Evolutionism

Tomorrow's NYT Book Review will have an essay by Judith Shulevitz, part of which is devoted to "The Evolution-Creation Struggle" by Michael Ruse. We are told that Ruse distinguishes between the science of evolution (of which he is a strong supporter) and "evolutionism".

Evolutionism is the part of evolutionary thought that reaches beyond testable science. Evolutionism addresses the questions of origins, the meaning of life, morality, the future and our role in it. In other words, it does all the work of a religion, but from a secular perspective.

Evolutionism led to social Darwinism and eugenics, and is still a powerful cultural force. The enduring battle is between evolutionism and creationism, so it is said.

Reactions in the blogsphere might be interesting!