Doubts About Darwin: A History of Intelligent Design

Rating:
Summary: The rhetorical history of an important social movement .
Review: ... One oft-repeated story is that all challenges to Darwinism are merely religiously motivated and hopelessly unscientific. Science is about objective facts. Religion is about subjective values. Darwinism is scientific. Challenges to Darwinism are not scientific and so have no place in any public institution. This standard story is being upended by lawyers, scientists, and philosophers who claim that Darwinism fails the tests of good science. These thinkers, who are neither theologians nor preachers, make up the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, which is chronicled in this important book written by a professor at Trinity College in Florida.

Woodward's account shows that the problem with the template of "religion versus Darwin" is that it simply doesn't fit the ID movement, although many detractors try to insist otherwise. The founder of the movement, Phillip Johnson, was, until his recent retirement, a Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. While on sabbatical in the late 1980s, he studied the scientific case for and against Darwinism and concluded that the empirical case for Darwinism was surprisingly weak. He then presented his findings at a symposium held through his law school and was further encouraged to pursue his criticism of Darwinism. As Woodward amply documents, the proponents of this movement-which include a biochemist (Michael Behe) as well as a philosopher of mathematics (William Dembski)-have "doubts about Darwin" based on their investigation of the empirical evidence. Proponents of ID argue that Darwinism lacks crucial evidence, begs important questions, and often caricatures alternatives unfairly. ...

The proponents of ID make their case against Darwinian evolution by pointing out flaws in the arguments and gaps in the evidence, not by citing religious texts. ..Rather, ID thinkers are a diverse group united primarily in their belief that Darwinism is not beyond the reach of scientific criticism. ... Chance and necessity alone, they argue, do not provide sufficient scientific categories for explaining the origin of complex living systems such as DNA and the bacterial flagellum (a microscopic rotary motor). The scientific and philosophical establishment is beginning to interact seriously with ID claims in academic journals and at conferences, although it is still often dismissed as "unscientific."

There are a growing number of books defending and criticizing ID, but Woodward's book is unique in that it assesses the history of this movement of the past decade-or-so from the perspective of the classical discipline of rhetoric. Given the book's rhetorical angle, the reader is treated to both the straight arguments for and against Darwinism, as well as an inside look at the personalities and persuasive strategies used on both sides of the debate. (For example, when noted Darwinist Stephen Jay Gould first met Phillip Johnson, he dispensed with pleasantries and said, "You're a creationist and I've got to stop you.") In Woodward's account, Johnson emerges as the rhetorical mastermind of ID, who, though an outsider to the scientific guild, nevertheless mastered the scientific case against Darwinism and helped develop a consistent strategy for the ID movement. His simple charge is that Darwinism is driven more by a commitment to a materialistic worldview than by the actual evidence of biology. If one admits the category of intelligent design back into science, the case for Darwinism crumbles-or so Johnson claims.

While Woodward is a friend of the Intelligent Design movement, he lets the thinkers speak for themselves and is neither partisan nor unfair. Rather, without getting too technical, he frames the debate in terms of rhetorical strategies employed. In this way, the reader can discover the larger intellectual, historical, emotional, and cultural contours of this growing debate-which, I wager, is not about to go away any time soon.

--Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and the author of "On Pascal."

Rating:
Summary: the first objective history of ID
Review: Doubts about Darwin is a very objective book about the Intelligent Design Movement (ID). This work, a revision of the author's Ph.D. thesis completed at the University of South Florida, has much information that is not commonly known, such as many of the forerunners of the ID movement were atheists or agnostics. For example, the role of such people as Murray Eden (professor emeritus at MIT) and other ID forerunners such as Professor Michael Denton (p. 24) are discussed. Many excellent quotes are included that show the dogmatic attitude of the Darwinists, such as Gould's statement to Professor Johnson calling him (falsely) a creationist and then emotionally proclaiming "I've got to stop" your work, obviously by any means he can (p. 96). This is hardly the attitude of an objective scientist intent on searching for the truth about origins. Woodward, a college professor himself, documents the many unethical attacks by the so called science and university establishment against those who dare to question Darwin. Rarely are Darwin doubters given an opportunity to respond to attacks against them in the journals that published the attacks and, thus, few people have an objective understanding of the movement. Reading sections of this book at times made me ashamed to be a scientist. Woodward does note that many scientists have been objective and fair critics, even supportive of ID, such as University of Chicago Professor David Raup (I was a fan of his work long before I learned about his positive contribution's to ID). The book also tries to answer questions such as, why more and more people are having serious doubts about Darwinism, who they are, and why the ID movement is growing so fast. The motive for the growth of ID is clearly major "doubts about Darwinism" and the book covers these in some detail. Now what is needed is an objective book on ID by a professional historian.

Rating:
Summary: A multifaceted look at this important debate
Review: I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by this book, after seeing that it was primarily a re-work of the author's Ph.D. work. I've seen how such books tend to be informative but often not a very compelling read. I was happily surprised to find that Doubts about Darwin has that unique combination of intrigue and education that made it hard to put down.

I see this as (at least) a 4-in-1 book: (1) A thorough history of the Intelligent Design movement, (2) a broad review of much of the key literature in the field - you'll figure out which authors or books you'll want to read next, (3) a light and interesting on-going lesson in rhetoric and how it plays a key role in this issue, (4) a good introductory education on the ID topic itself that gives enough understanding to appreciate the debate.

The description of the initial encounter between Phillip Johnson and SJ Gould may be worth the price of the book, and is a microcosm of the larger ID debate. Woodward gives unique, up-close views like that as he tracks the goings-on over the years.

If I had to make a criticism, I'd say that Woodward spent quite a bit of time on Johnson's Darwin on Trial book. I could have been satisfied with a bit quicker pace in that section, but he obviously felt it was a cornerstone work in this engagement and worth a closer look, which I can understand. Generally he strikes a good balance, with 40 pages of small print notes in the back to keep the main story flowing. (But I found myself frequently drawn to the notes for more details anyway.)

If you have any interest in getting a handle on this debate, or just like seeing what happens when the ideas of one group of smart people collides with the ideas of another, I don't expect you'll be at all disappointed with the Doubts book.

Rating:
Summary: A solid and worthwhile read!
Review: This book makes two important contributions to the contemporary Darwin vs. design controversy: 1) it chronicles the history of the growing acknowledgment of the scientific deficiencies of neo-Darwinian evolution and the rise of intelligent design theory, and 2) it also provides a unique, rhetorical analysis of the works of Michael Denton, Phillip Johnson, Michael Behe and William Dembski.

Whereas Larry Witham's recent book "By Design" takes a more neutral tone and extends his narrative to include debates over cosmic design, Dr. Thomas Woodward is clearly sympathetic with the arguments and ideas of the proponents of intelligent design, and his book focuses more narrowly upon the issue of biological evolution. His views in no way detract from the book's credibility and effectiveness. Rather, Woodward's work has much to its credit and any serious reader should evaluate the history and analysis he provides on the merits.

One need not have read the works of Denton, Johnson, Behe and Dembski to be able to follow Woodward's analysis, but a familiarity with the primary design proponents' books and arguments will enhance one's appreciation for the analysis he provides. Woodward also points out the importance of Charles Thaxton and his ideas for the development of intelligent design theory, and likewise provides readers with a concise introduction to rhetoric of science as an important intellectual field.

If I had to be picky, I would say that this book is not entirely clear about the fact that there are critics of neo-Darwinian evolution, such as David Berlinski, whom one may not necessarily consider to be a proponent of intelligent design theory. Such a skeptic of Darwin might be more properly considered to be outside of the "Intelligent Design Movement."

While not a criticism, I am curious as to why the 1999 Kansas State Board of Education battle features so prominently in the early part of the book. It is true that this episode helped to give intelligent design theory and its main proponents much early publicity, but the main design proponents were not deeply involved in matters there. Leading proponents of design were much more active in the Ohio controversy of 2001-2002, which involved a more clear and careful approach to the teaching of Darwin's theory and a much more favorable result was ultimately obtained: while merely permitting local schools to include discussion of intelligent design theory, the State Board of Education adopted a benchmark requiring students to know why scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.

In any case, this book is quite enjoyable and is recommended to readers. At this point, I can only hope that Woodward will write a sequel, analyzing the history and main arguments presented by the anti-design crowd.