Integrity, Dynamic

In the 20th century, value inquiry had been greatly influenced by numerous impressive developments in biology, anthropology, and psychology, as well as evolutionary ethics in natural philosophy and new concepts in process theology. This progress in the special sciences includes fossil hominid discoveries, wild ape behavior studies, and genetic engineering research. The differences between the four pongids (orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo) and the human species are narrowing in light of this new evidence, while recombinant DNA and the human genome project offer awesome possibilities for neolife forms and an indefinite life span for the human species. Moreover, neurological experiments are clarifying the direct relationship between the functioning material brain and all mental activity. The convergence of these remarkable advances in science and technology challenges entrenched beliefs and old values, resulting in the foundation for a new philosophical anthropology and a new conception of intellectual integrity.

Since the conceptual revolution of Darwinian evolution in the middle of the 19th century, the fixity of species and the traditional commitment to eternal truths have given way to a process view of life and the reevaluation of all values in light of empirical evidence, critical reflection, a cosmic perspective, and the evolutionary framework. Also, the new naturalist paradigm needs to take both cosmic entropy and species extinction seriously. No longer is earth or life on this planet or humankind itself viewed as the center of this universe. Furthermore, the scientific viewpoint critically evaluates all religious beliefs and theological concepts within the context of human sociocultural history. In brief, the human species must now be seen as a recent event within sidereal reality.

Grounded in organic evolution and human experience, value judgments hold both short-range and long-range consequences for the adaptation, survival, enrichment, and fulfillment of our own species. The conflict between facts and beliefs, as represented in the widening gap between scientific evolutionism and religious creationism, can only be resolved in terms of an open-minded acceptance of empirical evidence and rational deliberation. In fact, the value of dynamic integrity (as one shall see)becomes essential for the progressive development of evolving humankind.

Following the Age of Enlightenment, naturalists in the early decades of the 19th century began to take the scientific investigation of rocks, fossils, and artifacts seriously. Beyond denial, the empirical evidence argued for a conceptual view of earth history alarmingly different from a strict and literal interpretation of the biblical myth of Genesis. The result is a greater understanding of and deeper appreciation for time and change as a direct outgrowth of ongoing research in geopaleontology and bioanthropology. This paradigm shift, from fixity to evolution in natural history, has a devastating effect on all those cherished beliefs and traditional concepts that had given the human being its alleged unique place and special value in this universe.