[Avodah] The Cult of Pe'or and Darwinism

[Prof. Levine]

At 06:16 AM 6/30/2010, Yitzchok Schaffer wrote:

>On 6/27/2010 11:16, Yitzchok Levine wrote:
> > The following is from RSRH's commentary on Bamidbar 25:
> >
> > /*The cult of Pe?or is an illustration of the type of Darwinism 
> that glories
> > in man?s descent to the level of the beast, where, stripping himself of
> > his Divinely-given nobility, he comes to regard himself as merely a higher
> > species of animal.
> >
>
>... which is why we need a different type of Darwinism, that which does
>not limit its world to the material, and sees man as a higher species of
>animal *plus* a Divine soul.

Two questions come to mind.

1. Why do we need any type of Darwinism?

2. Would this "different type of Darwinism" be science? After all, 
science is interested in explaining how things occur, not the 
underlying why.  The simplest explanation that explains a given 
phenomenon is the one that is almost always used. It seems to me that 
science has no need for spiritual considerations.

YL


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