Robert G. B. Reid, Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Victoria British Columbia and author of Evolutionary Theory: The Unfinished Synthesis and Biological Emergences: Evolution by Natural Experiment.

“The ranks of those biologists who oppose the concept that natural selection has a causal role in evolution have been growing recently. ‘Hard’ selectionists have reformed themselves as ‘soft’ selectionists. But this is not enough. While no one would argue that selection as ‘differential survival and reproduction’ does not exist, there are examples of evolutionary phenomena where it does not, and no logical basis for treating it as any kind of evolutionary cause.

“In Save Our Selves from Science Gone Wrong Shaun Johnston presents selectionism as the science that has gone wrong, corrupting biology as well as pertinent aspects of sociology, philosophy, and the popular media. Such a strong voice deserves attention.

“Responding to the question ‘What do you put in its place?’ Johnston begins at the top, with the consciousness of the individual self as the driver of evolution. This raises other questions about how organisms/selves with a lower capacity for consciousness were able to drive their own evolution in an organized manner. Johnston’s creative response is to imbue the genome with selfhood and to drive evolution from the bottom up, as well as from the top down—a matter of ‘self-design’ rather than creative design.”

Part 1. How present-day science threatens the self, 3

The self in danger, 5
How science came to deny the self, 11
At the core of the threat: natural selection, 20
The “Violent Engine” hypothesis, 26
Natural selection fails the “Violent Engine” test, 28
Collapse of the epicycles, 35
As natural selection fails, Physicalism fails, 39

Part 2. Blueprint for a new self-based science, 41

Dubious assumptions worth challenging, 42
More attributes of the “Violent Engine,” 56
Candidate for the role of “Violent Engine,” 61
Source of selfs, 64

Part 3. Manual: How to save the self, 71

Threat of a new barbarism, 73
Tactics for attacking natural selection, 80
Living well is the best argument, 86

Appendix—the fine print, 92

Physicalism and brain chemistry, 94
Science at a crossroads, 101
Why evolutionary statistics don’t work, 106
Disposing of more “epicycles,” 111
Benefits of a self-based science, 123
 

Afterword: Autobiography of an evolved self, 129

Recommended readings, notes and sources, 145

Index, 157

See also

$14.95 USA, £7.95 UK.  Buy from Amazon
For review copies email.