The Missing Link: A Symposium on Darwin's Creation-Evolution Solution

The Missing Link blazes a unique trail through the conundrums and controversies generated by evolutionary theory and religious thought. To date, these debates have centered on the origin of species. This book, however, turns the spotlight on the origins of consciousness, thought, and the self while also considering the relationship between God and science. Remarkably, Darwin himself highlighted the relevance of the origin of consciousness to the question of a creator. Therefore, The Missing Link works within a framework that was laid out at the dawn of the creation-evolution debate. Since that time, however, this framework has rarely been considered or explored. The unifying theme of this volume is the conclusion that the existence of God is grounded in rational thought. Contributors to The Missing Link include three Nobel Prize winners, renowned scientists from Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard, and noted contemporary philosophers of consciousness, language, and the self.

Table of Contents:

Preface: A Symposium on Darwin’s Framework for a Creation—Evolution Solution
Roy Abraham Varghese

The Missing Link
Roy Abraham Varghese

Part 1: Consciousness, Language and the Self

Darwin, Mind and God
Simon Conway Morris
Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology, Cambridge University

Life and Human Life: Their Nature and Emergence—The Singularity of Human Life
David Braine
Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, University of Aberdeen

Reductionism and the Self
Geoffrey Madell
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Edinburgh.

Part 2: God

Science and God
Anthony Hewish
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1974, Emeritus Professor of Radio Astronomy, Cambridge University

Ordinary Faith, Ordinary Science
William D. Phillips
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1997, National Institute Of Standards And Technology, Gaithersburg and University Of Maryland, College Park

Traditional Wisdom and Recently Acquired Knowledge in Biological Evolution
Werner Arber
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology, 1978, Emeritus Professor, Molecular Microbiology, Biozentrum, University Of Basel

Evolution and the Fear of Large Numbers
Owen Gingerich
Professor Emeritus, Astronomy and History of Science, Harvard University

The Cosmological and Teleological Arguments Revisited
David Conway
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Middlesex University

How do I Account for the Existence of Consciousness, Thought and the Human Self? (with an appendix on Stephen Hawking and God)
John C. Lennox
Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford

Appendix: Emergence and Reductionism
Harold Morowitz, Professor in Biology and Natural Philosophy, George Mason University and former Professor, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University

Acknowledgements