Evolutionary Emergence of Purposive Goals and Values

<p><b>Develops and defends a philosophical account of meaning purpose and value in human life and experience that is naturalistic without being reductionistic or scientistic.</b></p><p>Where do the purposes values and existential meanings of the world come from? For many they are conferred on the world and on humans within the world by a supernatural transcendent personal divine creator and sustainer. For others they result from a God or divine presence residing within nature. For still others they give evidence of mind and spirit as primordial principles suffusing nature from the outset and in all of its forms. In <i>Evolutionary Emergence of Purposive Goals and Values</i> Donald A. Crosby takes issue with each of these views. His thesis is that mind meaning purpose and value come into existence with the evolutionary emergence of life and that evolution itself gives evidence of the creative power of two primordial natural principles: matter-energy and time. There is no overarching purpose value or meaning of nature as such but there is a plethora of such factors evident in the evolved life forms of nature here on earth. This fact is especially evident in the day-to-day experiences aspirations and concerns of us evolutionarily-evolved human beings. Purpose meaning and value are therefore gifts of evolutionary nature not of any supernatural or non-natural principle presence or power.</p>