Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science

by Massimo Pigliucci

Overview

Denying Evolution aims at taking a fresh look at the evolution-creation controversy. It presents a truly "balanced" treatment, not in the sense of treating creationism as a legitimate scientific theory (it demonstrably is not), but in the sense of dividing the blame for the controversy equally between creationists and scientists—the former for subscribing to various forms of anti-intellectualism, the latter for discounting science education and presenting science as scientism to the public and the media. The central part of the book focuses on a series of creationist fallacies (aimed at showing errors of thought, not at deriding) and of mistakes by scientists and science educators. The last part of the book discusses long-term solutions to the problem, from better science teaching at all levels to the necessity of widespread understanding of how the brain works and why people have difficulties with critical thinking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878936595
Publisher:	Sinauer Associates is an imprint of Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	275
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Massimo Pigliucci is Chair of the Department of Philosophy at CUNY: Lehman College. He holds doctorates in genetics (University of Ferrara, Italy), botany (University of Connecticut) and the philosophy of science (University of Tennessee). Dr. Pigliucci was formerly a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at SUNY: Stony Brook. There he explored phenotypic plasticity, genotype-environment interactions, natural selection, and the constraints imposed on natural selection by the genetic and developmental makeup of organisms. He was the recipient of the 1997 Dobzhansky Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution. As a philosopher, Dr. Pigliucci is interested in the structure and foundations of evolutionary theory, the relationship between science and philosophy, and the relationship between science and religion.

Table of Contents

Prologue: or How I Got into this Mess

1. Where Did the Controversy Come From?

2. Evolution's Creationism 101

3. One Side of the Coin: The Dangers of Anti-intellectualism

4. Scientific Fundamentalism and True Nature of Science

5. Creationist Fallacies

6. Three Major Controversies

7. Scientific Fallacies

8. What Do We Do About It?

Coda: The Controversy That Never Ends

Appendix A. Introduction to and Excerpts from David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Where the Topic of Intelligent Design is Discussed Most Thoroughly

Appendix B. Bryan's Last Speech

Editorial Reviews

While denying that creationism can be seen as a scientific theory, Pigliucci (evolutionary biology, U. of Tennessee) blames much of the failure of a resolution of the evolution-creation debate on the inability of evolutionary scientists to promote an understanding of evolution. He explains the fallacies of creationist thinking, while explaining how those fallacies are able to take hold because scientists have not bothered thinking seriously about how to present scientific theory to unscientific students. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR