Groundbreaking Symposium

A Groundbreaking Event

In 1992, the Foundation for Thought and Ethics took the lead in organizing, in partnership with the C.S. Lewis Society and Dallas Christian Leadership, a remarkable exchange of views in a symposium between Darwinists and Intelligent Design proponents.

It was called "Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference?" Ten of the finest minds on Darwinism gathered in March of that year at Southern Methodist University, broke with the tradition of academic hostility, and entered into a serious discussion of views concerning the origins debate.

The impact of this historic event was soon felt at even the top levels of science in America and discussion set in motion at the symposium eventually led to more than one fundamental change in how the important debate in biological origins would be conducted thereafter.

The theme of the symposium was taken from Phillip E. Johnson's 1991 book, Darwin on Trial. It was, "Darwinism and neo-Darwinism as generally held and taught in our society carry with them an a priori committment to metaphysical naturalism, without which it is impossible to make a convincing case in their behalf."

The exchange of papers and responses delivered by keynoters Prof. Phillip Johnson and Prof. Michael Ruse, and the challenging encounters of cross-examination by scientists and philosophers from UC Davis, Syracuse, Princeton, and other major universities, brought rigorous academic stimulation and some decidedly unexpected outcomes.

If You Couldn't Be There For The Face Off, Recapture It!

The proceedings of this extraordinary symposium are contained in Darwinism: Science or Philosophy? published by Foundation for Thought and Ethics. (229 pages, eleven-page index) available now by clicking below.

"The editors deserve credit for a very fair book. Without editorializing or bias, the book lets everyone have their say... In fact, it has a nice tone of “give and take,” mostly polite, but in places amusingly peppery.... Moreover, the book is a readable primer on scientific philosophy, and provides a relatively sophisticated and invigorating philosophical challenge.”

Quarterly Review of Biology (December, 1995).