Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism UnconvincingRecent years have seen the rise to prominence of ever more sophisticated philosophical and scientific critiques of the ideas marketed under the name of Darwinism. In Uncommon Dissent, mathematician and philosopher William A. Dembski brings together essays by leading intellectuals who find one or more aspects of Darwinism unpersuasive. As Dembski explains, Darwinism has gathered around itself an aura of invincibility that is inhospitable to rational discussion—to say the least: “Darwinism, its proponents assure us, has been overwhelmingly vindicated. Any resistance to it is futile and indicates bad faith or worse.” Indeed, those who question the Darwinian synthesis are supposed, in the famous formulation of Richard Dawkins, to be ignorant, stupid, insane, or wicked. The hostility of dogmatic Darwinians like Dawkins has not, however, prevented the advent of a growing cadre of scholarly critics of metaphysical Darwinism. The measured, thought-provoking essays in Uncommon Dissent make it increasingly obvious that these critics are not the brainwashed fundamentalist buffoons that Darwinism’s defenders suggest they are, but rather serious, skeptical, open-minded inquirers whose challenges pose serious questions about the viability of Darwinist ideology. The intellectual power of their contributions to Uncommon Dissent is bracing. |
Contents
Why Darwinism Fails to Inspire Confidence | |
The Establishment of Naturalism | |
The Miracles of Darwinism | |
Evolution as a Total Worldview | |
Teaching the Flaws in NeoDarwinism | |
The Rivalry of Naturalism and Natural | |
Do They Insure Quality or Enforce Orthodoxy? | |
Biological Order as an Inherent | |
Why I Am Not a Darwinist | |
Why Evolution Fails the Test of Science | |
Darwinian Evolutionary Theory and the Life Sciences in the TwentyFirst | |
Century | |
David Berlinski | |
Contributors | |
A Catholic Scientist Looks at Darwinism | |
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Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals who Find Darwinism Unconvincing William A. Dembski No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Academy of Sciences adaptive appear argued argument Arnhart bacteria believe biologists causality cell changes Charles Darwin Christian claim concept creation creationist criticism culture Daniel Dennett Darwin's theory Darwinism Darwinists David Berlinski debate Dennett desire essay evidence evolutionary biology evolutionary psychology evolutionary theory evolutionists evolved example existence explain fact fossil record function genes genetic genome horizontal gene transfer human idea intellectual intelligent design irreducible complexity journal living logic materialistic matter means molecular molecules moral mutations National Academy natural law natural selection naturalistic neo-Darwinism objective organisms origin paper philosophical physical possible principle problem properties proposed protein question random reality reason referee rejected religion religious Richard Dawkins scientific establishment scientists SCSPL sequence species specified complexity Stephen Jay Gould structure teleological theory of evolution things truth understand unintelligent evolution University Press worldview York