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September 17, 2007

Think of the idea for instance that “Nature arranged things this way” … “Nature arranged it so that …”  “Nature has made sure that, in order to …”  And so on and so forth.  One finds this in Dawkins as much as anywhere else; just as one might find in a religious text the words “God so ordained it that …”

That this collection of words can’t be ‘true’ is as true here as it is for the ‘truth’ that God is looking after us.  (Never mind if he exists or not for a moment.)   Unless you want to extend it - as it should be extendable - into situations like the First World War.  “Nature so ordained it that the industrial slaughter of human beings would take place over a reasonable period of five years …”  Nature suddenly goes misssing.

What was Nature doing in the Somme?

To get round all this illogic we invoke our routines.  “That is just a manner of speaking.”   ”Nature isn’t moral!” Etc.

We overlook how nature isn’t at work at all.  Nothing is.

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