Book Review

Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins

Volume: 23 Number: 3 December 31, 2025
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Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins

Abstract

Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins (The University of Chicago Press, 2010), a 454-page edited volume by Denis R. Alexander and Ronald L. Numbers, explores the dynamic interplay between science, religion, and ideology in a continuous historical framework. Comprising thirteen scholarly essays, the book examines how biology interacts with theological and philosophical domains of meaning. Employing a historical-analytical methodology, it demonstrates that biology has evolved not merely as an explanatory science of nature but also as an intellectual framework that functions as an ideological authority—constituting a significant contribution to the contemporary literature on science–religion relations.

Keywords

Biology , Ideology , Science-Religion relationship , Evolution , Naturalism , Theology

References

  1. Alexander, Denis R. - Numbers, Ronald L. “Introduction”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Denis R. Alexander - Ronald L. Numbers. 1-10. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  2. Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1909.
  3. Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design. New York: Norton, 1996.
  4. Harrison, Peter. “The Cultural Authority of Natural History in Early Modern Europe”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Denis R. Alexander - Ronald L. Numbers. 11-35. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  5. Johnson, Phillip E. Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds: An Easy-to-Understand Guide. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
  6. McGrath, Alister. “The Ideological Uses of Evolutionary Biology in Recent Atheist Apologetics”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Denis R. Alexander - Ronald L. Numbers. 329-352. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  7. Milam, Erika Lorraine. “Beauty and the Beast? Conceptualizing Sex in Evolutionary Narratives”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Denis Alexander - Ronald L. Numbers. 276-301. Chicago ; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  8. Numbers, Ronald L. “Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Modern Biology”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Denis R. Alexander - Ronald L. Numbers. 302-328. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  9. Paley, William. Natural Theology. ed. Matthew D. Eddy - David Knight. Oxford: Oxford University Press, UK, 2006.
  10. Rupke, Nicolaas. “Darwin’s Choice”. Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. ed. Ronald L. Numbers. 139-164. Chicago: University of Chicago press, 2010.
APA
Kuyucu, M. (2025). Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. Kader, 23(3), 794-803. https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK
AMA
1.Kuyucu M. Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. Kader. 2025;23(3):794-803. https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK
Chicago
Kuyucu, Mehmet. 2025. “Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins”. Kader 23 (3): 794-803. https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK.
EndNote
Kuyucu M (December 1, 2025) Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. Kader 23 3 794–803.
IEEE
[1]M. Kuyucu, “Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins”, Kader, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 794–803, Dec. 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK
ISNAD
Kuyucu, Mehmet. “Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins”. Kader 23/3 (December 1, 2025): 794-803. https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK.
JAMA
1.Kuyucu M. Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. Kader. 2025;23:794–803.
MLA
Kuyucu, Mehmet. “Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins”. Kader, vol. 23, no. 3, Dec. 2025, pp. 794-03, https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK.
Vancouver
1.Mehmet Kuyucu. Ideological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Modern Biology: A Review of Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. Kader [Internet]. 2025 Dec. 1;23(3):794-803. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA77ZZ54HK