Course Outline
From History of Evolution
INDS 391: Evolution and Creationism: The Socio-Cultural Controversy over Biological Evolution
(Note: Approximate Course Outline. Since this is a new course, we will make in-flight corrections as necessary)
Contents |
Weeks 1-2
Introduction.
- A. Establish some common vocabulary and baseline knowledge for the course
- B. The nature of science and an overview of biological evolution. (Chapters 1-2 of Scott’s Evolution vs. Creationism (2004))
- C. Religion, creationism, and naturalism (Chapter 3 of Scott)
Week 3
Historical setting of the conflict: Paley vs. Darwin. Chapter 4 of Scott; Readings from Paley and Darwin.
- Central Question (phrased three ways): How did biological structures that have functional utility arise? What is the source of the apparent functional design in biological organisms? Do natural processes or artifice produce the functional designs of biological structures?
- Readings from Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) and Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) (From Darwin writings online site)
- A. Paley’s argument: Design by Divine intervention – artifice.
- 1. Watch on the heath analogy: A contrivance requires a contriver
- 2. Core example: the eye and the telescope
- 3. God works within natural laws He has set
- 4. Reproduction & the infinite regress problem
- 5. Imperfections are not a problem
- 6. Can chance be the answer (Boeing 727 argument)? (Interesting note: Paley appeals to Linnaean hierarchical classification to refute (his version of) the “chance” hypothesis. But that sort of nested hierarchy is generated by a branching Markov process, which is what evolution – common descent – is. Darwinian evolution requires that the organization of species be describable by a nested hierarchy.)
- B. Darwin’s argument: Design by Natural Selection – natural processes
- 1. Starts with variation under domestication, plant and animal breeding, to illustrate the range of change possible.
- 2. Then variation in nature and the struggle for existence (Malthus)
- 3. Then Natural Selection, Darwin’s (and Wallace’s) great discovery.
- 4. Four lines of evidence:
- a. Temporal succession of species: Fossils
- b. Biogeography, both fossil and extant organisms
- c. Comparative embryology
- d. Comparative anatomy (e.g., examples of extant intermediate eyes)
- 5. Darwin’s list of difficulties of his theory – potential disconfirmations
Week 4
Late 19th century (light coverage of pre-20th century)
- A. Asa Grey and Owen as examples (readings from Darwin’s letters).
- B. Stability vs. change, e.g., social stability (Owen, Wilberforce) vs. social change (Huxley)
- C. Social Darwinism (Spencer, Progress: Its Law and Cause (web available)
Weeks 5-6
Early 20th century: The (relative) eclipse of Darwinism and the rise of genetics. (Readings to be assigned include to the pamphlet Science and Christian Faith from The Fundamentals, available on the web; the Tennessee Butler Act; George McCready Price’s Q.E.D, or New Light on the Doctrine of Creation, Chapters 6 & 7, from the Gutenberg Project; and Ronald Numbers’ essay on Price’s life; Chapter 1 of Creation by Evolution, 1925, biodiversity library.)
- A. Rediscovery of Mendel’s genetic experiments and mutationism
- B. Social movement: Eugenics
- C. The Fundamentals (1910-1915 pamphlets; 1917 book on the web)
- D. Origins of creation “science” – George McCready Price, YEC, and the Noachic Flood.
- E. Tennessee Butler Act prohibiting the teaching of evolution and the Scopes trial (1925)
Weeks 7-8
Middle 20th century: The rise of “creation science.” (Reading: Scott Chapter 5; readings from some original sources available on the web at the Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis sites)
- A. Young earth creationism and flood geology more highly developed
- B. BSCS following Sputnik reinstated evolution in secondary school curricula.
- C. Whitcomb & Morris: The Genesis Flood (1961). Founding of ICR
- D. Split between Institute for Creation Research and American Scientific Affiliation over age of the earth and historicity of a global flood.
- E. Epperson v Arkansas (1968): Supreme Court overturned a prohibition of the teaching evolution.
- F. Resulting rise of the “balanced treatment” two-models creationist strategy
Weeks 9-10
Late 20th century: Rise of intelligent Design creationism. (Reading: Scott Chapter 6; readings from the various court decisions; and selections from The Mystery of Life’s Origins available on the web).
- A. McLean v Arkansas (1982): Federal District Court struck down a requirement for balanced treatment of evolution and creation science. It was not appealed and hence while very influential it did not set a national legal precedent.
- B. Formation of Committees of Correspondence on Evolution Education in the early 1980s, predecessor to the National Center for Science Education.
- C. 1984 Publication of The Mystery of Life’s Origins, the first major publication of Intelligent Design.
- D. Edwards v Aguilard (1987): Supreme Court overturned a requirement for balanced treatment of evolution and creationism.
- E. Shift by many from creationism to intelligent design: Of Pandas and People (cdesign proponentists) transitional ‘fossil.’
Weeks 11-12
The Modern Culture War. (Readings from original sources, including the Kitzmiller decision, the Wedge document, essays by Discovery Institute Fellows Behe, Dembski, Wells, and Meyer available on the web.)
- A. Establishment of The Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute (with funding from Christian Dominionist billionaire)
- B. The Wedge Document of the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture. CRSC Governing Goals:
- 1. To replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God.
- 2. To defeat scientific materialism and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies.
- C. Major books on intelligent design:
- 1. Michael Behe (1996): Darwin’s Black Box -- Irreducible Complexity
- 2. William Dembski (1998): The Design Inference -- Explanatory Filter, an algorithm for (allegedly) detecting design.
- 3. Wells (2000): Icons of Evolution – A collection of misrepresentations and distortions of evolutionary biology and biological research.
- D. Kitzmiller v Dover: Intelligent Design is Creationism re-labeled.
Weeks 13-14
Current state of affairs: Where are we now, post-Kitzmiller? (Readings from original sources available on the web, including Stephen Meyer writing for an Ohio audience in 2002, Scott & Matzke (PNAS), archived newspaper reports of Mt. Vernon incident; essays by Francisco Ayala, Keith Miller, and Kenneth Miller available on the web; excerpts from Lebo’s book The Devil in Dover: An Insider’s Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America. (We may move the Lebo reading earlier, since she will be visiting the class in late September. She gives a journalist’s and insider’s view of what happens to a small community when a major battle in the culture war erupts there. By fall semester that may be very relevant to Knox County.)
- A. ‘Teach the controversy’ tactic introduced in Ohio in 2002 by Discovery Institute Fellows Meyer and Wells, abandoning the original Ohio BOE attempt to require teaching ID in a ‘two models’ approach. (The ‘teach the controversy’ tactic has recently been transformed into a ‘we want to teach more evolution, and teach the strengths and weaknesses of evolution’ approach, where the alleged weaknesses are mainly the misrepresentations in Wells’ Icons of Evolution.)
- B. A local incident: Middle school science teacher's formal attempt in 2003 to get the Mt. Vernon school district to include Wells’ trash science in the science curriculum. Rejected by both the district science curriculum committee and the Mt. Vernon Board of Education.
- C. Local Web discussion boards on the issue. Academic freedom vs. First Amendment Establishment clause.
- D. Attempts by believing scientists to describe their reconciliation of evolution and (Christian) beliefs:
- Kenneth Miller (Roman Catholic; Finding Darwin’s God)
- Keith B. Miller (evangelical Christian, Perspectives on an Evolving Creation)
- Francis Collins (evangelical Christian, The Language of God)
- Francisco Ayala (Roman Catholic, Darwin’s Gift).
