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girlgeekstrikesagain's review against another edition
2.0
Although Kitcher makes some interesting points, his snarky tone makes it hard to read his diatribe against faith. It's less about living with Darwin and more about bashing Christians and Christianity.
drbobcornwall's review
3.0
Charles Darwin is a figure that dominates modern life. He’s a figure who polarizes our culture, even if we haven’t the slightest idea what he taught. To some he is a hero of science and saint to those who hold reason in highest regard, but to others he is the devil incarnate and the epitome of atheism’s dangers. Philip Kitcher’s new book, Living with Darwin, is a readable and challenging treatise that will prove disconcerting to just about everyone involved in the current debates, including those of us who seek to build bridges between evolution and faith.
Philip Kitcher is a philosopher – John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University – and a writer of numerous books dealing with science and religion. He is both sympathetic to religious claims and a partisan for reason. He is a Darwinist at heart, even a secularist, and yet he understands why religion holds such importance in the most modern of cultures.
The book raises the question of why Darwin is such a controversial personage. Why is evolution seen as such a threat? Yes, he was buried with honors in Westminster Abbey in the shadow of Newton’s own monument, but what of the Darwin who holds center stage today and has become such a reviled figure.
Continue reading at my blog: http://www.bobcornwall.com/2007/02/living-with-darwin-initial-review.html
Philip Kitcher is a philosopher – John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University – and a writer of numerous books dealing with science and religion. He is both sympathetic to religious claims and a partisan for reason. He is a Darwinist at heart, even a secularist, and yet he understands why religion holds such importance in the most modern of cultures.
The book raises the question of why Darwin is such a controversial personage. Why is evolution seen as such a threat? Yes, he was buried with honors in Westminster Abbey in the shadow of Newton’s own monument, but what of the Darwin who holds center stage today and has become such a reviled figure.
Continue reading at my blog: http://www.bobcornwall.com/2007/02/living-with-darwin-initial-review.html
reasonpassion's review
4.0
Great overview of evolutionary theory and intelligent design, noting the difficulties that exist in the former and the lack of answers provided by the latter. Rather than assailing ID for being anti-science, Kitcher does a great job of breaking it down into its separate arguments and instead detailing how this is not a new idea but whitewashed old ones that have been discarded by scientists who held them in the past. ID is not so much anti-science as "dead science." The remainder of the book is a pretty straight forward critical look at the rationale of why ID is assumed to be so important and why Darwin is considered so evil. The result is a humanistic rendering of an argument that too often leaves our humanity behind.
abomine's review
4.0
On one hand, I think Living With Darwin's message is important. It largely goes over the history of creationism's opposition to evolution, debunking the half-baked 'science' of intelligent design and exposing it as a front for sneaking religious doctrine into schools. This book also concludes that in order for Christianity to survive in the modern world, it needs to drop literal readings of the Bible in favor of more spiritual and metaphorical ones, with continued emphasis on compassion and community.
On the other hand, Living With Darwin sort of feels like it's preaching to the choir. The kinds of people who are likely reading this book and others like it are people already fairly familiar with these kinds of ideas and worldviews. While I could never put these ideas so eloquently as Philip Kitcher, I agree with what he's saying. Unfortunately, the people for whom this book is intended, people who are religious or spiritual but possibly open to new ideas, likely won't be reading this, and will instead be reading the Bible. So who is this book really intended for?
On the other hand, Living With Darwin sort of feels like it's preaching to the choir. The kinds of people who are likely reading this book and others like it are people already fairly familiar with these kinds of ideas and worldviews. While I could never put these ideas so eloquently as Philip Kitcher, I agree with what he's saying. Unfortunately, the people for whom this book is intended, people who are religious or spiritual but possibly open to new ideas, likely won't be reading this, and will instead be reading the Bible. So who is this book really intended for?
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