Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life

Steve Stewart-Williams is a lecturer in evolutionary psychology at Swansea University. Before taking this position, he did his PhD at Massey University in New Zealand, and then did a postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University in Canada. His research and writing covers a diverse range of topics, including the placebo effect, the philosophy of biology, and the evolution of altruism and mating behaviour.

'Steve Stewart-Williams explains how evolutionary thought challenges many deep-seated assumptions about God, morality, and human superiority and raises significant questions about such things as euthanasia, suicide, and the way we treat non-human animals. While it has become commonplace for many to equate Darwin's legacy with the stripping away of the moral and the good and to replace it with unpalatable 'Darwinist' alternatives that advocate amorality, nihilism, and a world where 'might makes right', Stewart-Williams carefully and entertainingly shows that, on the contrary, the world after Darwin remains meaningful, wondrous, and intrinsically moral.' Stephen Hill, Massey University

• 1. Darwin and the big questions; Part I. Darwin Gets Religion: 2. Clash of the Titans; 3. Design after Darwin; 4. Darwin's God; 5. God as gap filler; 6. Darwin and the problem of evil; 7. Wrapping up religion; Part II. Life After Darwin: 8. Human beings and their place in the universe; 9. The status of human beings among the animals; 10. Meaning of life, RIP?; Part III. Morality Stripped of Superstition: 11. Evolving good; 12. Remaking morality; 13. Uprooting the doctrine of human dignity; 14. Evolution and the death of right and wrong.