Darwinism, Design, and Public Education (Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for "Teach the Controversy"
Review: EDIT (6/13/04): My apologies for dual reviews; the first I submitted did not appear for a couple of days and I had not saved the text, so I wrote another.

- Should Darwinian Evolution be taught critically or dogmatically in public schools? Should students learn about the evidence against macroevolution as well as the evidence for it?

- Is it legal and indeed beneficial to teach Intelligent Design as a viable alternative? Is ID indeed scientific or only a relgious rehash of scientific creationism?

- Does life only have the "appearance" of design which can be accounted for by only natural causes? OR does Darwinian Evolution only have the "appearance" of explaining origins, while Intelligent Design is a logical and evidential inference?

These are only a few of the important and difficult questions that this volume attempts to address. Though the book is edited by ID authors, there are plenty of articles from various points of view - both regarding the theories themselves and the question of education.

Regardless of whether one believes in evolution or ID, a change in public education seems necessary. Most important, students have the right to know evidence for and against of theory - and indeed to know which parts of evolution are considered factual and which parts are theoretical (the authors clearly distinguish between the different meanings of evolution from "change over time", to "variation and adaption", "common decent" and even Dawnins' "Blind Watchmaker" philosophical position. Textbooks also need to be corrected to include evidence against the theory and to eliminate the metaphysical aspects (such as comments like "purposelessness" which attempts to teach that evolution necessary removes God and the possibiliy of the supernatural). Those implications need to be constrained to other courses, not science classes. Both evolution and ID have both scientific and philosophical aspects, but only the former are appropriate for science classes.

A previous reviewer has done a great job of summarizing the various parts of the book. At any rate, this book is a great resource for the "Teach the Controversy" issue and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: An Argument for "Teaching the Controversy"
Review: Less than two decades ago, proponents of "intelligent design" (ID) set out to establish ID as a legitimate topic for scholarly debate and then as an alternative to a neo-Darwinian approach in biological research. They have made considerable progress on the first objective, less on the second. Meanwhile they have been drawn into noisy state and local controversies over the teaching of evolution in public schools. The ID movement, in its unfinished state, has thus come to the attention of journalists and politicians. It has become a thorn in the flesh of veteran defenders of evolution hardened by years of conflict with "scientific creationists." This compilation by Campbell and Meyer should help outsiders explore ID and sort out the ongoing confusion.
Having read a good many books and articles for and against ID as a basis for comparison, I have a positive impression of the Campbell/Meyer book. It is more readable than some others that contain an equivalent amount of semi-technical information. Its message: Questions about Darwinian theory raised by ID should be taught in science classrooms to stimulate critical thinking about science, education, and religion. At the outset, rhetorician John Angus Campbell sets the tone in "Why Are We Still Debating Darwinism? Why Not Teach the Controversy?" He and philosopher Stephen Meyer both contribute to Part I, on aspects of the public school questions. Part II critiques the way evolution has been taught. Part III lets proponents make their case for ID as a scientific alternative. Part IV gives critics of ID their turn, beginning with a clear analysis of ID's shortcomings by rhetorician Celeste Michelle Condit. Philosopher Michael Ruse and others weigh in, but ID pioneer Phillip Johnson gets the final word. The book is published in a Michigan State University Press series on "Rhetoric and Public Affairs," a series focusing on how public figures have gotten their ideas across in historic controversies.
This book is comparable in size and arrangement to Robert Pennock's "Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics." Some essays in both books sound familiar, written by "the usual suspects" plus a few new voices. The chapters in both are amply documented. With one prejudicial word in the title of each book ("Darwinism" and "Creationism," respectively) hinting at its attitude toward ID, the two books seem almost mirror images of each other.
I am not entirely impartial about the Campbell/Meyer book, since I am named in it as one of several persons who contributed to its editing. Before becoming an editor I was a practicing biochemist (hence a "methodological naturalist" or "metaphysical minimalist," though also a Christian believer). I could see that many questions in biology (whether genuine mysteries or merely unsolved problems) were papered over with words bearing no empirical meaning. Lacking confirmed mechanical details, "Evolution did it" seemed as empty scientifically as "God did it." Thinking about ID has helped clarify that similarity for me while awaiting those details. Meanwhile, words are what rhetoric is all about. I hope I have chosen mine with sufficient care.

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly engaging analysis of "Teach the Controversy"
Review: When doing research on the Darwinism / Intelligent Design debate, a plethora of books and articles could be proposed as suggested reading. First-tier publications written by Behe, Dembski, Johnson, and Meyer are certainly required reading. Yet, ID theory is growing in research and contributors, so a sizeable number of second-tier (though certainly no less qualified) authors could be mentioned in a variety of fields: Gonzalez/Richards' "Privileged Planet" was an eye-opener, Hugh Ross/Fuz Rana's "Origins of Life", Geoffrey Simmons' "What Darwin Didn't Know", and Lee Strobel's "Case for a Creator" (among others).

So what makes this book so important? Quite simply, the authors address the sensitive issue of science education in public schools. Though general articles are included that highlight the case for both Darwinian Evolution and Intelligent Design, the thrust of the volume is meant to address several important questions:

1) Should evolution in schools be taught critically or dogmatically? Much time is spent on defining the different meanings of the term "evolution" as well as distinguishing between evolution as science and evolution as philosophy. It is revealed that presently, evolution is taught without any mention of the evidence against it or the distinction between evolutionary science and philosophy. Many textbook errors are pointed out with the revelation that corrections were not made even in the presence of historical knowledge of these errors. Furthermore, evolution is sometimes taught with its full philosophical implications, including Naturalism / Atheism.

2) Should alternatives to Darwinian Evolution (such as Intelligent Design) be allowed to be taught in public schools? They address the important distinction between Scientific Creationism and Intelligent Design Theory - the former which was derived from a Biblical teaching of creation, whereas the latter was derived from empirical observations and scientific analysis of data. Though they agree that the possible religious implications of Intelligent Design should not be advocated in schools, they point out that ID is not in conflict with science. Many viewpoints are given by many contributors ranging from the ID theorists who propose the "Teach the Controversy" model and those who advocate an Evolution-only model for education in schools.

Teaching criticism of Darwinian Evolution and correcting textbook errors is very persuasive, in my view. For too long, evolution has been taught dogmatically without distinction of several different meanings: (Change over time, Limited common decent, Universal Common Decent, Evolutionary mechanisms, and the "Blind Watchmaker" hypothesis). Students are taught all aspects of evolution as fact, yet it is quite clear that many aspects of evolution have negative evidence that is never mentioned. Students should be presented with the full view and taught to think critically.

While Intelligent Design theory may indeed be compatible with Chrisianity, one must learn to seperate the science from the worldview implications. Darwinian Evolution has often been said to neccesarily lead to atheism (Dawkins), yet we understand that this is simply a philosophical view that not all evolutionists would agree with. Opponents of ID cannot dismiss the theory on religious grounds. Nor can the argument be made that ID should not be taught in schools because it is relgiously motivated.

The reviewer who posted on June 3, 2004 has given an excellent overview of the book. While the majority of the book is written from the ID viewpoint (after all, it is edited by ID authors), there is ample room given for responses from evolutionists - as well as varying viewpoints on the education issue. The entire book is heavily endnoted and contains a great amount of material for research and analysis. I've been interested in the creation/evolution controversy since I was in high school, and the history is fascinating.

One could easily begin research on the controversy with this book, or read a few books by ID theorists and Darwinian Evolutionists prior to it. Either way, I highly recommend it.