Richard Dawkins: ‘What We Need Is A Truly Anti-Darwinian Society’

Richard Dawkins, noted Oxford biologist and outspoken atheist, warned people against living a life led by Darwinian principles

During a recent event at the Kennesaw State University in Georgia, Dawkins issued a warning against using the “survival of the fittest” principle as a guide for living, saying that doing so would lead to an “ultra-Thatcherite, Reaganite” way of life.

“Evolution by natural selection is the explanation for why we exist. It is not something to guide our lives in our own society. If we were to be guided by the evolution principle, then we would be living in a kind of ultra-Thatcherite, Reaganite society.”

Richard added that although it is important to study Darwinism as a scientific fact and a philosophical matter, people must steer clear of using Darwinian principles as a public policy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZuCk-4PjkI#t=162

“Study your Darwinism for two reasons: because it explains why you’re here, and the second reason is, study your Darwinism in order to learn what to avoid in setting up society. What we need is a truly anti-Darwinian society. Anti-Darwinian in the sense that we don’t wish to live in a society where the weakest go to the wall, where the strongest suppress the weak, and even kill the weak.”

Richard Dawkins’ stern warning came after KSU’s event host Michael L. Sanseviro inquired about his opinions on whether gay marriage violated “evolutionary principles.”

Dawkins responded, “I don’t care what’s against the evolution principle. I’m all for going against the evolution principle.”

According to Raw Story, Richard also provided commentary on the importance of feminism during the event, and how the movement is “a political movement which deserves to be thoroughly well-supported.”

“Of course feminism has an enormously important role. Feminism, as I understand it, is the political drive towards the equality of women — so that women should not be discriminated against, nobody should be discriminated against on grounds that don’t merit discrimination.”

Dawkins has been regarded as a leading expert in evolutionary biology, having written scientifically influential biology books such as The Greatest Show on Earth and The Blind Watchmaker. A former biology professor at Oxford, Richard Dawkins currently runs the non-profit Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, an organization that encourages skeptical inquiry and scientific education.

As the author of The God Delusion, Richard — one of the so-called four horsemen of atheism — compared the notion of a personal god to delusion. Dawkins’ bold statements have attracted widespread praise from secularist societies. Unsurprisingly, it was also critically panned by conservative movements, with one theologian calling Richard Dawkins “ignorant” of Christian theology.

[Image from Nadja Von Massow/Flickr]