Samuel Butler

Samuel Butler was an individualistic Victorian era writer who published a variety of works. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, considerable studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history as well as criticism. Butler even made prose translations of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" which remain some of the most popular to this day. His authority on literature came through his posthumous novel, "The...

Published in 1917, this volume is based on a series of articles published by Butler in the 1870s and revised by him prior to his death. Here Butler sets forth his conception of the divine, as an evolutionary force that encompasses all living things and tends toward ever-greater unity and self-awareness.

Published in 1878, this is the first book in which Butler attacks Darwinism, and sets out an alternative, neo-Lamarckian theory which explores the role of memory in shaping organisms. Butler initially wrote the book as a tribute and complement to Darwin's theory. Darwin chose to ignore the attack, but Butler continued to challenge the scientific establishment with three additional books.

"The only thing of which I am sure is, that the distinction between the organic and inorganic is arbitrary." So writes Samuel Butler is his work of biological philosophy, Unconscious Memory, where he presents his theories of the mind through the lens of his criticism of established scientific ideas.

Published posthumously in 1904, this collection of essays, taken largely from Butler's work published in The Universal Review in 1890, covers a wide range of subject matter-reflective of Butler's diverse interests. Included among the essays are "Ramblings in Cheapside," "Thought and Language," and "The Deadlock in Darwinism," which is a summary of Butler's views attacking Darwinism.