- What is Darwin’s theory of evolution? How is this different from, and how is it
related to, the fact of evolution?
- When some people say that "evolution is a fact" and others say that
"evolution is a theory", what do they mean? Are they using the terms
‘fact’ and ‘theory’ in the same way as we us them?
- What is the argument from design? How does Darwin’s theory challenge the argument
from design?
- In what sense is evolution not progressive in Darwin’s theory. If it is true that
evolution is not progressive, then has Darwin’s theory been misunderstood by fascist
and dictatorial regimes, who have used Darwin’s theory to justify racist policies?
Discuss.
- Does the evidence for evolution unequivocally support a materialist worldview? Or is
Pope John Paul II right when he made the following statement in his October 22, 1996
Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences:
…while the formulation of a theory like that of evolution complies with
the need for consistency with the observed data, it borrows certain notions from natural
philosophy. And, to tell the truth, rather than the theory of evolution, we should speak
of several theories of evolution. On the one hand, this plurality has to do with the
different explanations advanced for the mechanism of evolution, and on the other, with the
various philosophies on which it is based. Hence the existence of materialist,
reductionist and spiritualist interpretations. What is to be decided here is the true role
of philosophy and, beyond it, of theology.
- Why you think that Darwin delayed publication of his theory? Three possible reasons were
given in lecture – (1) the repudiation of the argument from design, (2) its
repudiation of progressiveness in evolution, or (3) its alleged support for materialism.
Which do you think was the most influential reason, and why?
- In the lecture notes, I have listed a number different kinds of evidence for
Darwin’s theory of evolution, including the fossil record, homologies in living
species, rapid evolution, biogeography (e.g., Darwin’s finches), vestiges of
evolution, artificial selection, and the experimental evidence from modern genetics. Which
of these provides evidence for Darwin’s theory as distinct from evidence for the fact
of evolution?
- Ruse lists 7 different criteria for science. What are they?
- What are Laudan’s objections to Ruse’s criteria, and what is Ruse’s
reply?
- Many philosophers of science have claimed that evolutionary is a ‘merely
explanatory’ science, rather than a predictive science. What is the basic idea behind
their claim? Do you think they are right, or partly right?
- The difference between prediction and accommodation seems to have a role to play in the
creationist debate. In particular, it seems that creationism does not made predictions, in
which case it can only achieve "consistency with observed data", to use the
Pope’s phrase, by accommodating the data. So, if evolutionary theory has succeeded in
making predictions, then this appears to be a clear-cut difference between the two. Do any
of Ruse’s criteria for science exploit this distinction, directly or indirectly?