Voor Mijn Schatten Lies, Lana En Merel Promotor Prof. Dr. Johan Braeckman Vakgroep Wijsbegeerte En Moraalwetenschap Decaan Prof
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voor mijn schatten Lies, Lana en Merel Promotor Prof. dr. Johan Braeckman Vakgroep Wijsbegeerte en Moraalwetenschap Decaan Prof. Dr. Freddy Mortier Rector Prof. Dr. Paul Van Cauwenberge Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen, of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande toestemming van de uitgever. Faculteit Letteren & Wijsbegeerte Stefaan Blancke Towards an integrated understanding of creationism in Europe Historical, philosophical and educational perspectives Proefschrift voorgedragen tot het behalen van de graad van Doctor in de Wijsbegeerte 2011 Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation has often proven to be a rewarding but solitary ordeal. This does not entail however that it has exclusively been a one man project. During the past four years in which I have been preparing my doctorate, I had the pleasure and honour to meet, talk and collaborate with a number of talented and inspirational people whose enthousiasm and advice not only motivated me to continue with my work, but also greatly improved it. In that regard, I owe infinite gratitude to my supervisor Johan Braeckman, without whom these experiences would not have been possible. Not only did he have confidence in me at times when this was anything but self-evident, supporting me to obtain a grant for starting my research. He also guided me in finding the right people at the right time in the right place (which, in the case of our research group, turned out to be a smelly basement room). Moreover, he personally embodied an inexhaustible source of rich ideas, moral support and witty remarks from which this dissertation has benefited tremendously. Thank you, Johan. Speaking of talented and inspirational people, I definitely owe special thanks to my co-authors: Johan Braeckman, Maarten Boudry, Johan De Smedt, Helen De Cruz, Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, Peter C. Kjærgaard and Abraham C. Flipse. Their constructive criticism never failed to encourage me to explore unfamiliar research domains, try out new angles and upgrade my standards of depth and quality. This also applies to the conversations and meetings within our research group, The Moral Brain. Further motivation and inspiration I gained from the helpful suggestions by and discussions with Glenn Branch, Coen Brummer, Charlotte De Backer, Willem B. Drees, Taner Edis, Barbara Forrest, Nel Grillaert, Olle Häggström, Salman Hameed, Deborah Kelemen, Bart Klink, Gert Korthof, Laszlo Kosolosky, Rudi Meekers, Ronald Numbers, Peter Olofsson, Mark Perakh, Jos Philippaerts, Massimo Pigliucci, Danny Praet, Michael Ruse, Taede Smedes, Kim Sterelny, John Teehan, Sarah Van Ruyskensvelde, Jackie Wehmueller and a host of anonymous referees. v I would like to thank Maarten Boudry and Hans Henrik Hjermistlev for proofreading parts of the manuscript, Gitte Callaert for her kind assistance with the cover and the lay-out and Kobe van der Beken and Laszlo Kosolosky for translating parts of this dissertation into English. Thanks also to Ghent University for funding my research. The final words of gratitude I owe to my family, who has incessantly supported me through the process of writing and compiling this dissertation; to my brother Ivo, for keeping me healthy by joining me in a weekly game of squash; and, together with his fiancée Frieke, for conversations over diner or a Duvel or two, which offered me much needed moments of distraction from the project. Thanks also to Arnold en Helena, my parents in law, for taking care of the little blackbird in times of illness or holidays and for providing me with a place to work when my usual workspace transformed into a living room again. I am greatly indebted to my mother Chris, for the enduring trust and loving care she has extended not only to me but to our entire little family, and to Jacques for taking care of her. But I could never have accomplished the task of writing up this dissertation if it hadn’t been for the love of my fiancée Marika, who has patiently tolerated again and again to come home to a library after she has spent the day working in one, and find her absent minded scholar in the middle of it; and the love of my three darling daughters Lies, Lana and Merel, whose smiles, ballet dances and K3 sing-a-longs truly make up the highlights of the day. I dedicate this dissertation to them. vi List of Abbreviations AiG Answer in Genesis C(R)SC Center for (the Renewal of) Science of Culture EO Evangelische Omroep (evangelical broadcaster) ID Intelligent Design vii List of Figures Figure 1 A tree of evil, retrieved from http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2006/09/the_evil_tree/ ....................... 15 Figure 2 American views on human origins ........................................................................ 49 Figure 3 “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals.” True or false? ( Miller et al. 2006) ........................................................ 50 Figure 4 Acceptance of evolution in six Muslim countries (Hameed, 2008) .................. 53 Figure 5 Sticker made by Dutch students to protest against the creationist leaflet campaign ................................................................................................................. 101 Figure 6 The creationist leaflet “Evolution or creation: what do you believe?” ......... 102 Figure 7 Cover of the first issue of the Dutch creation science magazine Weet (February 2010) ...................................................................................................... 111 Figure 8 Darwin year in Flanders ........................................................................................ 114 ix Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Part 1- Historical perspectives ....................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 Creationism, from the Scopes trial to Intelligent Design ............................... 7 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Growing resistance against evolution ......................................................................... 8 1.3 The Scopes Trial ............................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Sputnik and the new creationists ............................................................................... 11 1.5 'Scientific creationism' ................................................................................................ 12 1.6 The bitter fruits of evolution ...................................................................................... 14 1.7 Creationism mutates .................................................................................................... 16 1.8 The importance of design ............................................................................................ 18 1.9 The remedy against the remedy ................................................................................. 20 1.10 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2 Intelligent Design .............................................................................................. 23 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 24 2.2 The Rise of a Movement ............................................................................................... 25 2.2.1 Principles ........................................................................................................... 25 2.2.2 Of Pandas and People ....................................................................................... 26 2.2.3 Phillip Johnson’s Darwin on Trial ..................................................................... 26 2.2.4 The Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC) ...................... 28 2.3 Intelligent Design and the 'new science'................................................................... 28 2.3.1 Behe’s “Irreducible Complexity”.................................................................... 28 2.3.2 Dembski’s “Specified Complexity”................................................................. 31 2.3.3 Supernatural or theistic science .................................................................... 33 2.4 Intelligent Design and the New Culture .................................................................... 34 xi 2.4.1 The Wedge ......................................................................................................... 34 2.4.2 Phillip Johnson and 'modernism' .................................................................. 35 2.4.3 Natural law: the road to theocracy ................................................................ 36 2.5 Dover, 2005 .................................................................................................................... 37 2.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 3 Creationism in Europe. Facts, gaps and prospects