The Genetic Gods Evolution and Belief in Human Affairs
- List Price: $31.50
- Binding: Hardcover
- Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr
- Publish date: 09/01/1998
The book explains how the genetic gods figure in our development -- not just our metabolism and physiology, but even our emotional disposition, personality, ethical leanings, and, indeed, religiosity. Yet genes are physical rather than metaphysical entities. Having arisen via an amoral evolutionary process -- natural selection -- genes have no consciousness, no sentient code of conduct, no reflective concern about the consequences of their actions. It is Avise's contention that current genetic knowledge can inform our attempts to answer typically religious questions -- about origins, fate, and meaning. The Genetic Gods challenges us to make the necessary connection between what we know, what we believe, and what we embody.
