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

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