Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement

by William A Dembski and Jed C Macosko

Book Overview

With the publication ofDarwin on Trialin 1991, Cal Berkeley legal scholar Phillip Johnson became the leading figure in the intelligent design movement. Exposing and calling into question the philosophical foundations of Darwinism, Johnson led the charge against this largely unquestioned philosophy of materialistic reductionism and its purported basis in scientific research. This book reviews and celebrates the life and thought of Phillip Johnson and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830828362
• ISBN13: 9780830828364
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 357 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Darwin's Nemesis

This book is a splendid book for understanding thoroughly the background history and positions of Intelligent Design -- regardless of where or which side of the controversy one may position himself.

It must have hit a nerve

I am shocked by the vial hate-speech and mindless ad hominem attacks in the "reviews" printed below. They demonstrate just the kind of vicious closed-minded nonsense that ID proponents seek to dispel. To quote one extreme example (you can read it in context in John Kwok's "review" below): "I find the notion of a Festschrift published in honor of Professor Johnson as absurd as a group of Neo-Nazis publishing one to commemorate Adolf Hitler and his hate-filled book "Mein Kampf" (I find this an apt comparison since Johnson and quite a few of his supporters have an ideological world view that is remarkably close to the likes of Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.)." Well, to quote Adolf Hitler, whom this reviewer seems to have some familiarity with, "All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be." Several of these reviews marvelously illustrate this principle and shame on them for that. And good on the authors of Darwin's Nemesis, both advocates and opponents of ID, who seek a more reasoned approach. As far as this book is concerned, it must have hit a raw nerve. One has to wonder what irrational opponents of Johnson and his thinking are so sensitive about. If Darwinism really does all that it claims, then it will survive if it is the fittest theory; if not, extinction is inevitable. Whatever happens, there is no place in a civilized society for the kind of hate-speech that a few reviewers clearly wish to substitute for rational arguments. Most appear to do this because they have not actually read the book, but simply hate Phillip Johnson. Buy the book, read it and make up your own mind. The irrational hatred of others is not a good basis for making any judgments in life. (By way of full disclosure, I authored one of the chapters in Darwin's Nemesis. No, it is not a glowing tribute in support of ID. Yes, I do think that Phillip Johnson and those who disagree with him have a right to make their arguments in a way that allows others to rationally evaluate them. No, just in case there is any confusion about this, I don't support a world-view that in any way resembles that of Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.)

An Eye Opener

"Darwin's Nemesis" (2006), ed. William Dembski, is a compendium of various Intelligent Design (ID) authors and their "friendly critics". The paperback's 357 pages are dedicated to Phillip Johnson's 65th birthday. Johnson, a Berkeley Law Professor, is credited as the founder (in the early 1980s) and mentor (into the present) of the ID movement. The book's 19 chapters, authored by many scientists and experts, are divided into six sections. From these biologists, physicists, lawyers, engineers, theologians, and chemists one discovers Darwinism's materialism (p. 35), naturalism's idolatry (p. 19), the weak evidence for evolution (p. 53), Neo-Darwinism's presumed atheism (p. 138), secular humanism (p. 119), and the same Neo-Darwinism's explanation for design (p. 199). Readers learn that Christians should not ignore the fossil record while teaching evolution or creation (p. 129-130). The book poignantly points out that, while educating, science should never be divorced from the humanities (p. 124). ID proponents are coached (through chapter 5) on how to teach Intelligent Design, in the ways to attract new converts, and about anger management in the face of militant evolutionists (believed to be the vast majorities of educators and scientists). The authors are optimistic that ID will catch on with ensuing generations. Perhaps the best part of this book is Dembski's definition for ID- "...intelligent design is not a religious doctrine about where everything came from but rather a scientific investigation into how patterns exhibited by finite arrangement of matter can signify intelligence" (p. 98). The most peculiar section of the book is Borges' four-page chapter 8, which attempts an evolution explanation through a set of curious stories. (One hopes that other evolutionists are not as weird!) Although this book does not necessarily persuade towards ID (such convincing may not be the authors' agenda), it is a real eye opener. It is comfortably researched (with 30 pages of endnotes) and contains several charts, black and white photos, and maps. "Darwin's Nemesis" is well written, interesting, and informative. If you are wondering about ID this text answers many questions. This book is recommended to all ID buffs, anyone wishing to refute it, and those curious about it.