The Link between Coronavirus and Darwin according to Pervez Hoodbhoy: A Critical Response

Abstract

This paper provides a critical response to Pervez Hoodbhoy’s
article that first appeared in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading newspaper in April
2020. Hoodbhoy, a well-known physicist in the country and a former associate
of the Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, titled the article ‘Corona – Our Debt to
Darwin.’ The article’s main contention is that coronavirus reaffirms the truth
of Darwin’s theory of organic evolution by means of natural selection that
emphasises random variation and survival of the fittest as its main tenets.
Hoodbhoy fully embraces this theory leading him to adopt a confrontational
ideological position against religion. He also contends that Darwin’s natural
selection is the key to unravelling the mysteries of coronavirus and to
success in delivering the needed vaccines. This paper seeks to rebut both of
Hoodbhoy’s contentions through arguments drawn from several disciplines,
especially history and philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, theology,
and traditional medicine. It argues that the contentions are premised on two
main assumptions that are weak and questionable. First, Darwinian natural
selection has always been central to evolutionary biology. Second, biology has
well established knowledge about viruses, particularly coronavirus. This paper
shows that the two assumptions are not supported by contemporary knowledge
in biology. It argues that Hoodbhoy’s contentions are more motivated by his
sectarian evolutionist ideology than by scientific considerations.