The brief privilege of consciousness: Ian McEwan, Neo-Darwinism, and the New Atheism

This thesis examines Neo-Darwinist and Neo-Atheist elements in three novels by Ian McEwan---Black Dogs, Enduring Love, and Saturday. Using evolutionary psychologist Lee Kirkpatrick's theories on attachment and religion, it offers a scientific explanation of the effect of religious belief on selected characters from the novels. The thesis also uses theories of Robert Wright to illustrate how McEwan incorporates Neo-Darwinian ideas on morality to show that moral behavior is possible without religious belief. It also presents the views of McEwan's critics, both secular and religious, and concludes with a brief discussion of how Joseph Campbell's call for a spiritual and scientific synthesis parallels E. O. Wilson's call for a new creation myth based on consilience between the sciences and the humanities.