Month: January 2011
A One Hundred Year-Old Challenge
Alfred Russel Wallace Issues Fighting Words to Materialists in 1910: “Nothing in evolution can account for the soul [or mind] of man. The difference between man and the other animals is unbridgeable.” Steven Pinker to the Rescue?
Unsophisticated and Outdated Scientific Critiques of Intelligent Design in Synthese
We’ve discussed how articles critiquing intelligent design (ID) in the latest issue of Synthese could not rebut the theory without blatantly misrepresenting what ID says. There are a couple of papers in the issue, however, that discuss scientific matters. In fact, I’d like to start on a positive note and say that the one article in this issue which I found to be highly civil in tone and thoughtful was Bruce Weber’s. He provides a thorough and educational history of arguments involving design and teleology, and he attempts to distinguish between “design” and “teleology” as follows: Although both teleology and design are explanans of the explananda of natural phenomena that exhibit organized, functional complexity, they can be distinguished in the Read More ›
Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life Rediscovered
Alfred Russel Wallace is getting his due with Michael Flannery’s new book, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life.
Icons of Evolution 10th Anniversary: Ape to Man, The Ultimate Icon
New Biography Reveals Evolution’s Co-Discoverer as Early Intelligent Design Advocate
In a sparkling, concise and controversial new biography of the co-discoverer of evolutionary theory, historian Michael A. Flannery tells a largely unknown story that has been embarrassing Darwinians in the know for almost a century and a half.