Abstract

Enlightened scientists and educators everywhere lament the persistence of disbelief in the process of evolution through natural selection, but they have done little to illuminate the psychological basis of this resistance. This neglect unfortunately applies even to psychoanalytic commentators, who, while uncovering oedipal elements in evolutionism, have remained silent about creationism. We believe, however, that psychoanalysis has much to offer toward a solution of the problem of creationism's persistence. In particular, we propose that evolutionary theory stirs a profound fear, rooted in the psychosexual developmental processes characterizing human society thus far, of female power.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1989

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 1989, The Analytic Press, Inc. This article first appeared in Psychoanalytic Study of Society 14 (1989), 167-190.

Please note that downloads of the article are for private/personal use only.

Download

Share

COinS