Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives

by Robert T. Pennock

Overview

The last decade saw the arrival of a new player in the creation/evolution debate—the intelligent design creationism (IDC) movement, whose strategy is to act as "the wedge" to overturn Darwinism and scientific naturalism. This anthology of writings by prominent creationists and their critics focuses on what is novel about the new movement. It serves as a companion to Robert Pennock's Tower of Babel, in which he criticizes the wedge movement, as well as other new varieties of creationism. The book contains articles previously published in specialized, hard-to-find journals, as well as new contributions. Each section contains introductory background information, articles by influential creationists and their critics, and in some cases responses by the creationists. The discussions cover IDC as a political movement, IDC's philosophical attack on evolution, the theological debate over the apparent conflict between evolution and the Bible, IDC's scientific claims, and philosopher Alvin Plantinga's critique of naturalism and evolution. The book concludes with Pennock's "Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in the Public Schools."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262661249
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	12/21/2001
Series:	Bradford Books Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	825
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert T. Pennock is University Distinguished Professor of History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science at Michigan State University in the Lyman Briggs College and the Departments of Philosophy and Computer Science and Engineering. He is the author of Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism (MIT Press).

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Contributors	xvii
I	Intelligent Design Creationism's "Wedge Strategy"	1
1	The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream	5
II	Johnson's Critique of Evolutionary Naturalism	55
2	Evolution as Dogma: The Establishment of Naturalism	59
3	Naturalism, Evidence, and Creationism: The Case of Phillip Johnson	77
4	Response to Pennock	99
5	Reply: Johnson's Reason in the Balance	103
III	A Theological Conflict? Evolution vs. the Bible	109
6	When Faith and Reason Clash: Evolution and the Bible	113
7	When Faith and Reason Cooperate	147
8	Plantinga's Defense of Special Creation	165
9	Evolution, Neutrality, and Antecedent Probability: A Reply to McMullin and Van Till	197
IV	Intelligent Design's Scientific Claims	237
10	Molecular Machines: Experimental Support for the Design Inference	241
11	Born-Again Creationism	257
12	Biology Remystified: The Scientific Claims of the New Creationists	289
V	Plantinga's Critique of Naturalism and Evolution	335
13	Methodological Naturalism?	339
14	Methodological Naturalism under Attack	363
15	Plantinga's Case against Naturalistic Epistemology	387
16	Plantinga's Probability Arguments against Evolutionary Naturalism	411
VI	Intelligent Design Creationism vs. Theistic Evolutionism	429
17	Creator or Blind Watchmaker?	435
18	Phillip Johnson on Trial: A Critique of His Critique of Darwin	451
19	Welcoming the "Disguised Friend"--Darwinism and Divinity	471
20	The Creation: Intelligently Designed or Optimally Equipped?	487
21	Is Theism Compatible with Evolution?	513
VII	Intelligent Design and Information	537
22	Is Genetic Information Irreducible?	543
23	Reply to Philip Johnson	549
24	Reply to Johnson	551
25	Intelligent Design as a Theory of Information	553
26	Information and the Argument from Design	575
27	How Not to Detect Design--Critical Notice: William A. Dembski, The Design Inference	597
28	The "Information Challenge"	617
VIII	Intelligent Design Theorists Turn the Tables	633
29	Who's Got the Magic?	639
30	The Wizards of ID: Reply to Dembski	645
31	The Panda's Thumb	669
32	The Role of Theology in Current Evolutionary Reasoning	677
33	Appealing to Ignorance Behind the Cloak of Ambiguity	705
34	Nonoverlapping Magisteria	737
IX	Creationism and Education	751
35	Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in the Public Schools	755
36	Creation and Evolution: A Modest Proposal	779
37	Reply to Plantinga's "Modest Proposal"	793
	Index	799

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This book is a terrific one-volume summary of the scientific, philosophical and theological issues." Scientific American

The MIT Press

Editorial Reviews

This book is a terrific one-volume summary of the scientific, philosophical and theological issues.—Scientific American—

From the Publisher