Critique of intelligent design: materialism versus creationism from antiquity to the present

Critique of Intelligent Design is a direct reply to the criticisms of intelligent design proponents and a compelling account of the long debate between materialism and religion in the West. It provides an overview of the contemporary fight concerning nature, science, history, morality, and knowledge. Separate chapters are devoted to the design debate in antiquity, the Enlightenment and natural theology, Marx, Darwin, and Freud, and to current scientific debates over evolution and design. It offers empowering tools to understand and defend critical and scientific reasoning in both the natural and social sciences and society as a whole.

In Creationism's Trojan Horse, Forrest and Gross examine in full detail the claims and operations of the "Intelligent Design" movement, the most recent manifestation of American creationism.Explaining and analyzing what "design theorists" call their "Wedge Strategy," they document the Wedge's aggressive political and public relations campaign.

Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism Edited by Matt Young and Taner Edis
Why Intelligent Design Fails assembles a team of physicists, biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and archaeologists to examine intelligent design from a scientific perspective.They consistently find grandiose claims without merit.

Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction by Eugenie C. Scott
Evolution vs. Creationism provides a comprehensive and balanced survey of the battle currently underway in the science classroom.Written by one of the leading advocates for the teaching of evolution in the United States, this accessible resource provides an introduction to the many facets of the current debatethe scientific evidence for evolution, the legal and educational basis for its teaching, the various religious points of view-as well as a concise history of the evolution-creationism controversy.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 Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins
The title of this 1986 work refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists.Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way… it is the blind watchmaker."

Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism by Philip Kitcher
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.

Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism by Robert T. Pennock
The leading proponents of "intelligent design theory" have left the ranting flat-earth types behind and found respected positions in the academic world from which to launch attacks on mainstream science.Philosopher of science Robert T. Pennock has explored all sides of the ongoing debate, which remains more about biblical inerrancy than scientific evidence.His book Tower of Babel examines the new directions antievolutionists have taken lately, but goes beyond a mere recounting of recent history by proposing a new avenue of counterattack: linguistics.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel C. Dennett
One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution.Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed.Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable.

Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences
An excellent overview of the evolution/creationism debate as well as the process and methodologies of science.The National Academy of Sciences brings out the distinctions between facts, hypothesis, laws, and theories and clearly shows why creationism does not meet the criteria of science and should therefore not be taught within the science classroom.

Unintelligent Design by Mark Perakh
Unintelligent Design is an up-to-date critique of creationism and, most importantly, the Intelligent Design (ID) movement.ID proponents are introduced, including William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Phillip Johnson, and their arguments are examined.The abuse of statistics and the confusion surrounding "irreducible complexity" are explained in great detail.

God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory by Niall Shanks
University professor Shanks is an impassioned defender of evolution.He is animated by the progress he believes evolution's critics are making in injecting creationism into American society, particularly into schools.Shanks prosecutes the case against them.He focuses on their main precepts, such as claims that biochemistry possesses an "irreducible complexity" and, therefore, a nonmaterial component, or that thermodynamics refutes evolution.

Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution by Douglas J. Futuyma
Author of a well-known textbook on Evolutionary Biology, Futuyma provides an accessible read on the case for evolution.Futuyma emphasizes the history of evolution from early times up to the neo-Darwinism of today.Interesting chapters follow on the fossil record, natural selection, chance and mutation, and the basic concepts of scientific knowledge.The author presents many of the creationist arguments, and spends time refuting them.

Trial and Error: The American Controversy over Creation and Evolution by Edward J. Larson
Trial and Error traces the coverage or lack thereof, of evolution in textbooks used in American public schools from the mid-1800s to the present.Larson proposes to bring the subject up to the present through a discussion of recent trends, including the "intelligent design" movement, led by Phillip Johnson, a revised form of antievolutionism that gained popularity on college campuses; the impact of Michael Behe's versions of evolution; and debates over what counts as evidence for and against evolution -all of which have influenced debates over science standards, particularly at state and local levels.This new chapter chronicles anti-evolution actions in Kansas and elsewhere and counter-actions by the National Academy of Science and other anti-creationist groups.

The Evolution-Creation Struggle by Michael Ruse
In his latest book, Ruse uncovers surprising similarities between evolutionist and creationist thinking.Exploring the underlying philosophical commitments of evolutionists, he reveals that those most hostile to religion are just as evangelical as their fundamentalist opponents.But more crucially, and reaching beyond the biblical issues at stake, he demonstrates that these two diametrically opposed ideologies have, since the Enlightenment, engaged in a struggle for the privilege of defining human origins, moral values, and the nature of reality.

The Triumph of Evolution: And the Failure of Creationism by Niles Eldredge
In The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism , Eldredge exposes the deep flaws in creationists' arguments and calls for those who love and respect the scientific process of gathering knowledge to engage their opponents in the culture war wholeheartedly.This brief but powerful book by one of our leading evolutionary theorists is careful not to dehumanize the intellectual and political adherents of "intelligent design theory."It focuses on the importance of teaching all children in our society how science and technology work.

Scientists Confront Creationism by Laurie Godfrey
This collection of essays represents mainstream scientific responses to well-worn creationist arguments.This book does not deal with the intelligent design movement, which developed after the high-profile creationist controversies of the 1980's.

Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate by Tim M. Berra
A useful introduction to the topic, Evolution and The Myth of Creationism explains its three related purposes: 1.To explain evolution to people who are genuinely confused by the claims of creationists.2. Provide useful ammunition to the high school biology teacher or school board member who finds him or herself under attack by creationists.3. To be a useful supplemental text for introductory collegelevel classes in biology, zoology, botany, or anthropology.

Science and Creationism Edited by Ashley Montagu and Isaac Asimov
The essays collected here, including those written by Stephen Jay Gould, Garrett Hardin and Isaac Asimov, offer a powerful rebuttal to the claims of the so-called "Scientific Creationists", who have argued that evolution is an unsound explanation of the origins of life, and have sought to introduce their ideas into public school curriculums.This book assesses the attempts of fundamentalist Christians to blend science and religion into a coherent view of the universe, called "creation science," through a literal reading of the book of Genesis.The author, an emeritus professor of geomorphology at Columbia University, examines evidence from astronomy to zoology, and shows that creation science does not meet the criteria of the scientific enterprise.

But Is It
Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science by Massimo Pigliucci Pigliucci introduces the reader to the history of the battle between evolution and creationism.He provides a comprehensive discussion on the nature of science and shows how an idea becomes a theory -adopted into our knowledge base and taught within our schools.Denying Evolution also attacks the anti-MORE OPTIONS Critique of intelligent design: materialism versus creationism from antiquity to the present Pocketmags app.term "skeptic."intellectualism of our times, providing examples within the creationist movement.Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives Edited by Robert T. Pennock Science?The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy Edited by Michael Ruse 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.Included articles discuss the history and development of Darwinian theory, the essence of evolutionary and creationist mechanisms, and the philosophy of science.Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution by Kenneth R. MillerMiller tries to draw a straight line between two apparently opposing ideas: the theory of evolution and belief in a creator.He discusses examples from astronomy, geology, physics and molecular biology, confronting the illogic of creationists with persuasive reasons based on the known physical properties of the universe and the demonstrable effects of time on the radioactivity of various elements.Then standing firmly on Darwinian ground, he turns to take on, with equal vigor, his outspoken colleagues in science who espouse a materialistic, agnostic or atheistic vision of reality.The Creationists by Ronald L. NumbersPious charlatans, firebrand demagogues and scientific cranks stalk the pages of this scholarly, thoroughgoing, at times plodding history of the modern revival of creationism.Numbers, a professor of the history of science at the University of Wisconsin, unravels the tangled religious roots of creationism.His evenhanded treatment incorporates a quietly devastating critique of the modern creationist movement and its efforts to influence school curricula.Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion by Edward J. LarsonIn his fascinating history of the Scopes trial, Summer for the Gods, Edward J. Larson makes it abundantly clear that Truth and the Purity of Science had very little to do with the Scopes case.Tennessee had passed a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution, and the American Civil Liberties Union responded by advertising statewide for a high-school teacher willing to defy the law.Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? by Michael RuseDarwin and Design surveys the argument from design from its introduction by the Greeks, through the coming of Darwinism, down to the present day.In clear, non-technical language Michael Ruse offers a full and fair assessment of the status of the argument from design in light of both the advances of modern evolutionary biology and the thinking of today's philosophers-with special attention given to the supporters and critics of "intelligent design."DarwinismComes to America by Ronald L. NumbersFocusing on crucial aspects of the history of Darwinism in America, Ronald Numbers answers the question of why so many Americans still resist the ideas laid out by Darwin in On the Origin of Species.Displaying the expertise that has made him one of the most respected historians of his generation, he provides a muchneeded historical perspective on today's quarrels about creationism and evolution-and illuminates the specifically American nature of this struggle Science and Earth History: The Evolution/Creation Controversy by Arthur N. Strahler