But Is It Science? The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy, Updated Edition [Paperback]

Robert T. Pennock (Editor), Michael Ruse (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 2009

On December 20, 2005, a US district court in Dover, Pennsylvania, ruled in Kitzmiller et al v Dover Area School Board that teaching Intelligent Design in public school biology classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The judge explained that Intelligent Design is not science and 'cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents'. This case was just the latest attempt by proponents of Intelligent Design or Creationism to undermine the teaching of evolution in high school biology classes. The emotionally charged controversy, which has been going on since the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species", shows no sign of letting up. This excellent collection, now fully updated, will inform readers about the history of the debate and bring philosophical clarity to the complex arguments on both sides. The editors, both of whom served as expert witnesses in two different court cases, start by chronicling the heated discussion that surrounded the publication of Darwin's famous work. In the next part, they present articles that explicate modern evolutionary theory, including philosophical critiques by Karl Popper and others. The selections that follow discuss so-called Creation Science, focusing in particular on the 1981 McLean court case in Arkansas. In the final section, the philosophical issues surrounding the distinction between religion and science in the most recent Kitzmiller case are considered.

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 577 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; Updated edition (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591025826
• ISBN-13: 978-1591025825
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #818,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Court Case Provides Framework For Evolution Essays, February 3, 1999

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Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy (Frontiers of Philosophy) (Paperback)

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.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, varied overview, September 1, 1999

By 

Zhimbo "zhimbo" (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy (Frontiers of Philosophy) (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".

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A point blank look at the Evolution vs. creation controversy, July 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy (Frontiers of Philosophy) (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.