Stewart Andrew McDowall
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Stewart Andrew McDowall (1882 – 13 January 1935) was an English
biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
, eugenicist and
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. McDowall was born in
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
.England, Richard K. ''McDowall, Stewart Andrew (1882-1935)''. In Stuart Brown. (2005). ''The Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers, Volume 2''. Thoemmes Continuum. p. 605. He was educated at St Paul's School and
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
and graduated in natural science from
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
in 1904. He worked in the zoological laboratory at Cambridge and was assistant superintendent of the university's Museum of zoology. In 1905, he was appointed as Professor of Biology at the Christian College in Madras. In 1906, he became assistant master at
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
where he later became senior science master. McDowall was a Christian and was ordained in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
in 1908. He was the chaplain at Winchester College. He was a fellow of the Physical Society of London and the
Cambridge Philosophical Society The Cambridge Philosophical Society (CPS) is a scientific society at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of law ...
. McDowall was a
theistic evolutionist Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution), alternatively called evolutionary creationism, is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. Here, God is taken as the primary cause while natural cau ...
and wrote several works on this topic. He held the view that evolution was non-materialistic, progressive and supported the values of Christian cosmology. He was influenced by
Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...
. In 1923–1924, McDowall gave the
Hulsean Lectures The Hulsean Lectures were established from an endowment made by John Hulse to the University of Cambridge in 1790. At present, they consist of a series of four to eight lectures given by a university graduate on some branch of Christian theology. ...
on ''Evolution, Knowledge and Revelation'', which were described as "an extreme form of metaphysical
idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...
". He was an active
eugenicist Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...
and was the author of ''Biology and Mankind'' (1931), which advocated
sterilization Sterilization may refer to: * Sterilization (microbiology), killing or inactivation of micro-organisms * Soil steam sterilization, a farming technique that sterilizes soil with steam in open fields or greenhouses * Sterilization (medicine) render ...
of the feeble-minded. McDowall died in
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
on 13 January 1935.


Selected publications


''Evolution and Spiritual Life''
(1915) *''Seven Doubts of a Biologist'' (1917)
''Evolution and the Doctrine of the Trinity''
(1918)
''Beauty and the Beast: An Essay in Evolutionary Aesthetic''
(1920) *''Evolution, Knowledge and Revelation'' (1924) *''Creative Personality and Evolution'' (1928) *''Biology and Mankind'' (1931) *''Is Sin Our Fault?'' (1932)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowall, Stewart Andrew 1882 births 1935 deaths 20th-century British biologists 20th-century English zoologists British Christian writers English eugenicists Idealists People from Bedford Teachers at Winchester College Theistic evolutionists