time. This can be seen in chapter one where Darwin (30) has used the term beautiful to describe a number of things. First, he describes the results of cross-breeding some birds as beautiful, describing a process which he used to cross-breed birds of different colours to produce a generation of beautiful birds. This use of the word beautiful may be seen as an appeal to the emotion, as opposed to appeal to mind. In this regard, Darwin did not use to appeal to the scientific and academic aide of the debate that would ensue, but to the moral debate that would follow the publication of his manuscript. It would seem that Darwin was trying, while introducing a controversial idea, to appeal to those who could not immediately accept his ideas. Darwin also probably hoped to talk directly to the lay person as opposed to only leaving other scholars to interpret his theory to the masses. Throughout the book, it is obvious that he understated that there would be a lot of politics around his book and hat most of the academics would attack his book not necessarily on principle, but to be politically correct. In this regarded Darwin chose to write in a language that would be easy to read, even buy the common person who did not have a lot of scientific knowledge. He believed that it was better for the common person to make their own judgements as opposed to the Academic to interpret for them. The conscious of Darwin is also clearly seen in the fact that he never talked about the origin of life but the origin of species. This left a space for people to believe that he did not claim that live begun in other firs other than created by a supreme God. In other words, to a lay-person who could not interpret the implications of the theory, it would appear that Darwin was only describing the source of the variety for species rather than the origin of life. In this fashion, he would be able to ward off most of the harsh criticism from the academic world because if the public accepted his boo, the criticism from his peers would be as sharp. It would also seem that Darwin was not only doing this to deal with the criticism from outside, but also the criticism from within him. As the drafted the theory, Darwin was still struggling with his Christian faith, having been brought up as an Anglican in a Christian family which was wholly devout. In this regard, it can be seen that Darwin was trying to appease the part of him which was not wholly convinced on whether he should publish such a book. This was actually further affected by the death of her daughter and his ill health that affected him for so many years, especially the years preceding the publication of the book. Not only does the book use a language which is easier for the lay man to understand, Darwin also chooses the introductory chapter to discuss something that the layman can easily relate with. The first chapter talks about evolution evidence among domesticated animals. Darwin uses this as a way to talk to the law man. The common person would easily associate with the issues of domesticated birds, and would have in some cases seen the phenomena Darwin was discussing in the book. This would make it easer for these people to understand the concept and therefore any harsh criticisms by the academics would be less severe. The fact that Darwin’s writing is geared mostly towards talking to the lay person indicates that Darwin, unlike the typical academic, was not afraid of professional criticism (criticism of his professional work) as he was of personal criticism (criticism about the morality of the subject). If he received personal criticism, the slaughter house where he would be skinned would in the court of public opinion. He was therefore not afraid of professional ridicule about the ingenuity of his work, but was concerned about how the publics would receive him. In this regard, it does seem that as he wrote each word, each sentence and each chapter, the question in his mind was; will the overly religious people of my time judge me harshly of killing their God? Reading the book and the history that surrounded it reveals that Darwin must have been overly aware of the fact that his book, or rather the ideas presented in it would make him look like the devil’s advocate. In a time when blending in into society was so important especially for a person with a young family as did Darwin, this was a critical situation for Darwin and he knew that the publication of the book had a potential to leave in a lonely island, not just intellectually, but also socially. Darwin had to be faithful to his scientific genius and be in trouble with the society, or betray his scientific findings by not publishing them and remain at ease with the society. He however chose way to solve the problem. Whether he did it consciously or unconsciously it is evident that Darwin chose the middle ground in the situation. Instead of telling the story of evolution in way that would explicitly rule out God, he chose to use a grey area, giving the book a lighter touch to it, and leaving the reader to make their own interpretations and conclusions. This is what Darwin feared, the fact that those who should best understand and support he book would be the ones attacking and ridiculing it, much to the expense of the lay-person who would be inclined to take the interpretation for the academics and the clergy. Darwin also must have written the book with a clear understanding of just how much control the church had on academics. Most academic researches were sponsored by churches. Universities themselves in Europe were directly funded and managed by churches. In such a environment, it would take a miracle to have his book accepted in the academic world, at least not by everybody. This is one hurdle that must have flashed in Darwin’s mind as he wrote the book. Works Cited Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray, 1859. Print Read More