1860 Oxford evolution debate

The debate took place in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at the Oxford University Museum in Oxford, England, on 30 June 1860, seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.[1] Several prominent British scientists and philosophers participated, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Benjamin Brodie, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Robert FitzRoy.[1]

The encounter is often known as the Huxley–Wilberforce debate or the Wilberforce–Huxley debate, although this description is somewhat misleading. It was not a formal debate between the two, but rather it was an animated discussion after the presentation of a paper by John William Draper of New York University, on the intellectual development of Europe with relation to Darwin's theory (one of a number of scientific papers presented during the week as part of the British Association's annual meeting).[2] Although Huxley and Wilberforce were not the only participants in the discussion, they were reported to be the two dominant parties.[2]

The debate is best remembered today for a heated exchange in which Wilberforce supposedly asked Huxley whether it was through his grandfather or his grandmother that he claimed his descent from a monkey.[3] Huxley is said to have replied that he would not be ashamed to have a monkey for his ancestor, but he would be ashamed to be connected with a man who used his great gifts to obscure the truth.[3] However, what Huxley and Wilberforce actually said is uncertain,[3][4][5] and subsequent accounts were subject to distortion[6] since no verbatim account of the debate exists.[1] One eyewitness suggests that Wilberforce's question to Huxley may have been "whether, in the vast shaky state of the law of development, as laid down by Darwin, any one can be so enamoured of this so-called law, or hypothesis, as to go into jubilation for his great great grandfather having been an ape or a gorilla?",[7] whereas another suggests he may have said that "it was of little consequence to himself whether or not his grandfather might be called a monkey or not."[8]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference thomson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Oxford Chronicle, 7 July 1860. See also the recent essay by James C. Ungureanu, "A Yankee at Oxford: John William Draper at the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford, 30 June 1860," Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal for the History of Science, (2015).
  3. ^ a b c Lucas, J. R. (1979). "Wilberforce and Huxley: a legendary encounter". The Historical Journal. 22 (2): 313–330. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00016848. PMID 11617072. S2CID 19198585. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference brooke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Frank A. J. L. James (2005). "An 'open clash between science and the church'? Wilberforce, Huxley and Hooker on Darwin at the British Association, Oxford, 1960". In David M. Knight & Matthew D. Eddy (ed.). Science and Beliefs: From Natural Philosophy to Natural Selection. Ashgate. pp. 171–193. ISBN 978-0-7546-3996-1.
  6. ^ Numbers, Ronald, ed. (2009). Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion. Harvard University Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780674033276.
  7. ^ The Morning Chronicle, 9 July 1860. The writer of the letter calls himself "Harpocrates".
  8. ^ Glasgow Herald, 4 July 1860. The writer of the letter is identified as "a well-known townsman" called "J.S."