Re: Question: Philosophy of Science - is it Relevant?

P.S. Amazon had no review of this book. If one can find something it
would be appreciated if they posted it or if they have read this piece
themselves.

Evolutionary and Molecular Biology: Scientific Perspectives on Divine
Action - edited by Robert John Russell, William R. Stoeger and
Francisco J. Ayala
A massive tome packed with single-spaced small print, this book gathers
together a great many esteemed thinkers in the science/religion
conversation. Not for the beginner, this is aimed at a more academic
audience. Ayala is a well-known evolutionary biologist, while Russell
is one of the leading experts on Christianity's relationship with the
sciences.

NOTE: The title of this book certainly sounds apologetic to me and
Ayala participated in it. Unfortunately, in many cases the "philosophy
of science" has just become another term for apologetics. Obviously the
"current" political-scientific establishment is going to have
scientists like Ayala fulfill a political agenda. The corporate author
of this work is

CTNS - Building bridges between theology and science for over 20
years

The mission of CTNS is to promote the creative mutual interaction
between theology and the natural sciences.

CTNS is an international non-profit membership organization dedicated
to
research, teaching and public service. It focuses on the relation
between the natural sciences including physics, cosmology, evolutionary
and molecular biology, as well as technology and the environment, and
Christian theology and ethics. The Center has successfully managed
large multi-year program grants that have resulted in extending the
science and religion dialogue world wide: The Theological and Ethical
Implications of the Genome Initiative, The Science and Religion Course
Program and the Science and the Spiritual Quest Program.

Here's some info on the man and positions he has held:



Francisco Ayala
Francisco J. Ayala is the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences
and Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He
is a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and
Technology. He has been President and Chairman of the Board of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Darwin's Discovery: Design without Designer


Born in Madrid, Spain, he has lived in the United States since 1961,
and became a U.S. citizen in 1971. He is author of more than 650
articles and twelve books. The books include Tempo and Mode in
Evolution (1995), Modern Genetics (2nd ed., 1984), Population and
Evolutionary Genetics: A Primer (1982), Evolving: The Theory and
Processes of Organic Evolution (1979), Evolution (1977), Molecular
Evolution (1976), and Studies in the Philosophy of Biology (1974).

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society;
fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and
of the California Academy of Sciences. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow
and a Fulbright Fellow (twice).

Ayala has received the Gold Honorary Gregor Mendel Medal from the Czech
Academy of Sciences, the President's Award of the American Institute of
Biological Sciences, the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award
from the AAAS, the Medal of the College of France, and the UCI Medal
from the University of California. He has received honorary degrees
from the Universities of Athens (Greece), Barcelona, Leon, Madrid,
Vigo, and Las Islas Baleares (Spain). He is a Foreign Member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain,
the Mexican Academy of Sciences, and the Latin American Institute for
Advanced Studies.

He has been President of the Society for the Study of Evolution, a
member of the Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the
National Advisory Council of the Institute of General Medical Sciences
(NIH), the National Advisory Council for the Human Genome Project, the
Executive Committee of the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Commission on Life Sciences, and the Board on
Basic Biology (Chairman, 1985-1992) of the National Research Council.
He served as expert witness in the Arkansas trial on the teaching of
evolution (December 1981).

He is a frequent lecturer in universities and other institutions in the
United States and elsewhere, including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China,
Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great
Britain, Greece, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Peru,
Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.

His research focusses on population and evolutionary genetics,
including the origin of species, genetic diversity of populations, the
origin of malaria, the population structure of parasitic protozoa, and
the molecular clock of evolution. He also writes about the interface
between religion and science, and on philosophical issues concerning
epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of biology.



While Ayala is not a die hard Christian evolutionary biologist he has
apparently no problem with mixing evolutionary biology with Christian
theology and ethics, at least in his philosophical papers. And nor does
the scientific-political community have any problems reaping awards and
titles on him, nor his belonging to many scientific academies, etc.

So that's what I mean by an evolutionary biologist "being a Christian"
or if you prefer mixing evolutionary biology with Christian theology
and ethics which frankly I find absurd.



Michael Ragland


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