Evolution and Ethics - Huxley, Thomas Henry

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Résumé :
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. 1st World Library-Literary Society is a non-profit educational organization. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - THE discourse on Evolution and Ethics, reprinted in the first half of the present volume, was delivered before the University of Oxford, as the second of the annual lectures founded by Mr. Romanes: whose name I may not write without deploring the untimely death, in the flower of his age, of a friend endeared to me, as to so many others, by his kindly nature; and justly valued by all his colleagues for his powers of investigation and his zeal for the advancement of knowledge. I well remember, when Mr. Romanes' early work came into my hands, as one of the secretaries of the Royal Society, how much I rejoiced in the accession to the ranks of the little army of workers in science of a recruit so well qualified to take a high place among us. It was at my friend's urgent request that I agreed to undertake the lecture, should I be honoured with an official proposal to give it, though I confess not without misgivings, if only on account of the serious fatigue and hoarseness which public speaking has for some years caused me; while I knew that it would be my fate to follow the most accomplished and facile orator of our time, whose indomitable youth is in no matter more manifest than in his penetrating and musical voice. A certain saying about comparisons intruded itself somewhat importunately.

Biographie:
English scientist and anthropologist Thomas Henry Huxley, was an expert in comparative anatomy. Because of his support of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, he has come to be known as Darwin's Bulldog. Although some historians believe that the surviving account of Huxley's well-known 1860 Oxford evolution discussion with Samuel Wilberforce is a later fabrication, the debate was a turning point in both his professional life and the broader acceptance of evolution. The day before, Huxley was about to depart Oxford, but he changed his mind and chose to participate in the debate after seeing Vestiges author Robert Chambers. Richard Owen, Wilberforce's coach, and Huxley engaged in an argument concerning the degree of human-ape relatedness. Huxley publicly endorsed Darwin despite being hesitant to embrace some of his theories, such as gradualism and his ambiguity on natural selection. He battled against the more radical interpretations of religious heritage and was crucial in the development of scientific education in Britain.