Darwin on Trial

Lane Core has posted another Blogworthies. I particularly enjoyed the entry about the “Darwinism versus Intelligent Design” case. The ACLU has filed suit in a Pennsylvania court to stop a school district from referring to Darwinism as a theory and mentioning a book in the school library that argues for ID.

I’ve read a couple of books on this controversy: Michael Behe’s Darwin's Black Box and Philip Johnson’s Darwin on Trial. The idea that classical Darwinism (if there is such a thing) has failed to reasonably answer all objections is compelling. I’m less convinced of the scientific validity of the implied argument to a Creator; philosophically, yes (see St. Thomas Aquinas and the “Proofs” of God’s existence).

But then, maybe that is Darwinism’s ultimate failing as well: it crosses over from scientific hypothesis to philosophical argument. I still think Chesterton had it right: survival of the fittest boils down to survival of those who survived.