Luck, or Cunning? marked Butlers final attempt to refute the arguments of Darwinism and its main supporters. As the title suggests, in this book he attempted to reduce the complexity of evolutionary theory to a simple opposition: all arguments in favour of a kind of intelligent design against arguments for random variation (i.e. natural selection). Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and George Romanes were cast as the enemy, styled as the apostles of luck. On the side of cunning were Erasmus Darwin, Buffon, and of course Butler all of whom appreciated the supposed design and purpose in the universe.
