It seems odd that after 370 years or so, since Descartes published his Meditations (1641), we are still wrestling with his thought. Not just philosophers, but scientists who study the mind, as well (see, e.g., Edelman 2006). By the time Descartes himself arrives at his Sixth Meditation, he is wresting with his own thought. Insofar as he defined the self as a thinking thing (res cogitans) in the...

Throughout the Origin of Species, Darwin contrasts his theory of natural selection with the theory that God independently created each species. This makes it seem as though the Origin offers a scientific alternative to a theological worldview. A few months after the Origin appeared, however, the eminent anatomist Richard Owen published a review that pointed out the theological assumptions of Da...