In hmolscience, Christian de Duve (1917-2013) (RE=95) was a Belgian cytologist and biochemist noted for []
Free will
In 1995, de Duve, in his Vital Dust, commented the following: [1]
“If neuronal events in the brain determine behavior, irrespective of whether they are conscious or unconscious, it is hard to find room for free will. But if free will does not exist, there can be no responsibility, and the structure of human societies must be revised.”
This, of course, spills into the Goethean revolution, according to which the "blame" or "guilt" is not to be assigned to the to the person per se (or weight of soul in religio-mythology speak), but rather, correctly, in the human chemical thermodynamics perspective, as Goethe saw things in 1796 (see: Goethe timeline), to the external forces (predominately) and internal forces (marginally), the judgment decided by evolved weighted consensus of the system, the morality of which changes per era and population density size, all of which traced back to so-called "stealing slave parable" of Zeno of Citium.
Other
De Duve was the 1974 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for physiology or Medicine for his work in establishing cell biology (cell powered-chnopsology). De Duve’s works was influential to Ronald Fox.
Religion | Atheism
In circa 2001, de Duve stated the following:
“There’s no sense in which atheism is enforced or established by science.”
De Duve died (dereacted), i.e. met his reaction end, at his "chosen", no pun intended per the above quote, time on 4 May (Saturday) 2013 by self-induced euthanasia, which is legal Belgium, at the age (reaction extent) of 95, in in the presence of all of his children, following increasing health issues: cancer, atrial fibrillation, and a recent fall in his home. In a recent interview published after his death (dereaction), by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, de Duve said:
“It would be an exaggeration to say I'm not afraid of my death, but I'm not afraid of what comes after because I am not a believer. When I disappear, I will disappear, there'll be nothing left.”
This would seem to classify de Duve in the "agnostic atheist" category; or DN:5.5-6.5.
References
1. (a) De Duve, Christian. (1995). Vital Dust. Basic Books.
(b) Cashmore, Antony. (2010). “The Lucretian Swerve: the Biological Basis of Human Behavior and the Criminal Justice System” (Ѻ), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(10):4499-4504.
2. Maugh, Thomas H. (2013). "Dr. Christian de Duve dies at 95; Nobel-winning scientist", Los Angeles Times, May 07.
3. (a) Easterbrook, Gregg. (2002). “The New Convergence” (Ѻ), Wired, Dec.
(b) Strobel, Lee. (2004). The Case for a Creator: a Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God (pg. 25). Zondervan, 2009.
External links
● Christian de Duve – Wikipedia.
