The Solitary Self Quotes

“The notable thing about his story here is not its atheism but its fatalism. The drama that it presents of helpless humans enslaved by a callous fate-figure is, of course, not new and, like all such myths, it conveys not just meaninglessness but a positive, sinister meaning – the presence of an active oppressor.”
― Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene

“Fatalism is now offered, not as just one possible philosophical attitude among others with reasons given for and against it, but as a fact backed by the tremendous authority of science.”
― Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene

“the supposedly Darwinian belief in natural selection as a pervasive, irresistible cosmic force. Neo-Darwinian theorists offer this force as the final explanation, not just of evolution, but of all sorts of deep social, physical and metaphysical mysteries as well.”
― Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene

“because individualism is giving us real difficulties today. Although it is a guiding ideal for our age, accepted as a main achievement of the Enlightenment, it takes many different forms.”
― Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene