DESCRIPTION: Szczepan Witold Ślaga (1934–1995) was a professor of philosophy associated with the Institute of Philosophy at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. He published nearly 180 academic texts. In his academic work, he addressed a number of issues. These included philosophical problems of biology and its relationship to philosophy, the question of the essence of life, the problem of the origin of life and its evolution, the issue of evolutionism, systemic research on science, and methodological analyses of the views of other authors (including A. Oparin, M. Eigen, K. Kłósak, J. Rostand, H. C. Urey, W. Sedlak). He also served as editor-in-chief of the SPCh from 1988 to 1995. He published 93 texts (articles, reviews, reports, and others) in the SPCh. The purpose of the article in question is to critically analyse the theory of F. Hoyle and Ch. Wickramasinghe concerning the cometary origin of life. The author analyses primarily the basic assumptions of this theory, namely: the existence and widespread distribution of organic matter in the universe; the presence of highly polymerised biomolecules in the nuclei and comas of comets; and the easy contact of cometary material with the Earth's atmosphere. According to the theory based on these assumptions: 1. The Earth is constantly seeded with cometary material containing bacteria and viruses responsible for infectious diseases in plants, animals and humans; 2. these pathogens were also responsible in the past for the origin of life on Earth; 3. Darwinian evolution is therefore insufficient to explain the development of life from bacteria to humans; 4. it is necessary to accept some form of creationism. The author has critically analysed this theory on three levels: scientific, methodological and philosophical. In the light of modern science, the basic principles of this theory are subject to fierce criticism and attacks from astronomers, evolutionary biologists, epidemiologists and philosophers because of its errors and unverifiable features. As a pseudoscientific construct, it has been widely discredited. "Without knowing the basics of philosophy, the authors get entangled in their own ideas about creationism, which, incidentally, has nothing to do with Judeo-Christian doctrine, especially Thomistic doctrine. They probably only know about the concepts of creation from journalistic discussions, so fashionable today in countries with a Protestant tradition. (...) It is probably not without significance that Wickramasinghe himself transfers some of the ideas of the Buddhist culture in which he was raised. In his opinion, based on currently known facts, we actually have two conclusions to choose from: either creation (of free will) or eternal life in an eternal world (...). Although today's cosmological knowledge rejects the eternity and immutability of the world, Wickramasinghe prefers this concept, arguing that in this truly eternal and infinite universe, one can accept a creator of life, an intelligence higher than human" (pp. 124-125).
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Continuation of the old dispute, 2. Hoyle-Wickramasinghe concepts, 2.1. Initial assumptions, 2.2. Main claims, 3. Attempt at evaluation, 3.1. Substantive value, 3.2. Methodological assessment, 3.3. Philosophical assessment.
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