ABSTRACT
The theory of evolution and the theory of the evolution of evolution is a meta-history. Intellectual mercantilism or protectionism and epistemological lunacy are nevertheless evolutionary strategies which usher in, across the threshold from one set of evolutionary mechanisms to another, a new evolution of evolution. This chapter shows that from the amoeba to Einstein the path of evolution is by no means continuous. It shows that the conditions which make the growth of science possible are governed by evolution and that the prevalence of societies in which science cannot grow is an evolutionary phenomenon. The truths of religion and especially of the Christian religion had been questioned long before Nietzsche; but Nietzsche mounted an original attack in that he did not worry much about whether the historicity of the Christian revelation was true. An understanding of evolution should move closer to Nietzsche; and, conversely, an appreciation of Nietzsche, should pave the way for an acceptance of evolution.
