Richard Swinburne

Perhaps I went into this book with the wrong expectations, but I found it disappointing. There are really interesting and thought provoking discussions along the way; however, as far as giving an evolutionary account of the soul in animals, Swinburne tosses his hands up and says “it’s a mystery!”. Fine and well if you’re me; not fine and well if you’re writing a book titled “The Evolution of the Soul”. Secondly, where Swinburne does attempt to describe the evolutionary development of the mental life (thought, sensation, belief, desire, and purpose), it’s rife with “well, obviously natural selection would select for such-and-so” with little justification. Moreover, these assumptions have been seriously challenged by Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism and the subsequent discussion. (To be fair, this book is from 1986 and Plantinga’s EAAN didn’t get a serious treatment until 2002). Last, Swinburne’s argument for why souls can persist past death of the body is “lol God”. True, but ultimately unsatisfying.

“Evolution of the Soul” is interesting, but disappoints where it counts. There’s probably better contemporary literature on the mind-body problem.

2.4/5… (more)