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Mary Midgley to debate ID in the UK, October 3rd, Kings College, London

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Mary Midgley

She’s a tough-minded and plainspoken philosopher, and no fan of ID. In her eyes, it’s creationism in thin disguise.

But Mary Midgley is also no fan of Richard Dawkins:

Some of the claims of the supporters of versions of natural selection, she holds, might more properly belong in the Religious Education curriculum alongside Creationism and Intelligent Design.

Next month, Midgley will debate the place of ID in UK education with Steve Fuller, Nicholas Everitt, and Giles Fraser. The venue is Room G73 in the Franklin Wilkins Building (Waterloo Campus) of King’s College London, October 3rd, 2007, at 2:00pm with a buffet lunch available from 1:00pm.

More details:

THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN
IMPACT PAMPHLETS PRESS NOTICE

DATE: 10/09/07

FROM: Mike Smith, Co-editor and Press and Publicity Officer
Tel/Fax 01684 569337; Email mikejill_23@yahoo.co.uk
23 Sherrards Green Road, Malvern, Worcs, WR14 2ED

LAUNCH AND DEBATE ON IMPACT PAMPHLET 15:
INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND OTHER IDEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
3RD OCTOBER 2007
KING’S COLLEGE LONDON, WATERLOO CAMPUS

Mary Midgley’s pamphlet deals with one of the most pressing and controversial curricular issues in discussion in the UK today.

She critically discusses the role of Intelligent Design as a putative scientific theory and suggests that it does not have a place in the Science curriculum but may have a home in the Religious Education. She also discusses the work of prominent advocates of natural selection and suggests that, although natural selection is, in essentials, a scientific research programme, it has accreted metaphysical doctrines through the interpretation of some commentators such as Richard Dawkins and is, therefore, not entirely unproblematic as a candidate for the Science curriculum. Some of the claims of the supporters of versions of natural selection, she holds, might more properly belong in the Religious Education curriculum alongside Creationism
and Intelligent Design.

The pamphlet is a timely intervention which not only analyses the controversial issue of Intelligent Design but also suggests a way forward for schools to deal with it.

This pamphlet will be launched with a debate on October 3rd in Room G73 in the Franklin Wilkins Building (Waterloo Campus) of King’s College London at 2:00pm with a buffet lunch available from 1:00pm. Please find a map of the campus attached.

Mary Midgley will debate her pamphlet with Professor Steve Fuller (Warwick), Dr. Nicholas Everitt (UEA, author of The Non-existence of God), and Dr. Giles Fraser (Vicar of Putney and Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford).

If you wish to attend this launch contact Sarah Moore, the Impact administrator, on sarah.2.moore@kcl.ac.uk

Comments
Answer to #1: Giles Fraser is a very liberal clergyman and strong opponent of ID.davidanderson
October 1, 2007
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I work down 15 minutes down the road from KCL so I shall be going along to this debate. Thoroughly looking forward to it.Micky
September 13, 2007
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It is interesting to note that Lennox will debate Dawkins on the same day. "The God Delusion" Debate Wednesday, October 3, 2007 The Alys Stephens Center Birmingham, Alabama It seems as if Lennox might be the first real opponent to Dawkins but I cannot see much rational debate between a mathematician/philosopher and a narcissist/atheist/biologist.mullerpr
September 13, 2007
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Sorry, I meant defender (defending).StephenB
September 12, 2007
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I will defer to those who know more, but this would not be my ideal line up for the ID side. Fuller seems to embrace social construction theory, which tends to subjectivize things which ought to be acknowledged as real. To me, that is a liability when one is trying to defend the anti-presuppositional foundation so critical for ID. According the wikipedia, Giles is an enthusiatic disciple of St. Augustine, the man who seems to have coined the phrase "faith seeking understanding." That's the last thing that a defending of ID should be saying. Still, that's not much evidence for making strong claims one way or the other.StephenB
September 12, 2007
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Do you have any information on the positions of the other debate participants?dacook
September 12, 2007
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