What Richard Dawkins thinks about evolutionary biology

@richard-dawkins · 34 positions · On ppll ↗

Evolutionary biologist and author; writes The Poetry of Reality newsletter on Substack.

Richard Dawkins did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Richard Dawkins on evolutionary biology. See everyone on evolutionary biology

11 dated positions, c. 1986 to c. 1976–1989, in their own words. Our reading of what Richard Dawkins has said — not written or endorsed by them.

1. c. 1976–1989

   Our readingRuthless selfishness is the quality to expect in a successful gene

   Their wordsa predominant quality to be expected in a successful gene is ruthless selfishness.

   ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

3. c. 1976–1989

   Our readingExplaining evolution is not advocating a morality based on it

   Their wordsI am not advocating a morality based on evolution.

   ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

5. c. 1976–1989

   Our readingWe are gene machines and meme machines, with the power to turn against our creators

   Their wordsWe are built as gene machines and cultured as meme machines, but we have the power to turn against our creators.

   ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

7. c. 1976–1989

   Our readingHumans alone can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators

   Their wordsWe, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators.

   ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

9. c. 1976–1989

   Our readingUniversal love and the good of the species make no evolutionary sense

   Their wordsuniversal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts that simply do not make evolutionary sense.

   ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

11. c. 1976–1989

    Our readingPreserving the genes is the ultimate rationale for our existence

    Their wordsThey are in you and in me; they created us, body and mind; and their preservation is the ultimate rationale for our existence.

    ↗The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 40th anniversary edition, 2016; first published 1976, second edition 1989)archive.org All 9 from this book

13. c. 1986

    Our readingIf natural selection is nature's watchmaker, it is a blind one

    Their wordsIf it can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.

    ↗The Blind Watchmaker (W. W. Norton, 1986)archive.org All 5 from this book

15. c. 1986

    Our readingBiology studies complicated things that look designed for a purpose

    Their wordsBiology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.

    ↗The Blind Watchmaker (W. W. Norton, 1986)archive.org All 5 from this book

17. c. 1986

    Our readingNatural selection has no mind and does not plan for the future

    Their wordsIt has no mind and no mind's eye. It does not plan for the future

    ↗The Blind Watchmaker (W. W. Norton, 1986)archive.org All 5 from this book

19. c. 1986

    Our readingLiving organization is the product of cumulative selection

    Their wordsLiving organization is the product of cumulative selection.

    ↗The Blind Watchmaker (W. W. Norton, 1986)archive.org All 5 from this book

21. c. 1986

    Our readingDarwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist

    Their wordsalthough atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.

    ↗The Blind Watchmaker (W. W. Norton, 1986)archive.org All 5 from this book