The Evolution of Julian Huxley: The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis and the Quest for Scientific Humanism (2015)
Roger H. Lieberman (Author)
Allan Dawson (Advisor)
Wyatt Evans (Advisor)
Drew University
Allan Dawson
Wyatt Evans
Sir Julian Huxley (1887–1975) was a critical transitional figure in the emergence of modern evolutionary biology. Yet, from the vantage point of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, certain aspects of Huxley's philosophy strike historians as paradoxical. He was a strong progressive thinker who decried the myth of racial purity, but simultaneously resisted the equally politicized notion that race per se was merely a social construct. He proclaimed the objectivity of scientific research, but sought to derive ethical precepts for human improvement from the findings of zoology, physical anthropology, and genetics. The aim of this dissertation is to reconcile these alleged contradictions in Huxley's worldview by granting a fair hearing to the full breadth of his scientific and political writings. These, taken together, amount to an exemplary lifetime achievement in biology and internationalism, and refute the objections of his detractors. As an heir to the revolution in scientific thought ushered in by Charles Darwin, Sir Julian's vigorous rational skepticism enabled him to stake out a reasoned middle ground in debates on the relative importance of heredity and environment in shaping human faculties. His devotion to this outlook provided inspiration for all of the endeavors for which he is best remembered, from his outspoken criticism of racial discrimination, to his contributions to the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, to his critical role in the establishment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. His success in fusing hitherto independent avenues of genetic and morphological research enabled him to play a preeminent role in the emergence of modern evolutionary biology. His observations led him to adhere to a new model of cooperation as an evolutionary mechanism that ultimately gained favor over the dogma of "survival of the fittest." His vision of human betterment rested upon his equally passionate conviction that scientific thought and action had to transcend technological utilitarianism.
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