On Tue, 26 Dec 1995 12:15:39 -0500 you wrote:
[...]
BH>Funny you should mention this as I have recently found a couple of
>horrible errors in Dawkins recent book <River out of Eden>. I have
>my doubts as to whether writing Dawkins would do any good as the
>errors are so blatant I'm fairly confident they were intentional.
[...]
Thanks for this. I saw Dawkins on TV and my (admittedly biased)
impression was of a shifty, obsessive character. He is blatant in his
use of what he calls "the tricks of the advocate's trade" (The Blind
Watchmaker", ppxiv).
IMHO Dawkins is the mirror image of the extreme YEC fundamentalist.
Unfortunately, he is the type of person who the naturalistic science
establishment has chosen to represent its views to the non-scientific
public:
"Among modern Darwinists, Dawkins has achieved enormous acclaim for
presenting orthodox neo-Darwinism persuasively...In 1990 Dawkins
received the Michael Faraday Award from the British Royal Society as
"the scientist who has done the most to further the public
understanding of science " In 1992 he gave the Royal Institution's
Christmas lectures for young people, televised by the BBC, arguing the
same naturalistic worldview that he presents in The Blind Watchmaker.
I mention these accolades to dispel any illusion that Dawkins's
explicitly naturalistic presentation of Darwinism amounts to a mere
personal philosophy. He certainly is promoting metaphysical
naturalism, but... he does so with the wholehearted support of the
scientific establishment of his nation." (Johnson P.E., "Reason in
the Balance", InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove Ill., 1995, p76).
Happy New Year!
Stephen
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Stephen Jones | ,--_|\ | sjones@iinet.net.au |
| 3 Hawker Ave | / Oz \ | sjones@odyssey.apana.org.au |
| Warwick 6024 |->*_,--\_/ | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sjones/ |
| Perth, Australia | v | phone +61 9 448 7439 |
----------------------------------------------------------------