Darwin was a strong debater –while reading the assigned
passages I was fascinated by his masterful use of language to help pull the
reader into his own views. While it might normally seem dangerous to fill an
entire chapter with refutals due to the inherent grouping of claims counter to
his own that that might entail, Darwin pulls it off very well. He clearly
states that “if it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one
species had been formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would
annihilate my theory” (Darwin 201). By explicitly laying out a parameter by
which his experiment can be refuted, he both sets himself a safety net, a way
of keeping credibility should the whole notion of natural selection be
disproved, and sets a specific goal for opponents of his theory to achieve,
keeping them focused on a single way of disproving the theory that he has
already researched deeply (as evinced by his comment about the falseness of the
“many statements” (Darwin 201) that have already been made).
By way of his unprepossessing attitude, Darwin also manages
to draw in a strong audience. He presents his own theory at arm’s length, and
then brings in example after example to prove it, all the while speaking as if
one with the audience in skepticism. His use of sentences such as “we can
hardly believe that the webbed feet of the goose [] are of special use to [this
bird]” (Darwin 200) is just strong enough to count as argumentative, without
giving off a confrontational vibe.
Darwin also uses religious language to keep more religious
people interested. Wheras a person who firmly believed in the Bible in a
literal sense would normally be immediately put off his theory completely, his introduction
of phrases such as “[work as superior] as the works of the Creator are to those
of man?” (Darwin 189) and “Have we any right to assume that the Creator works
by intellectual powers like those of man?” (Darwin 188), allow people with such
convictions to consider his theory, while giving protection to those who were
already on questionable ground with the church and didn’t want to contradict
religious teachings outright.
In effect, Darwin’s presentation of a possible alternative
instead of a unyielding, definitive view on life allowed his work to spread and
his arguments to gain much more sway than they might have otherwise.
I definitely agree with Gabe's assertion- Darwin argues his point well. Another thing that Darwin does to help prove his point to a skeptical audience is to first prove to his audience that man uses artificial selection all the time, which Professor Hutchison brought up in his lecture. Darwin explains how man takes plants or livestock with good qualities and breeds them to create better plants or livestock. By showing that humans unconsciously change nature, Darwin artfully shows that natural selection isn't as wildly improbably as it may seem.
ReplyDeleteDarwin's argument is convincing because it offers very basic evidence such as what Emma says about man unconsciously controlling and changing livestock and plants. From there, he uses this very acceptable information, to apply it to a natural setting. Like Gabe says, he does this in such a non-threatening way that chances are, creationists would be drawn into it before deciding whether to accept or dismiss it. While it may not have happened immediately, most of today's world has come to accept his theory as the truth, not only because of his given observations, but because of his well-constructed argument.
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