Why Genes are Not Selfish and People are
Nice: A challenge to the dangerous ideas that dominate our
lives
Colin Tudge
Floris £16.99
(978-086315-963-3)
Church Times Bookshop £15.30 (Use code
CT426 )
READERS of the Church Times may be familiar
with Colin Tudge from books such asThe Secret Life of Trees. This
book is, in some respects, a new departure, and of particular
interest to the readership of this paper. Tudge is a biologist,
brought up on the positivistic prejudices that dominated the
mid-20th century, but never able fully to accept them. He seeks to
do two things: first, to challenge these materialist prejudices,
and, second, to argue that metaphysics are essential to our
practical enterprises.
The first half of the book is a sympathetic
assessment of Darwin's arguments, and an evaluation of
neo-Darwinism. The idea of the selfish gene, he argues, is not
science at all, but rhetoric, springing from an assortment of
philosophical, political, and sociological prejudices. It suggests
that life is one big punch-up, but in fact life is a constructive
dialogue. Co-operation is also fundamental to understanding both
the earth and the system of which it is part, and with this comes a
challenge to the idea that science can have nothing to do with
teleology. On the contrary, Tudge argues, without it, science is
incoherent.
That co-operation is fundamental rather than
competition has huge consequences for our politics and economics,
and Tudge explores these with good-humoured exasperation at present
stupidities. But, if humans are fundamentally altruistic, whence
the evil and violence of human history? Appealing to game theory,
he argues that, though most of us are doves, we come to be
dominated by hawks, with disastrous consequences.
In the second half of the book, Tudge develops an
argument for the necessity of metaphysics, and for taking religion
seriously. Reductionist materialism is, he believes, "a busted
flush", and we have every reason to believe that life is led by
consciousness. We cannot get away from the question: why is there
anything at all? Such questions cannot be asked without asking
further about the true, the good, and the beautiful.
In knowing, he argues, we have to recognise the
importance of intuition and its priority over what we usually think
of as rational thinking. Over against the materialist
reductionists, Tudge insists that theology is a dialogue between
refined non-rational intuition and the sharpest possible analysis.
He argues that humility, compassion, and reverence for life
underlie all the great religious teachings. Without the right
metaphysics, we will not get the economics, politics, science, and
farming that will enable us to survive. Eschewing both reform and
revolution, he looks for a renaissance: doing things differently
despite the powers that be, building on what our instincts and
common sense tells us.
The book is written with great humour and in an
easy-going, conversational style, and may be taken as a sign of
what may really be a change of cultural tide.
The Revd Dr Timothy Gorringe is Professor of
Theological Studies at the University of Exeter.