Is the Emperor Dressed?
Theism or Evolutionism
Questioning what it means to be fully human, the philosophical text Is the Emperor Dressed? puts theism and evolution into conversation.
Fuwan Yang’s Is the Emperor Dressed? takes a philosophical approach to the discussion of the disagreements between theists and those who believe in evolution, arguing that, no matter which side is chosen, action must be taken on behalf of human and planetary survival.
Questioning the notion that science is compatible with evolution, but not with theism, the book argues that the theory of evolution “came to the world entirely to erase our thoughts on Divinity,” and that further advances in science and technology have been used to support it without applying the same spirit of scientific inquiry to the study of theism. “We have long questioned the existence of God. But we never doubted the source of scientific inspiration,” writes Yang, whose goal is to encourage unbiased search for truth, including the possibility that science is compatible with theism.
The text argues that humans, instead of evolving, are acting in ways contrary to the principles of evolution, and thus are degenerating. To support its argument, the book points to planetwide pollution, destruction, and continuous warfare. But support for its arguments is sparse, coming most from references to descriptions of battles given in the Bible. Brief histories of money, trade, and warfare are given, but these are also undersupported.
The text also expresses concern about the possible harmful effects of technological developments, including artificial intelligence, communication methods that involve electromagnetic waves, and the creation of noxious waste materials. Such topics are handled more as musings on potential dangers than they are as arguments that are supported by science, though. Many of the text’s conclusions are weak as a result. Further, while the problem of taking a binary approach to the theism versus evolution question is brought forth, and while the idea that some sort of combination of the two might be more conducive to planetary survival is hinted at, the text’s ultimate conclusion, beyond the notion that negative impacts on the environment must be stopped, is unclear.
The book’s many grammatical and syntactical errors, combined with missing and misused words, make parsing its arguments laborious. The text also tends to employ examples that make little sense in their translated forms, impeding its comprehensibility further.
Questioning what it means to be fully human, the philosophical text Is the Emperor Dressed? puts theism and evolution into conversation.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
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