Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldog: Beyond Darwinism and Creationism [Paperback]

After Richard Owen criticized Darwin'sOrigin, he was labeled a creationist by many, and his work on ape anatomy was derided by Darwin's bulldog Thomas Huxley.?In this close analysis of Owen's texts, Christopher E. Cosans argues that Owen's thought was much more sophisticated than Huxley portrayed it.?In addition to considering Owen and Huxley's anatomical debate,Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldogexamines their philosophical dispute.?Huxley embraced the metaphysics of Descartes, while Owen felt philosophy of science should rest on Kant's claim that sense-perception does not tell us how things-in-themselves really are. Owen thought the creationist-Darwinist dispute was unproductive, and held that both 19th century special creationists and Darwin's suggestion in theOriginthat God created the first life forms unnecessarily brought supernatural causation into science.
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With the hindsight of how the theory of evolution has progressed over the last three centuries, the Owen-Huxley debate affords the history and philosophy of science a case study. It sheds light on theories of knowledge that have been advanced by Quine, Wittgenstein, Hanson, and Putnam.Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldogalso examines Malthus, Mill and Marx for the influence of economic thought on early evolutionary theories, and considers broader ideas about how science and society interact.

Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldogsheds new light on one of the most celebrated episodes in the history of evolutionary biology. Cosans's careful analysis draws on history, philosophy, and even his own dissections, to reveal a complexity hitherto underestimated.

A contentious 19th-century debate about apes, humans, and competing theories of evolution

Christopher E. Cosans teaches philosophy at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Fort Wayne.

Owen's Ape and Darwin's Bulldog introduces a brilliant, new and insightful perspective into the philosophy behinlS