Dr. Jose Rizal’s Darwinism and scientific thought

In 1859, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace co-proposed the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. Their theory states that traits are heritable. Natural selection favors traits that are adaptive to certain environmental conditions.  Over time, these traits become common in a population and may result in adaptations and consequently, the emergence of new species. While much has been written about Rizal, very few realize that Darwin and Wallace’s theory influenced Dr. Jose Rizal’s thought. Rizal is the first Filipino Darwinist. Darwinism was the major paradigm shift of the latter half of the 19th century. It forever changed how people viewed nature, human society and our place in the cosmos. But before one can be a Darwinist, one has to be science-literate. Science literacy involves a revolution in one’s thinking. Rizal is an example of both.

We Filipinos know much about Rizal’s medical practice, literary talent and political works, but we are not very familiar with his scientific works. Some even doubt that Rizal had the right to be called “Doctor.” Rizal did not submit his M.D. thesis for examination (a doctorate is a research degree), likely due to lack of funds. But a medieval tradition states that a physician without a doctorate is entitled to the title. Dr. Ben O. de Lumen reviewed Rizal’s scientific achievements in his Star Science essay “Rizal the Scientist.” He concludes that it is impossible to separate Rizal’s science from his nationalist vocation. All of his work aimed to liberate the Filipino from superstition, discrimination and oppression. With these goals in mind, he wrote several papers on what we now consider to be part of the social sciences.

How science-literate was Rizal? The answer to this question lies in reading Rizal’s works. Rizal collected and listed the names of shells, wrote some notes on reptiles and venomous snakes, and sent specimens to Europe for identification. In 1996, Rizal scholar Ambeth Ocampo lectured at the DOST about Rizal and Science for the Rizal martyrdom centennial. He lists references to Rizal’s work in the sciences. But Ocampo is not a scientist and could comment no further other than citing references and passages from Rizal’s medical case notes. In 1961, several essays were published by the Rizal Centennial Commission for Rizal’s birth centennial. In “Rizal the Naturalist,” the commission concludes that his main contribution was as a collector. In “Rizal and the Scientific Spirit,” the commission states:

“Rizal was a scientist though not a great one in the modern sense of the term.”

Science is considered not merely the practice of the scientific method but a way of thinking and viewing the natural world. Rizal viewed his world in the context of the scientific paradigms of his day. Darwinian Theory was the most contentious scientific idea during Rizal’s time. Rizal finished his medical course at a time of rapid developments and advances in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. Of the latter science, Rizal was well acquainted with advances in diagnosis and clinical practice as his medical case notes reveal. Rizal’s scientific views can be easily found in his two novels that are required reading for students, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. In the Noli’s “In the house of the Philosopher,” we read Rizal’s views on Filipino attitudes to research and scholarship in general. Rizal’s Filosofo Tasio says:

“The Gobernadorcillo learns and enjoys the reputation of being a sane man. Having learned no more than to serve chocolate and to put up with the evil disposition of Padre Damaso, he is rich today. He affects the petty destinies of his fellow citizens and at times speaks of justice. ‘That is a talented man,’ the common people think. ‘See with nothing he has grown great!’” [Soledad Lacson Translation]

With irony, Rizal satirizes our approach to learning and scholarship. We do not realize the immense value that these contribute to the nation. Because of our colonial experience, the word “Filosofo” to this day carries a negative connotation in the national language.

In the most hilarious chapter of El Filibusterismo, Rizal satirizes how the natural sciences were taught in Spanish Philippines. Physics laboratory equipment at the University of Santo Tomas was kept in glass cases for display to visitors from Spain. This made visitors conclude that while the university had first-rate science equipment, Filipinos were incapable of producing great scientists because of their race. The Friar Professor teaches physics using Aristotelian philosophy and asks students to determine the essence of a mirror. A portly student had to determine whether a piece of kamagong is really a mirror based on its essence. For this he was ridiculed since he concluded it as such although it cannot reflect light. In contrast, Rizal praises his Jesuit mentors at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, where the natural sciences were taught “entirely in the laboratory,” thereby emphasizing the need for experiment to test hypotheses.

It is very likely that Rizal read Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” and “The Descent of Man.” In doing so and correctly interpreting Darwin’s ideas, Rizal is the first Filipino Darwinist. His Darwinism was important in the development of his political and religious philosophy as his writings reveal.

In his third letter to Father Pablo Pastells, Rizal places the idea of ”survival of the fittest” and natural selection in the context of social conditions at that time. In a likely allusion to Karl Marx, Rizal’s uses natural selection in the context of his theology in which he believes that reason is enough to discover the truth about nature.

In El Filibusterismo, Rizal has a modern reading of “The Descent of Man” on the nature of sexual selection. The idea of female sexual selection is satirically presented in the chapter entitled “Consequences of the Posters” where Rizal writes:

“Paulita complied with the law discovered by Darwin, unconsciously but rigorously: the female surrendering herself to the fitter male, to the one who adapts himself to the environment in which he lives.” [Soledad Lacson translation]

Rizal’s reading of Darwin is essentially correct and consistent with his theology. While Rizal recognized the value of belief in God and that it was culturally adaptive, as did Darwin, he criticized the oppression brought upon by Spanish Catholic culture on the Filipino people. Rizal was not an atheist but he did not subscribe to the Roman Catholicism of his day.

Rizal held the idea that science is the key to progress and national liberation, that science is more than the rote memorization and uncritical acceptance of facts, but a way of thinking above anything else. The inadequate teaching tradition is still with us. Science is taught as mere facts and not as a way to arrive at those facts.

Rizal possessed the mind of a scientist, certainly that of a modern one like Galileo, who valued the use of experiments in determining scientific fact. Rizal the Darwinist is the first science-literate Filipino. But then we are left with more questions. How did Rizal’s Darwinism affect his critique of Philippine society? Was he veering toward a social Darwinism? The answers to the questions require more Rizal scholarship and are good subjects for several PhDs.

Filipinos enjoy the benefits of scientific and technological advances. But the prescient Dr. Rizal foresaw that our educational system would not improve much. Despite improvements in science teaching, we have hardly a scientific culture. Even though we have schools and universities with well-equipped laboratories, many of our students have low science competency since false ideas are still taught as scientific fact in textbooks. We receive equipment and laboratory grants from other countries, but there are few with the skills to use them. In many cases, they end up for display to visitors. We do not recognize the value that science research contributes to the nation as evidenced by low percent of GDP investment in science. Many young scientists leave the country to work overseas, since we have few opportunities for research, on top of the uncompetitive salary offered to most scientists and science educators.

The country’s progress lies in a science-literate citizenry that values fairness, transparency and democratic ideals. Science-literate citizens have a reasonable skeptical attitude that allows them to easily discount claims made by those who exploit ignorance. Rizal continues to challenge us to science literacy and revolution, first in ourselves and then in our society.

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Benjamin Vallejo Jr., PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, College of Science, UP Diliman. He is a biogeographer and his research and academic interests include marine biodiversity, evolutionary theory, biological invasions, urban ecosystems, ecological history and history and philosophy of science. E-mail him at [email protected].