Dan wrote:
> Eugenie C. Scott is either a clever user of literary allusion or the
>victim of a deep irony. Scott states in “Not (just) in Kansas
>anymore–Higher education must help protect the science curriculum” (AFT
>On Campus, Sept., 2000), “Scientists and philosophers have examined
>[irreducible complexity and the design of inference] and found them
>wanting.” (The article is excerpted from the May 5, 2000, issue of
>Science.)
> The latter term harks back to the account of the “handwriting on the
>wall” in the biblical book of Daniel, when God crashes an idolatrous,
>drunken victory celebration with a prophecy of impending accountability.
>The inscription that appears in the plaster of the royal palace is
>interpreted, in part, “You have been weighed on the scales and found
>wanting.”
> If indeed evolutionary methodology is correct, which is the more
>substantial model for its application––morphing it into an incomplete
>science (Where did it all start?), a vicious Social Darwinism, and a
>philosophy of meaninglessness and alienation––or seeing it as simply a
>methodology open to alternate interpretation?
<snip>
I'm not usre of the point you are trying to make in this letter. But it
seems that you may be misunderstanding Genie's position. I have had a fair
amount of dialog with her and she is quite firm in emphasizing that it is
inappropriate to extend evolutionary science beyond it methodologic
limitations in the name of science. That is, any attempt to use evolution
to promote a non-theistic position or to argue for a particular political
or social agenda is stepping outside the bounds of science.
She has emphasized that science is defined by a particular methodology
which is limited in the type of questions that it can address. She
strongly argues that extrapolations of evolutionary concepts outside the
methodological limits of science are not appropriate in the sience
classroom. Science should not be presented in a way that opposes or
belittles religious belief.
Similarly, she argues that ID arguments fail as scientific proposals. I
certainly agree with her here.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
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