In the sixth chapter of The Origin of Species, Darwin tries to anticipate and dispel objections to his theory of evolution through natural selection. Darwins “Difficulties on Theory,” include the apparent absence of transitional varieties or species and “organs of extreme perfection,” such as the eye, which seems too complex to have arisen via the small, gradual steps of natural selection. His difficulties do not explicitly include religious and philosophical problems, but these problems are barely below the surface, everywhere threatening to break through, and several changes in Darwin’s writing style may reflect both his own awareness of these problems and his inability or unwillingness to confront them, even in a chapter that is explicitly about difficulties on theory.
In explaining why few transitional varieties are found in nature, Darwin points out that “the very process of natural selection constantly tends, as has been so often remarked, to exterminate the parent-forms and the intermediate links” (211). Similarly, in “Natural Selection,” Darwin wrote that “each new variety or species, during the progress of its formation, will generally press hardest on its nearest kindred, and tend to exterminate them” (155). It is seldom the physical environment itself which destroys an individual or species, but rather the extreme competition for resources among creatures that have similar roles. An individual feels the greatest competition from members of its own variety or species, a variety feels the greatest competition from members related varieties, and a species feels the greatest competition from any species that fills a similar environmental niche in terms of habit and diet. This picture of how species are formed (and constantly, endlessly reformed) is a far cry from loving thy neighbor. Though “eat or be eaten” may be familiar to Darwin’s audience from an economic perspective, it’s hard to accept as a larger, natural agent.
Equally subversive are Darwin’s repeated assertions that “natural selection cannot possibly produce any modifications in any one species exclusively for the good of another species” (228). This idea stands in contrast to the belief that “many structures have been created for beauty in the eyes of man, or for mere variety” (227). In the Christian tradition, animals exist for man and under man’s dominion; an animal’s purpose is to serve or be used by man. Darwin’s theory posits that, though man can profit from animals, natural selection forms animals to be suitable for their own purposes, their own survival.
Finally, Darwin’s Nature is imperfect: “Natural selection will not necessarily produce absolute perfection; nor, as far as we can judge by our limited faculties, can absolute perfection be everywhere found” (233). Through the natural selection process, a part or organ can be improved more and more, but only so long as improvement of the part provides an increased survival advantage to the individual. Far from being perfect, parts will be good enough, an idea which runs counter to Christian depictions of an omniscient Creator who perfectly designs each distinct species.
Darwin does not give any direct commentary on how his theory conflicts with these religious and philosophical ideas, but some odd shifts in his writing style indicate that he is aware of these issues. There are three explicit references to the Creator in this chapter, compared to zero references in the “Natural Selection” chapter. Two of these references are questions: “have we any right to assume that the Creator works by intellectual powers like those of man?” (219); and “may we not believe that a living optical instrument might thus be formed as superior to one of glass, as the works of the Creator are to those of man?” (219). Both of these questions posit that there is a Creator connected to the process of natural selection—the former question even seems to suggest that natural selection is the intellectual power of God. But despite these references to the Creator, there seems to be no room for anything but a Deist Creator in Darwin’s theory. Darwin’s third reference to the Creator makes this clear: “He who believes in separate and innumerable acts of creation will say, that in these cases it has pleased the Creator to cause a being of one type to take the place of one of another type; but this seems to me only restating the fact in dignified language” (219). Darwin is claiming that this invocation of the Creator is not a real explanation of mechanism at all, only a reiteration of a fact with the word “Creator” attached to it. If Darwin ascribes the transformation of species to the Creator at all, he believes the Creator’s mechanism is natural selection, a process which, like Newton’s clock, needs no one to set it.
In addition to Darwin’s references to the Creator, Darwin also mentions “the differences between the races of man” (227) an oblique reference which nonetheless creates more potential debate, more “difficulties on theory.” Darwin is careful not to venture too far into this dangerous territory, but it is surprising that he includes a reference to the races of man at all since this is not important to Darwin’s argument in the chapter. As the chapter closes, the reader is not treated to descriptions of infinite beauty and complexity as in the “Natural Selection” chapter. Rather, the reader is told that “Unity of Type” is secondary to and enforced by “Conditions of Existence” (233). “Unity of Type” carries with it ideas of both internality (species preformed, stable, and perfect) and other-worldliness, whereas “Conditions of Existence” are external spatial and historical facts that shape a species until they “come to be tolerably well-defined objects” (210). Again, there is no necessary place for the Creator Darwin has referenced earlier.
As Darwin vigorously defends natural selection on scientific grounds, he simultaneously introduces many of the philosophical and religious objections his readers are likely to have without actually confronting them. Each species pushes hardest on its nearest kin, animals are not made for man’s use, and creatures are often imperfect; as if these suggestions are not revolutionary enough by themselves, Darwin’s references to the Creator and to the human races invite the reader to think about all these issues in relation to God and to man. Unlike the scientific difficulties which Darwin discusses and counters at length, the philosophical and religious “Difficulties on Theory” inherent in natural selection are present but unanswered.
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