DIY in July Best Books of the Month Shop Men's Sneakers Shop Men's Sneakers Shop Men's Learn more nav_sap_plcc_6M_fly_beacon Prime Day Sweepstakes ce_gno_flyout_2014 Momentum Fire TV Subscribe & Save Create an Amazon Wedding Registry Shop all Home Theater services TV Installation Home Network Installation Sound Bar Installation Shop all expendables expendables expendables Amazon Echo Amazon Echo All-New Kindle Paperwhite GNO Shop Cycling on Amazon STEM Toys & Games
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Buy Used
$0.01
+ $3.99 shipping
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by Full Paper Jacket
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Used but still in excellent shape. Clean pages and little wear.Great prices and great return policy! Best books around. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy (Frontiers of Philosophy) Paperback – March 1, 1996

by
Michael Ruse (Editor)
› Visit Amazon's Michael Ruse Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Michael Ruse (Editor)
13 customer reviews
See all 3 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover
"Please retry"
—
$90.19 $8.99
Paperback
"Please retry"
$16.49
$11.91 $4.91
Paperback, March 1, 1996
—
$4.82 $0.01
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Saturate
"Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life"
See more like this in Christian Books & Bibles.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Evolution and Religion: A Dialogue (New Dialogues in Philosophy)
    Michael Ruse
    3
    Paperback
    $21.00 Prime
  2. Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't
    Stephen Prothero
    139
    Paperback
    $13.28 Prime
  3. Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives
    Robert T. Pennock
    21
    Paperback
    $52.95 Prime
  4. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Hackett Classics)
    David Hume
    19
    Paperback
    $8.00 Prime
  5. Readings in Philosophy of Religion: Ancient to Contemporary
    Linda Zagzebski
    3
    Paperback
    $61.70 Prime
  6. Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem
    Massimo Pigliucci
    6
    Paperback
    $35.00 Prime
Next

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert T. Pennock (East Lansing, MI) is a professor at Michigan State University, holding joint positions in the Lyman Briggs School of Science, the department of philosophy and computer science and engineering, and the ecology and evolutionary biology and behavior graduate program. He is the author of Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism; the editor of Intelligent Design, Creationism, and Its Critics; and many scholarly articles.

Michael Ruse (Tallahassee, FL) is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University and the author or editor of The Stem Cell Controversy; Cloning: Responsible Science or Technomadness?; Taking Darwin Seriously; Philosophy of Biology; and But Is It Science?, among many other works. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Best Books of the Month
Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.

Product Details

  • Series: Frontiers of Philosophy
  • Paperback: 406 pages
  • Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1st edition (March 1, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1573920878
  • ISBN-13: 978-1573920872
  • Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,126,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Court Case Provides Framework For Evolution Essays
By Bucherwurm on February 3, 1999
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This book of readings on the evolution/creationism controversy is set within the framework of the important case of McLean vs. Arkansas that overthrew an "education equal time" law in Arkansas in 1982.
As one of the reviewers who actually read the book, I will say that it is quite worthwhile. The initial article that seemed to have given one exasperated reviewer such trouble was simply Bishop Paley's famous 1805 Blind Watchmaker argument for a creator as first cause. His inclusion of the eye as an example of argument from design is famous, and has stuck with the creationists ever since. Its inclusion in the book was important.
Included articles discuss the history and development of Darwinian theory, the essence of evolutionary and creationist mechanisms (Yes, there is a creationist article in the book, by Gish), and the philosophy of science surrounding both evolution in general, and, towards the book's end, an extensive philosophical analysis of the trial arguments. I found the discussions of the trial to be fascinating.
The sophistication and topics of the essays vary widely, and I would not recommend this book as an initial introduction for the layman. An excellent book to be read first or concurrently with "But Is It Science", would be "Abusing Science", by the noted philosopher of science, Phillip Kitcher. That book covers the basic mechanics and philosophy of evolutionist/creationist theory in any easy to understand, but reasonably thorough way.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
excellent, varied overview
By Zhimbo VINE VOICE on September 1, 1999
Format: Paperback
This is a very good starting point for anyone interested in either creation-evolution or issues in the philosophy of science. The final section - "The Philosophical Aftermath" - is pretty tough going for philopsophical neophytes, but the rest of the book has excellent background materials and lucid summaries of arguments and relevant philosophy. (Since it's a collection of materials from various sources, the quality and readability do vary - the opaqueness of the text an earlier reviewer implied really only applies to a few of the many essays and selections.)
The transcript of Ruse's trial testimony and his description of his involvement in the legal battle are among the best readings - concise, thorough, readable - available for clarifying why creationism is not science, and what it means to be "scientific".
2 Comments Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A point blank look at the Evolution vs. creation controversy
By A Customer on July 9, 1998
Format: Paperback
Although the content of this book requires a great deal of understanding of the arguments between both evolutionists and creationists, I found it to be very informative.Likewise, philosophy is a very difficult discipline to read and understand at times. Ruse deliver's arguments from both the evolutionists and creationists perspectives in their published form. Upon doing so, the reader is able to discriminate between those claims that are scientific and those that are "nonscientific". I highly reccomend this book to anyone researching "The Evolution vs. Creationism" debate.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Anthology of the Arguments
By A Customer on June 20, 2001
Format: Paperback
This is in effect an anthology of selected writings dealing with the science vs. creationism issue. The author starts with Bishop Paley's famous blind watchmaker argument for a creator and brings the arguments up to date. As other reviewers have noted, the quality of the reading depends in some cases on the original author. However, Ruse has done a good job of including a variety of styles and levels, and a complete reading should give you a good overview of the arguments over the years. This makes a good reference book or a good reader for someone trying to familiarize themselves with the controversy. The extensive philosophical analysis of the trial arguments are indeed fascinating.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Brief Review of the latest Ed., But Is It Science? . . .
By Paul O. Ricci on December 24, 2009
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Excellent book in general!

As a philosophy instructor emeritus,and with a special interest in the philosophy of science,I could easily relate to Part III: Intelligent Design Creationism and the Kitzmiller case. In that section, the articles by Pennock, Judge John Jones II, and Elliot Sober on why intelligent design creationsm is not science, were clear,detailed and fair. The book did allow the creationst point of view (Larry Laudan, Michael Behe, Philip Johnson, et.al.)so others could read and evaluate their positions.

The last chapter in Part III by Pennock touched on the old problem of demarcation between science and non-science(pseudo-science in particular) and on the conditions necessary and /or sufficient to distinguish between the two areas.

The book is pretty much the "bible" on the creation/evolution issue,at least regarding the legality of teaching some form of creationism in the public schools. I would highly recommend the book to anyone, especially creationists of various kinds.

P.O.R.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS (MANY BY RUSE) ON THE "BROADER" ISSUES
By Steven H Propp TOP 100 REVIEWER on May 1, 2013
Format: Paperback
Michael Ruse (born 1940) is a philosopher of science who teaches at Florida State University, and has written/edited books such as Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA, But Is It Science?, The Darwinian Revolution, The Evolution-Creation Struggle, Mystery of Mysteries, Darwinism and its Discontents, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1996 book, "since the creation/evolution clash is not finished, it seems worthwhile to go back over the key philosophical questions: But is it science? Is evolution science? Is creationism science? But if they are not science, what are they?... I have, therefore, tried to structure this collection with the broader issues in mind, Moreover, I have deliberately tried to let supporters of the most varied opinions have their say. Consequently, the collection is less a unified whole... and more a workbook." (Pg. 6-7) He includes excerpts from 19th century writings of William Paley, Charles Darwin, Adam Sedgwick, and T.H. Huxley, as well as recent writers such as Karl Popper, Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, Ronald L. Numbers, Duane Gish, etc.Read more ›
1 Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Most Recent Customer Reviews

School book and controversial ideas

Read this for class. Enjoyed the authors quite a bit as I agreed with their viewpoints for the most part. Fun time.

Published 12 months ago by Feiku
Baconian science, modern style

Although not published until 1996, "But Is It Science?" concerns primarily the Arkansas creationism court trial of 1982, and most of the papers were written around that time. Read more

Published on May 13, 2007 by Harry Eagar
The battle isn't over yet...

This book presents a nicely edited group of scientific writings, including the opening words of the book of Genesis. Read more

Published on September 21, 2006 by Barbara L. Lemaster
Simple world

Life is simple in the world of Michael Ruse

A:

1) Only true scientists are entitled to question evolution

2) Creationists are not true... Read more

Published on November 18, 2005 by Jonatas Machado
But is it ideology?

Even for a Darwin skeptic this is a useful collection of pieces dealing with Darwinism, and also includes material on Karl Popper, along with the philosopher of science Laudan on... Read more

Published on February 16, 2004 by John C. Landon
excellent, varied overview

This is a very good starting point for anyone interested in either creation-evolution or issues in the philosophy of science. Read more

Published on September 1, 1999
very incomprehensable

I was required to read this text for a philosophy of science course. I only read 3 pages and I attempted several times to read more but I would be left not knowing what I had just... Read more

Published on May 1, 1998

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.