The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality — Inside the Classic

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Authors: Schmid, Rudolf, 1828-1907, Zimmermann, G. A. (Gustav Adolf), 1850-1903 [Translator] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2007 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Religion and science; Evolution Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #22150

Rudolf Schmid's 1880 work, translated by G. A. Zimmermann, examines Darwin's theories through the lenses of philosophy, religion, and morality. The author, a theologian, aims to reconcile scientific conviction with religious need, analyzing Darwin's own statements and those of his followers like Haeckel and Büchner.

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RISE OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

§1. Direct Predecessors, ... 30 §2. Indirect Preparations, ... 33

HISTORY OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

§1. Darwin, ... 38 §2. The Followers of Darwin.--Ernst Häckel, ... 45 §3. Modifications of the Theory.--Moriz Wagner. Wigand, ... 52

PRESENT STATE OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

§1. The Theory of Descent, ... 61 §2. The Theory of Evolution.--Archæology, Ethnography, Philology, ... 77 §3. The Theory of Selection, ... 100

BOOK II. THE PHILOSOPHIC COMPLETIONS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

The Philosophic Problems, ... 108

THE NATURO-PHILOSOPHIC SUPPLEMENTS OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

§1. The Origin of Self-Consciousness and of Free Moral Self-Determination, ... 115 §2. The Origin of Sensation and of Consciousness, ... 127 §3. The Origin of Life, ... 132 §4. The Elements of the World; the Theory of Atoms, and the Mechanical View of the World, ... 140

METAPHYSICAL CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE DARWINIAN THEORIES.

§1. Elimination of the Idea of Design in the World.--Monism, ... 158

_PART SECOND:_ _THE POSITION OF THE DARWINIAN THEORIES IN REFERENCE TO RELIGION AND MORALITY._

BOOK I. HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.

Plan of Treatment, ... 185

_A. THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND RELIGION._

MORE OR LESS NEGATIVE POSITION IN REFERENCE TO RELIGION.

§1. Extreme Negation: L. Büchner and Consistent Materialism, ... 188 §2. Replacement of Religion Through a Religious Worship of the Universe.--Strauss. Oskar Schmidt. Häckel, ... 190 §3. Pious Renunciation of the Knowability of God. Wilhelm Bleek. Albert Lange. Herbert Spencer, ... 193 §4. Spinoza and Hegel in the Garb of Darwin.--Carneri, Ed. von Hartmann, ... 203 §5. Reëcho of Negation on the Side of the Christian View of the World, ... 206

REFORM OF RELIGION, OR AT LEAST OF THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION, THROUGH DARWINISM.

§1. Heinrich Lang. Friedrich Vischer. Gustav Jäger, ... 210

PEACE BETWEEN RELIGION AND DARWINISM.

§1. Darwin. Wallace. Owen. Asa Gray. Mivart. McCosh. Anderson. K. E. von Baer. Alexander Braun. Braubach, and others, ... 217

_B. THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND MORALITY_.

Preliminary View, ... 228

ANTAGONISM BETWEEN DARWINISM AND MORALITY.

§1. Objections to Darwinism from an Ethical Standpoint, ... 230

REFORM OF MORALITY THROUGH DARWINISM.

§1. The Materialists and Monists. Darwin and the English Utilitarians. Gustav Jäger, ... 233

NEUTRALITY AND PEACE BETWEEN DARWINISM AND MORALITY.

§1. Mivart. Alexander Braun, and others, ... 245

Preliminary View, ... 249

_A. THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND RELIGION_.

THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND THE THEISTIC VIEW OF THE WORLD.

_a. The Position of Purely Scientific Darwinism in Reference to Theism_.

§1. Scientific Investigation and Theism.--The Idea of Creation, ... 252 {13} §2. The Descent Theory and Theism, ... 259 §3. The Evolution Theory and Theism, ... 263 §4. The Selection Theory and Theism, ... 270

_b. The Darwinistic Philosophies in their Position Regarding Theism_.

§5. The Naturo-Philosophic Supplements of Darwinism and Theism, ... 273 §6. Elimination of the Idea of Design, or its Acknowledgment and Theism, ... 284

THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND POSITIVE CHRISTIANITY.

§1. The Creation of the World, ... 290 §2. The Creation of Man, ... 314 §3. The Primitive Condition of Man.--Paradise, the Fall of Man, and Primitive History, ... 321 §4. Providence, Hearing of Prayer, and Miracles, ... 345 §5. The Redeemer and the Redemption, the Kingdom of God, and the Receiving of Salvation, ... 373 §6. Eschatology, ... 375

_B. THE DARWINIAN THEORIES AND MORALITY_.

DARWINISM AND MORAL PRINCIPLES.

§1. Darwinistic Naturalism and Moral Principles, ... 379 §2. Scientific Darwinism and Moral Principles, ... 386

DARWINISM AND MORAL LIFE.

§1. Darwinistic Naturalism and Moral Life, ... 391 §2. Scientific Naturalism and Moral Life, ... 396

Agassiz, Louis, 35, 37, 50, 320. Anderson, 225. Anonymus, "the Unconscious," etc., 128, 129, 131, 134, 159. Anonymus, "Vestiges," etc., 33. Argyll, Duke of, 50, 91, 92, 135, 172, 202, 288. Ausland, 159, 240, 281.

Baer, Karl Ernst von, 36, 54, 56, 71, 74, 81, 83, 106, 132, 149, 160, 177, 226, 259, 281, 288, 320. Barrande, 54. Baumgärtner, Heinrich, 57, 176. Blanchard, Emil, 54, 106. Bleek, Wilhelm, 17, 96, 97, 194, 197, 234, 236. Boerhave, 36. Braubach, 226. Braun, Alexander, 55, 176, 226, 246, 397. Braun, Julius, 17. Buch, Leopold von, 52. Buckle, 17. Büchner, Ludwig, 42, 118, 141, 158, 188, 205, 219, 233, 396. Buffon, 31.

Carneri, 203, 238. Carns, 36. Christy, 90. Condillac, 96. Cotta, Bernhard von, 51. Curtius, 96. Cuvier, 31, 32, 34, 37, 320.

Darwin, 17, 18, 25, 27, 38, 118, 171, 177, 217, 240, 320, 389. Descartes, 127. Dillman, 295, 301. Dohrn, 84. DuBois-Reymond, Emil, 124, 125, 127, 130, 134, 149.

Ebrard, 159, 209. Ecker, 56. Escher, von der Linth, 54.

Farrar, 96. Fechner, Gustav Theodor, 135, 146. Fichte, Immanuel Hermann, 142, 175. Fraas, Oskar, 55, 90. Frohschammer, 175.

Gegenbaur, 56. Geiger, Lazar, 17, 96. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Etienne, 32, 34. Gerhard, 197. Giebel, 54. Göppert, 54. Göthe, 33, 34, 35, 320. Gray, Asa, 222. Grusebach, 55. Grimm, Jacob, 17, 95.

Häckel, 35, 42, 43, 45, 75, 78, 106, 123, 130, 133, 149, 159, 160, 166, 170, 204, 219, 234, 237, 281, 395. Hartmann, Eduard von, 56, 60, 106, 131, 142, 168, 176, 191, 205, 334, 376. Heer, Oswald, 56, 176. Hegel, 126, 136, 204. Helmholtz, 136, 159. Heyse, 96. Hilgendorf, 82. His, Wilhelm, 56, 81, 106. Huber, 175. Humboldt, Wilhelm von, 17, 95. Huxley, Thomas, 42, 50, 177, 198, 222, 279.

Jäger, Gustav, 51, 124, 214, 243. Jellinghaus, 94.

{15} Kant, 195, 282. Keim, 18, 337. Kölliker, 56, 81, 176. Köstlin, Julius, 175, 187. Köstlin, Otto. 149. Kowalewsky, A., 42. Kowalewsky, W., 83. Kurz, Johann Heinrich, 306.

Lamarck, 27, 30, 31, 33, 320. Lang, Heinrich, 197, 210. Lange, Friedrich Albert, 112, 168, 173, 176, 194, 196. Lartet, 96. Leibnitz, 127, 217. Leidy, 83. Lessing, 405, 407. Linnaeus, 30. Livingstone, 93. Lotze, 142, 145, 149. Lubbock, Sir John, 18, 91, 93, 242. Lyell, Sir Charles, 18, 36, 55, 89, 90, 222.

Mädler, 177, 252. Malthus, 39. Marsh, 83. Martensen, 187. Mayer, Robert von, 37, 129, 149, 155. McCosh, 224. Mill, John Stuart, 242. Mivart, 55, 106, 223, 245. Moleschott, 42. Müller, Fritz, 79. Müller, Max, 18, 96, 98. Murchison, Sir Roderick, 54.

Nägeli, 56. Nitzsch, Karl Immanuel, 361. Noiré, Ludwig, 281.

Oken, 34, 320. Owen, Richard, 35, 56, 164, 176, 221, 223, 320.

Peschel, Oskar, 279. Pfaff, 54. Pfleiderer, Otto, 187. Planck, Carl Ch., 105, 110. Preyer, 136, 146, 153.

Rathke, Heinrich, 81. Reichenbach, 42. Renan, 18. Réville, Albert, 334. Ritschl, 364. Rütimeyer, 56, 83.

Sandberger, 55, 82. Schaaffhausen, 56, 85, 177. Schelling, 109. Schiller, 180. Schleicher, 17, 96. Schleiden, 42, 51. Schleiermacher, 190. Schmidt, Oskar, 33, 35, 51, 75, 124, 159, 164, 191, 234. Schopenhauer, 128, 190. Schrader, Eberhard, 345. Seidlitz, 51, 159, 238. Semper, Karl, 84, 131. Snell, Karl, 42, 262. Spencer, Herbert, 128, 139, 194, 242, 279. Spinoza, 204. Stael, Madame de, 234. Steffens, 109. Steinthal, 17, 96. Strauss, David Friedrich, 18, 112, 125, 128, 159, 163, 174, 175, 190, 213, 234, 337, 376, 394. Swammerdam, 36.

Tait, 138. Thomson, Sir William, 138. Trümpelmann, 209. Tübingen School, 18. Tylor, 91.

Ulrici, 142, 144, 149, 175, 235.

Virchow, 56, 85. Vischer, Friedrich, 175, 176, 213, 264. Vogt, Karl, 42, 56. Volkmann, A. W., 56, 105, 177.

Wagner, Moriz, 52, 56. Wallace, Alfred Russell, 37, 101, 177, 221, 262. Wedgewood, 96. Weismann, 56. Wigand, Albert, 26, 52, 56, 57, 106, 135, 149, 170, 226. Wundt, 142. Würtemberger, 82.

Zittel, 56. Zöllner, 128, 129, 131, 138, 139.

THE THEORIES OF DARWIN,

AND THEIR RELATION TO

PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND MORALITY.

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Rudolf Schmid, president of a theological seminary in Württemberg, opens his 1880 study by positioning it as a service to readers who lack time to independently investigate the heterogeneous sciences that Darwin's work brings into contact. He explicitly targets those who perceive their harmony between scientific conviction and religious need as threatened. The author's preface frames the book as an attempt to simplify different problems and their attempted solutions, treating them both in relation to each other and separately. This dual purpose—clarifying the scientific-religious landscape while aiding those seeking to regain lost harmony—sets the tone for a work that is as much about theological reconciliation as it is about evolutionary theory.

Schmid's Method: Separating Problems and Voices

Schmid's preface reveals a deliberate method: he aims to treat the different problems and their attempted solutions not only in their relations to each other but also separately. This approach is a response to what he calls the 'illogical and confused manner' of noisy leaders who confound sciences and their consequences. Throughout the excerpts, Schmid consistently distinguishes between Darwin's own cautious statements and the more radical conclusions drawn by followers like Ernst Haeckel and Ludwig Büchner. He notes that Darwin praised Haeckel's Natural History of Creation, claiming he might never have completed his own essay had it appeared earlier—yet Schmid points out that Haeckel and Büchner 'firmly unite Darwinism and monistic naturalism or even materialism.' By separating Darwin's voice from his followers', Schmid creates a layered argument that allows him to critique the anti-Christian results derived from Darwinian premises without dismissing Darwin entirely.

Darwin's Theological Ambiguity Under Scrutiny

Schmid carefully examines Darwin's own theological position, finding it inconsistent. He notes that in Origin of Species and Descent of Man, Darwin does not contest a teleological view of nature, rejecting only the idea of sudden creation out of nothing—a concept Schmid argues is not required by religious views anyway. However, Schmid detects a shift in Darwin's later work, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, where a passage 'seems to give just as much support to the adversaries of teleology as to its advocates.' He also highlights Darwin's silence on the anti-Christian results drawn by Haeckel and Büchner, which makes Darwin's own position 'very uncertain.' Schmid characterizes Darwin's theology as inclined to 'a quite cool and superficial deism,' influenced by traditions of the last century, and suggests that Darwin allowed himself to be too impressed by anti-teleological deductions of followers, separating Creator and work more widely over time.

The Problem of Defining Creation

A recurring analytical thread in Schmid's argument is the definition of 'creation.' He contends that Darwin's rejection of 'creation' of single species is based on a misunderstanding shared by many theologians: that creation implies direct intervention out of nothing. Schmid argues that this definition is proper only for the origin of the universe, not for the origin of single formations within it. He states that such a view is 'neither asked for by the religious view of the world, nor established by the Holy Scriptures, nor by a cautiously reasoning theology.' By reframing the concept, Schmid attempts to dissolve the apparent opposition between Darwin's theory and religious creation. He quotes Darwin's rejection of the idea that 'certain elemental atoms have been commanded suddenly to flash into living tissues' and agrees with Darwin's right to reject it, while insisting that Darwin does not deny the dependence of new species on a divine author. This careful parsing of terms is central to Schmid's project of reconciliation.

Schmid's editorial voice is that of a theologian who respects scientific inquiry while insisting on the limits of its domain. Readers will find that the book's value lies not in its scientific novelty—it draws on Darwin's published works—but in its systematic attempt to disentangle the philosophical and religious implications that were often conflated in popular debates. The author's method of separating problems and voices offers a model for engaging with controversial ideas without surrendering to polemics.

Holding the old Schmid translation, I felt its careful attempt to hold science and faith together, a theologian’s quiet balancing act. That patient, almost tender wrestling with mystery reminded me of another book I once loved, The Philosophy of Mystery — Story, Setting & Ideas, whose serene voice approached the unknown not as a problem, but as a companion. Odd, how two such different voices can share the same gentle breath.