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Darwin's Origin of Species

1859 · London (United Kingdom)

Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species on 24 November 1859, twenty years after forming its theory. Natural selection dissolves the argument from design that natural theology rested on, and Darwin's own settled word for his position, in his letters, is agnostic.

Tagged: Agnosticism Secular and Non-Theistic

The Event

Date
1859 (exact)
Also called
On the Origin of Species
Era
Secular Modernity; Standard periodization of secular and non-religious history
Location
London; today United Kingdom
Traditions
Secular
Streams
Agnosticism
Key figures
Charles Darwin
Key texts
On the Origin of Species

How the Tradition Tells It

Darwin's own position moved from orthodox Christianity through doubt to his settled agnostic label; the record tags the event to that stream on his own words, while the book's reception fed every stream in this table.

Primary Sources

  • Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859), and his letters on agnosticism.

Secondary Sources

  • Gottlieb, Anthony. The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy. New York: Liveright, 2016.
  • Jacoby, Susan. Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.
  • Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.
  • Zuckerman, Phil, ed. Atheism and Secularity. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010.

Provenance: HIST-1315; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.

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