Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference
A session from a 1992 symposium called Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference, recorded by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics, featuring Michael Ruse and Stephen Meyer.
Randomness by Design
Darwin On Trial
Darwin on Trial was responsible for alerting many among the public and in the scientific community to the deficiencies of Darwinism. UC Berkeley Law Professor and Program Advisor for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, Phillip E. Johnson applies his skills as an analyzer of evidence to ask if Darwin’s theory holds up to scrutiny. Johnson begins by recognizing Read More ›
Conflating Matter and Mind
I’ve been asked to respond to criticisms of my paper “Converting Matter into Mind” (PSCS, Dec 90). My reaction to these criticisms is this: “Yes, I could have been more careful in some details and choice of terminology, but the substance of my position is unaffected.” The critics were guilty of two faults. First was a failure to read my Read More ›
Darwinism and the Argument to Design
The controversy between Christianity and Darwinism involves a number of complex issues. One of these is a conflict over design. According to the received view, the root of the conflict is that Darwinism undermines the argument that God’s existence can be proved from design in living things. It seems to me that there is a basic conflict between Christianity and Read More ›
Inventing the Flat Earth
Neither Christopher Columbus nor his contemporaries thought the earth was flat. Yet this curious illusion persists today, firmly established with the help of the media, textbooks, teachers ― even noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earthis Russell’s attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages, examining what Columbus and his contemporaries actually Read More ›
Converting Matter into Mind
Introduction In the Foundations of Cognitive Science Herbert Simon and Craig Kaplan offer the following definition: Cognitive science is the study of intelligence and intelligent systems, with particular reference to intelligent behavior as computation. Since this definition hinges on the dual notions of intelligence and computation, it remains scientifically unobjectionable so long as one declines to prejudge the relation between Read More ›
Bush, Mulroney Should Embrace Thatcher
Just six months ago on the eve of her 10th anniversary in office British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seemed invincible. Today she looks politically vulnerable and there is something that Mr. Bush and Mr. Mulroney of Canada could — and should — do to help. Mrs. Thatcher’s political isolation has come about in part because of her dispute with European Read More ›
Teaching the Controversy
The Natural Limits to Biological Change
This study is a careful and refreshing evaluation of the long-held views of Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism and the views of those who consider “punctuated equilibrium” to be the best explanation of the existing world of living beings. Darwinists and Neo-Darwinists hold that organisms are able to respond to only minor fluctuations in their environment. This view has come under increasing Read More ›
Yellow & Pink
On a fine day, a thin yellow puppet and a round, pink puppet sit in the sun. They wonder where they came from. Were they an accident of nature, brought about by a series of possible but improbable events? Did someone create them? They discuss their theories, and think they may have an answer. But just as they settle on Read More ›