Critique of Intelligent Design: Materialism versus Creationism from Antiquity to the Present [Paperback]

John Bellamy Foster (Author), Brett Clark (Author), Richard York (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 1, 2008

Is the Teaching of Evolution to Be Banned in U.S. Public Schools? Is Science Once More to be Burned on the Cross? Will Creationism Win the 2,500 Year War with Materialism and Reason?

A critique of religious dogma historically provides the basis for rational inquiry into the physical and social world. Critique of Intelligent Design is a key to understanding the forces of irrationalism challenging the teaching of evolution in U.S. public schools and seeking to undermine the natural and social sciences. It illuminates the 2,500 year evolution of the materialist critique—the explanation of the world in terms of itself— from antiquity to the present through engaging the work of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Lucretius, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, David Hume, William Paley, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, and numerous others (including contemporary advocates of 'intelligent design').

Proponents of intelligent design—creationism in a more subtle guise—have recently reignited the age-old war between materialism and creationism, in which they claim to elevate their doctrine to empirical truth and thus incorporate it into science curricula. They attack modern science, advancing a pseudo-scientific view and a reactionary political culture in line with their theology and what they perceive as a knowable moral order. They single out for criticism the greatest modern representatives of materialist-scientific thought: Darwin, Marx, and Freud.

Critique of Intelligent Design is a direct reply to the criticisms of intelligent design proponents and a compelling account of the long debate between materialism and religion in the West. It provides an overview of the contemporary fight concerning nature, science, history, morality, and knowledge. Separate chapters are devoted to the design debate in antiquity, the Enlightenment and natural theology, Marx, Darwin, and Freud, and to current scientific debates over evolution and design. It offers empowering tools to understand and defend critical and scientific reasoning in both the natural and social sciences and society as a whole.

Editorial Reviews

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About the Author

John Bellamy Foster is editor of Monthly Review. He is professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and author of The Ecological Revolution, The Great Financial Crisis (with Fred Magdoff), Critique of Intelligent Design (with Brett Clark and Richard York), Ecology Against Capitalism, Marx’s Ecology, and The Vulnerable Planet.

Brett Clark assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. He is co-author (with John Bellamy Foster and Richard York) of Critique of Intelligent Design.

Richard York is associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon. He is co-editor of the journal Organization & Environment and co-author (with John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark) of Critique of Intelligent Design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Monthly Review Press (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583671730
• ISBN-13: 978-1583671733
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No gods, no masters October 31, 2008

By Philo of Cascadia

Format:Paperback

Critique of Intelligent Design: Materialism versus Creationism from Antiquity to the Present, written by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York, summarizes coherently and forcefully the power of materialism and evolutionary theory for explaining the magnificent complexity of self-organizing nature. The authors trace the history of materialism, its relevance for a scientific understanding of the world, and the radical conception of human freedom that it implies. Most importantly, Critique details the arguments of the present day opponents of materialism: the intelligent design movement, a group of well-funded, conservative fundamentalists with a hierarchical, teleological, and religious agenda for the world.

Up to the challenge, the authors of Critique show us how intelligent design is not the open-minded skepticism that proponents claim it to be, but is instead a wedge strategy intended to displace secularism with theology (indeed, to bring about a cultural theocracy). Particularly chilling is the book's discussion of the Discovery Institute, the main think tank behind the intelligent design movement. Spelling out the religious commitments of the Institute's founders, and exposing the pseudo-science of its philosophical arguments, Critique of Intelligent Design makes it crystal clear that intelligent design is not a scientific theory at all but instead is a return to the creationism and natural theology of earlier days, if only in more sophisticated guise.

For those of you looking for a resource to use in your own discussions on these issues I suggest that you read this book as soon as possible, especially chapters eight and nine, which give a positive alternative to the negative 'design by inference' arguments and attacks on evolutionary theory favored by intelligent design advocates. Drawing on structural biology, historical materialism, and the Epicurean tradition, the authors outline a rigorous and up to date scientific framework for refuting the arguments of these neo-creationists and thereby keeping their theological designs out of science education.

In contrast to the otherworldly speculation of intelligent design, the materialist conception of history and nature gives rise to an empirical curiosity, a desire to relate to the natural world and potentially to each other through an ethic of friendship. This means, as the authors remind us, that a critique of heaven is incomplete without a critique of earth. Overcoming superstition and fear of the gods is but the first step towards transforming the earthly relations that give rise to such alienation. In its revolutionary implications, Critique of Intelligent Design continues in that long-standing tradition of subversion in the service of human freedom that has inspired some of the best scientific minds in history.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncompromising defense of rationality over superstition January 17, 2009

By Malvin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Critique of Intelligent Design" by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York presents an outstanding intellectual history of the materialist critique of creationism, spanning from nearly 2,500 years ago to the present day. The impressive collaboration, combining the talents of three professors from leading U.S. universities, results in a tightly argued, persuasive and liberating book. In a succinct but precise manner, the authors offer us a fascinating and important perspective on the development of the Western mind; importantly, the book is no less uncompromising in its defense of rationality over superstition.

The authors begin by comparing and contrasting the current debate over intelligent design with the Scopes Trial of 1925, finding both events to be spurred by reactionary religious fundamentalists who sought to push back against recent gains made by science on the public consciousness. Interestingly, the authors trace the apostasy of materialism back to Epicurus, who is credited with making the first significant contribution to founding a materialist philosophy in ancient Greece; Epicurus' groundbreaking work subsequently provided inspiration to a long line of progressive thinkers including Marx, Darwin and Freud who are each discussed at length. By deconstructing the discourse between the materialists and the fundamentalists over the centuries, we come to understand that the heart of the matter is a desire to control human consciousness: on the one hand, in service to a religion that typically affirms the status quo; and on the other hand, of a materialism that tends to embrace human agency, ingenuity and freedom.

On this point, the authors suggest that if science and reason pose a revolutionary challenge to the social order, then organized religion has routinely engaged in counterrevolutionary strategies; this has included the enlistment of pseudo-intellectual believers whose task has generally been to confuse and obfuscate, thereby hoping to create the unknowable space necessary for religion to survive. Such noteworthy proponents of religious ideology have included William Paley, C S Lewis and Michael Behe, to name just a few. The authors help us understand the specific issues that have obssessed such defenders of religion at different moments in time, allowing us to gain deep insight and perspective on the matter.

Ultimately, the reader gains the insight that if humanity wishes to evolve and live in peace with each other and in harmony with the planet, ignorance must give way to rationality; we can not allow the illusion that is religion to impede humanity's moral responsibility to care for society and nature. To that end, this important book arms us with the knowledge we need to champion the way forward.

I highly recommend this enlightening book to everyone.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect timing to read this book! November 23, 2008

By Rebecca J. Clausen

Format:Paperback

What a perfect time to read this book. Critique of Intelligent Design: Materialism versus Creationism From Antiquity to the Present, by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York provides the informative guide needed to understand the latest attacks on reason and human freedom. The past few months of US political wrangling have left many of us bewildered -- candidates claiming divine intervention on behalf of their campaign, preachers taking the spotlight in political discourse, a rhetoric of faith surpassing real initiatives for change. What's going on?

At first glance it may seem that we have entered a new era of cultural confrontation in the political realm. To truly understand where these arguments are coming from, however, we must move beyond the focus on personal religious beliefs and recognize the historical context in which the debate between creationism and materialism arose. Critique of Intelligent Design provides this essential analysis needed for informed discussion and potential social action.

The authors' collaborative work demonstrates an impressive breadth and depth of analysis. Their examination moves from the philosophical roots of materialism to its application among Enlightenment thinkers. They conclude with contemporary developments in the natural and social sciences that refute the arguments used to buttress intelligent design. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate how intelligent design is simply old wine in a new bottle. Although the labels may change, the contents will still leave a disenfranchised public drunk in deception that some outside force controls our destiny and that of the natural world upon which we depend. In an attempt to reclaim human freedom and the beauty of an unpredictable and contingent world, the authors remind us that "just as we make our own history - as Marx claimed - nature makes her own history as well (p 180)."

There couldn't be a better time to understand the critique of intelligent design or the defense of human freedom. Read this book, and share its insights with all of those around you.