Asa Gray vs. Charles Darwin: Evaluating the Darwinian Case against Conjunctive Explanations

Before Darwin, the apparently purposeful (“teleological”) features of biological organisms were widely believed to be explained by divine design. Many believe that the Darwinian revolution changed this picture, making design unnecessary for understanding biology – at least unless one rejects evolutionary biology. However, already early on some – such as Darwin's friend, the American botanist Asa Gray – saw evolution and biological design arguments as compatible. The advances in understanding conjunctive explanations, as well as advances in biological understanding, create the possibility for re-evaluating the debate between Darwin and Gray, and the question of the compatibility of evolution and design arguments. In this chapter, I begin by analysing the traditional antievolutionist and Darwinian case against compatibility and then proceed to the details of the Darwin-Gray exchange. Finally, I evaluate this exchange in light of present-day ideas and conclude by presenting a case for how design and evolution might be understood as complementary rather than contradictory explanations.