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Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism
 
 
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Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism (Paperback)

~ (Author) "With such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that thus I should have influenced to a considerable extent the beliefs of scientific..." (more)
Key Phrases: tautology objection, irreducible randomness, crossopterygian fishes, Flood Geology, South America, Henry Morris (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review



"A marvelously lucid summary of the evidence for evolution and the overwhelming case against its enemies.... As a philosopher concerned with the way science operates, Kitcher is good at showing how creationists distort Karl Popper's views on scientific method, and how they misuse such books as Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He is equally skillful at showing how creationists persist in quoting out of context Stephen Jay Gould and other 'punctuation ists'.... "
- Martin Gardner, Discover



"Such outfits as the Moral Majority and the Institute for Creation Research seem to have inherited the hot air waves, if not the wind. And this has alarmed Philip Kitcher, a philosopher of science at the University of Vermont, enough to give us this thoughtful and witty attack on 'scientific creationism'.... Dr. Kitcher has mixed a great deal of cold logic and history into his case, thereby creating a book that is as valuable as it is fun to read for scientists and nonscientists alike."
- James P. Sterba, The New York Times



"With his book, Abusing Science, Kitcher ... takes his place beside such eloquent champions of Darwin's theory as Thomas Huxley and Clarence Darrow."
- Jill Sapinsley Mooney, San Francisco Chronicle


Product Description

Abusing Science is a manual for intellectual self-defense, the most complete available for presenting the case against Creationist pseudo-science. It is also a lucid exposition of the nature and methods of genuine science. The book begins with a concise introduction to evolutionary theory for non-scientists and closes with a rebuttal of the charge that this theory undermines religious and moral values. It will astonish many readers that this case must still be made in the 1980s, but since it must, Philip Kitcher makes it irresistibly and forcefully.

Not long ago, a federal court struck down an Arkansas law requiring that "scientific" Creationism be taught in high school science classes. Contemporary Creationists may have lost one legal battle, but their cause continues to thrive. Their efforts are directed not only at state legislatures but at local school boards and textbook publishers. As Kitcher argues in this rigorous but highly readable book, the integrity of science is under attack. The methods of inquiry used in evolutionary biology are those which are used throughout the sciences. Moreover, modern biology is intertwined with other fields of science--physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology. Creationists hope to persuade the public that education in science should be torn apart to make room for a literal reading of Genesis.

Abusing Science refutes the popular complaint that the scientific establishment is dogmatic and intolerant, denying "academic freedom" to the unorthodox. It examines Creationist claims seriously and systematically, one by one, showing clearly just why they are at best misguided, at worst ludicrous.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 213 pages
  • Publisher: The MIT Press (June 23, 1983)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 026261037X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0262610377
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #534,226 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

31 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Still The Finest Book Criticizing 'Scientific' Creationism, September 24, 2001
By John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Philip Kitcher's seminal work critical of "Scientific" Creationism remains a clarion call against those who continue abusing science to fit their own zealous religious agenda. Kitcher goes beyond making a point by point defense of evolutionary biology - indeed, all of science - and a total refutation of creationism. He makes a persuasive case why "Scientific Creationism" isn't good science. For example he observes how distinguished 19th Century geologists such as Adam Sedgwick discarded their creationist view of geology, realizing that it was outmoded, invalid science not supported by empirical evidence. Kitcher gives a succinct description of how scientists embark on their research, demonstrating how "Scientific Creationism" falls short of the ideals of excellent science. Kitcher successfully notes why those who argue equal time for "Evolution Science" and "Creation Science" in high school science education are misguided, devious, or both. Last, but not least, Kitcher demonstrates the religious origins of "Scientific Creationism". This is indeed an important primer on how to think rationally, answering at length all criticisms of contermporary science by so-called "scientific" creationists. First published in the 1980's, "Abusing Science" remains an important tome in the history and philosophy of science deserving of a broad readership.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Doing battle with the hydra of creationism, May 11, 2000
By Conrad Knauer (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The scary thing which one realizes as you read through this book is that even 15+ years after it was published, it is still as necessary; the hydra of creationism does not die easily. As someone with a keen interest in science, I found it to be quite informative and well written. A quote from pages 137 and 138 will serve as a good example of the book's overall message:

"If one wants to believe in Creationism, the picture can easily lull critical faculties. Yet, if we think about it, it is bizarre. Surely we should not imagine the Creator contemplating a wingless bat, recognizing that it would be defective, and so equipping it with the wings it needs. Rather, if we take the idea of a single creative event seriously, we must view it as the origination of an entire system of kinds of organisms, whose needs themselves arise in large measure from the character of the system. Why were bats created at all? Why were any defenses against predation needed? Why did the Creator form this system of organisms, with their interrelated needs, needs that are met in such diverse and complicated ways?

Invocation of the word "design," or the passing reference to the satisfaction of "need," explains nothing. The needs are not given in advance of the design structures to accomodate them, but are themselves encompassed in the design. Nor do we achieve any understanding of the adaptations and relationships of organisms until we see, at least in outline, what the Grand Plan of Creation might have been. This point has been clear at least since the seventeenth century. At the beginning of the Discourse on Metaphysics, Leibniz gave a beautiful exposition of it. He recognized that unless there are independent criteria of design, then praise of the Creator's design is worthless: "In saying, therefore, that things are not good according to any standard of goodness, but simply by the will of God, it seems to me that one destroys, without realizing it, all the love of God and all his glory, for why praise him for what he has done, if he would be equally praiseworthy in doing the contrary?" (Discourse on Metaphysics; G. F. W. Leibniz; 1686) For Leibniz, to invoke "design" without saying what counts as good design is not only vacuous but blasphemous. Later in the same work, Leibniz developed the theme with a striking analogy. Any world can be conceived as regular ("designed") just as any array of points can be joined by a curve with some algebraic formula.

[...] So we encounter the strategy exemplified by Morris: Talk generally about design, pattern, purpose, and beauty in nature. There are many examples of adaptations that can be used - the wings of bats or "the amazing circulatory system," for example. But what happens if we press some more difficult cases? Well, if there seems to be no design or purpose to a feature (and its presence cannot be understood as a modification of ancestral characters), one can always point out that some parts of the Creator's plan may be too vast for human understanding. We do not see what the design is, but there is design, nonetheless.

Since no plan of design has been specified, Creationists have available another all-purpose escape clause. But it is precisely this feature of Creation "science" that impugns its scientific credentials. To mumble that "the ways of the Creator are many and mysterious" may excuse one from identifying design in unlikely places. It is not to do science."

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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Needs an updated edition, June 14, 2002
By Chris Wiswell (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Kitcher does an excellent job with providing a general defense of Darwinism and rebuttal to the "scientific" arguments of creationists, and the book is a good read in that light. Sections on the age of the earth, a rebuttal to "flood geology", the "academic freedom (why not present every silly idea in class?)," and the "whys" of animal traits are particularly good.

Written in 1982, this is a fine rebuttal to creation theories which were popular at the time- those of Morris, Gish, and Wysong. Creationists have switched to a new set of sheep's clothing, however, under the intelligent design movement.

This is not to say that any of the "intelligent designers" (with the possible exception of Micheal Behe) have anything new to say- their defense of intelligent design is still nothing but an attack on Darwinism, but their names are popular and the fact that they aren't addressed here will look like an omission if you don't look at the publication date.

Read this book if you have been pondering creationism based on the claims of intelligent sounding people and want to hear a lucid direct response to those people.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic but Outdated work still worth Reading
Philip Kitcher's "Abusing Science" is one of the classic works in the evolution/creationism debate. Now outdated, having been first published in 1982, it remains a fundamental... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Roger D. Launius

4.0 out of 5 stars a 1 for the first half, a 5 for the second half
In Chapter 1, the author delves into a discussion on genes and chromosomes which is too technical for me. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Robertson Thomas

4.0 out of 5 stars a 1 for the first half, a 5 for the second half
In Chapter 1, the author delves into a discussion on genes and chromosomes which is too technical for me. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Robertson Thomas

4.0 out of 5 stars Good incites on Evolution and Creationism
In this book Kitcher does a good job of not only showing the bad side of Scientific Creationism, but the good side of Evolution as well. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Cody E. Johansen

1.0 out of 5 stars Who is abusing science?
This guy is out of touch. Hadrosaur bones were found on the Colville River north of Umiat on the North Slope of Alaska. The hadrosaur bones were collected in 1961 by R. Read more
Published 21 months ago by GangstaLawya

3.0 out of 5 stars see Kitcher's new book
A recent review by Claudio d'Amato correctly points out that Abusing Science is somewhat obsolescent - it was indeed written 25 years ago so 3 stars is plenty. Read more
Published on August 27, 2007 by George O. Mackie

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Refutation of Classic Creationism
"Abusing Science" is a simple, straightforward, and yet deep and lucid work. Kitcher is a philosopher of science, and philosophers have the unfortunate tradition of being bad... Read more
Published on May 31, 2007 by Claudio D'Amato

5.0 out of 5 stars A stellar piece of work!
This book is an absolute must have for the science teacher. The creationists rely on the open mind of most teachers to obfuscate and confuse with half-truths and outright... Read more
Published on April 3, 2004 by Mister C

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Info on Creationist Irrationality
This book does exactly what it sets out to do: further reveal creationism as myth. It is not the job of science to make facts intertwine with scripture, facts will stand on their... Read more
Published on November 15, 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't cut the mustard


Strong on research and defense of previously-established evolutionary theories, but fails to prove that life evolved out of still matter. Read more

Published on August 15, 2002 by Jeremiah J. Timmins

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