Doubting Darwin: Creationist Designs on Evolution

✍ Scribed by Sahotra Sakar

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 232
• Series: Blackwell Public Philosophy Series
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Noted biologist and philosopher Sahotra Sarkar exposes the frauds and fallacies of Intelligent Design Theory, and its claim to be ‘good science’.

• A scientific and philosophical exploration of the debate between evolutionary theory and Intelligent Design in the classroom
• Puts the debate into its scientific and historical context
• Looks at a variety of topics, including the relation between Darwinism and modern evolutionary theory, the use of computer science and information theory by the creationists, and the idea of metaphysical naturalism
• Rejects Intelligent Design’s claim to legitimacy, showing clearly how and why it is an unsuitable alternative to evolutionary biology in the classroom
• A thought-provoking book for those seeking to understand an intellectual debate that is shaping our education policies
• Forms part of the provocative and timely Blackwell Public Philosophy series

✦ Table of Contents

Figures......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 17
1 Introduction......Page 19
The Central Argument......Page 20
The Evidence for Evolution......Page 23
Rejecting Theories......Page 28
Plan of the Book......Page 36
2 The Legacy of Darwin and Wallace......Page 39
The Theory of Natural Selection......Page 40
“Absurd in the Highest Possible Degree”......Page 42
Darwin’s Unfortunate Retreat......Page 45
Wallace and Weismann......Page 48
The Decline of Darwinism......Page 51
Mind and Culture......Page 52
Contemporary Implications......Page 55
Adaptation and Design......Page 57
Function, Design, and Selection......Page 60
Blind Variation......Page 66
Dembski’s Resurrection......Page 68
Mendel’s Legacy......Page 77
The Modern Framework for Evolutionary Theory......Page 79
Selectionism and Neutralism......Page 83
Reconstructing the Past 26......Page 85
Contemporary Debates......Page 87
Terminological Choices......Page 95
5 The Cost of Lunch......Page 97
Evolutionary Algorithms......Page 98
The “No Free Lunch” Theorems......Page 100
Dembski’s Excitement......Page 102
Utter Irrelevance......Page 104
Adaptationism......Page 108
Final Assessment......Page 110
6 Complexity is Complicated......Page 113
Irreducible Complexity?......Page 114
Pathways to ICSs......Page 117
The Citric Acid Cycle......Page 122
The Blood Clotting System......Page 125
The Bacterial Flagellum......Page 129
Protein Evolution......Page 131
Irreducibility and Design......Page 133
7 Questions of Information......Page 135
What is Biological Information?......Page 136
Information and Evolution......Page 138
Specified Complexity......Page 140
The Law of Conservation of Information......Page 144
The Cambrian “Explosion”......Page 146
Taking Leave of Creation Biology......Page 148
8 Cosmic Coincidences......Page 149
Physics and Biology......Page 150
Anthropic Principles?......Page 151
The Force of Improbability......Page 154
A Cosmological Design Argument......Page 156
Is Fine-Tuning Surprising?......Page 157
A Concluding Note......Page 158
What Naturalism Is......Page 159
Nagel’s Legacy......Page 161
The Problem of Normativity......Page 164
Creationist Critiques......Page 165
Metaphysical Naturalism......Page 169
10 Conclusions......Page 173
Critiques of Evolutionary Theory......Page 174
Is ID Science?......Page 178
Back to the Classroom......Page 181
Notes......Page 185
References......Page 209
Index......Page 227