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Michael Ruse
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Robert T. Pennock
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But Is It Science? The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy, Updated Edition Paperback – January 8, 2009

by Robert T. Pennock (Editor), Michael Ruse (Editor)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
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On December 20, 2005, a U.S. 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. This outstanding overview of an important contemporary debate shows that philosophy has a vital role to play in major decisions affecting education and interpretations of science and religion.
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  1. Print length
    577 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Prometheus
  4. Publication date
    January 8, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1591025826
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1591025825
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Ruse is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University.As a prominent philosopher of science, he is well known for his work on the relationship between science and religion, the creation-evolution controversy and the demarcation problem within science. He has published over 25 books: most recently, Reflections on the Origin of Species, with David Reznick (Princeton UP, 2008); Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science (Cambridge UP, 2010); and Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford UP, 2015).

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus; Updated ed. edition (January 8, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 577 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591025826
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591025825
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

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  1. Michael Ruse

    Michael Ruse

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  2. Robert T. Pennock

    Robert T. Pennock

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    ROBERT T. PENNOCK is University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, where he is on the faculty of Lyman Briggs College, the Departments of Philosophy and Computer Science & Engineering, and the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior program.

    His research involves empirical and philosophical questions that relate to evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and the scientific character, such as the evolution of altruism, complexity, and intelligence. His interdisciplinary philosophy of science work aims to help improve public understanding of science, to foster science ethics, and to advance STEM education nationally. He is a PI of the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action and the Scientific Virtues Project. A national leader in evolution education, he was an expert witness in the historic Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board Intelligent Design creationism case, and he develops software and curricula to help students learn about evolution and the nature of science using digital organisms.

    In recognition of his education and public outreach work, Pennock was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Sigma Xi National Distinguished Lecturer, and a National Associate of the National Academies of Science, and has received a number of awards, including the National Center for Science Education’s Friend of Darwin Award and the American Institute of Biological Sciences Outstanding Service Award.

    The author of over a hundred articles in philosophy, science, and education, his book Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. His latest book is An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and the Moral Structure of Science. For more information, see https://msu.edu/~pennock5/.

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Paul O. Ricci
5.0 out of 5 stars Brief Review of the latest Ed., But Is It Science? . . .
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2009
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.
3 people found this helpful
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Feiku
5.0 out of 5 stars School book and controversial ideas
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
Read this for class. Enjoyed the authors quite a bit as I agreed with their viewpoints for the most part. Fun time.
One person found this helpful
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Bucherwurm
4.0 out of 5 stars Court Case Provides Framework For Evolution Essays
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 1999
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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.
44 people found this helpful
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Harry Eagar
3.0 out of 5 stars Baconian science, modern style
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2007
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. By coming out as early as 1996, the book also misses the novelty, if any, of the claims of "intelligent design."

Thus falling between two stools as far as pertinence to public controversy goes, the book remains a useful history and guide to the attempts of Christian bigots to dress Genesis literalism (actually, faux-literalism) as science.

Most of the information here is available elsewhere, but the first sections, in which Ruse recounts his participation as a witness for the orthodox Christians and scientists who challenged the Monkey statute, is distinctive. (It should be recalled that the Institute for Creation Research is pretty far outside mainstream American Christianity, on theological grounds.)

It is also the best part of the book, leading up to Judge Overton's decision that creation-science is religion, is not science and cannot be taught in public schools. So far, so good. Overton's decision is reprinted in full.

Since Ruse is a philosopher of science, the essays also delve into the philosophy of science as it is applied to biology, both as it was argued in court and its status generally.

These sections are less satisfactory. Ruse was sharply attacked by two other philosophers of science, Larry Laudan and Philip Quinn, for having incorrectly defined science. That may be, although Laudan and Quinn do rather worse, failing to detect the difference between science and scientism -- they seem to think that because creationists dress up their theory as falsifiable and testable, that makes it "science" within the meaning of the act and of the philosophy.

This is just silly. The flat-earth theory is as falsifiable and testable as creationism, but no one mistakes it for a branch of science, because it has been thoroughly defeated. So has creationism. The refusal of religious bigots to acknowledge its defeat empirically ought to count for something. If they wish to maintain their opinion in the teeth of the evidence, as Pascal recommended, by preferring faith in the unseen to what they see with their own eyes, that's fine; but they should have the decency not to simultaneously claim scientific standing for their notions.

It is the attempt to have things both ways that grates on fair-minded people.

This confusion among leading philosophers of science helps explain why so many working scientists pay no attention to grand philosophical theories about what science is. Quinn says "philosophy of science contributed nothing" to the effectiveness of Overton's decision, which is largely true, though not for the reason he thinks.

To the extent that the arguments in the first part of the book are good, they apply equally to "intelligent design." ID is lipstick applied to the snout of the creationist pig, but it's the same old pig.

Ruse concludes with a plea for science-minded people to read creationist (nowadays, intelligent design) literature. This is excellent advice. The full flavor of the antiscientific nature of the pig really cannot be appreciated second-hand. Scientific critiques of creationism, no matter how fervent or well conducted, are to creationism as soy protein is to real bacon.
3 people found this helpful
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John C. Landon
4.0 out of 5 stars But is it ideology?
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2004
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 Judge Overton. The essays by Laudan and Popper are a reminder that when you actually check the particulars of evolutionary theory things don't really add up. Popper clearly pointed to the problem. But given the ideological fixation, and the infrastruture of sophistries to back that up, mere epistemological difficulties don't even register on the reality meter, long since switched off by Darwinists.
6 people found this helpful
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Barbara LeMaster
4.0 out of 5 stars The battle isn't over yet...
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2006
This book presents a nicely edited group of scientific writings, including the opening words of the book of Genesis. I did find Michael Ruse's writings on evolution to be a bit simplistic compared to Richard Dawkins, but the book stands as a good primer on the evolution versus creationism debates.
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