Id like to discuss the quote below from Daniel Dennetts book Darwins Dangerous Idea because I think it underlines the disconnect between the defenses of creationism and the defenses of evolution. Creationists so rarely serve with the net up. Moreover, they complain endlessly even when the evolutionist is serving with the net up, demanding that the net be raised higher and higher until its impossible for even the wisest and most educated biologist to get a ball over it, at which point they crow that evolution has been disproved. ----- “One reader of an early draft of this chapter complained at this point, saying that by treating the hypothesis of God as just one more scientific hypothesis, to be evaluated by the standards of science in particular and rational thought in general, Dawkins and I are ignoring the very widespread claim by believers in God that their faith is quite beyond reason, not a matter to which such mundane methods of testing applies. It is not just unsympathetic, he claimed, but strictly unwarranted for me simply to assume that the scientific method continues to apply with full force in this domain of truth. Very well, lets consider the objection. I doubt that the defender of religion will find it attractive, once we explore it carefully. The philosopher Ronaldo de Souza once memorably described philosophical theology as intellectual tennis without a net, and I readily allow that I have indeed been assuming without comment or question up to now that the net of rational judgement was up. But we can lower it if you really want to. Its your serve. Whatever you serve, suppose I return service rudely as follows: What you say implies that God is a ham sandwich wrapped in tin foil. Thats not much of a God to worship!. If you then volley back, demanding to know how I can logically justify my claim that your serve has such a preposterous implication, I will reply: oh, do you want the net up for my returns, but not for your serves? Either way the net stays up, or it stays down. If the net is down there are no rules and anybody can say anything, a mugs game if there ever was one. I have been giving you the benefit of the assumption that you would not waste your own time or mine by playing with the net down.” -Daniel Dennett-
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 17:34:00 +0000
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