January 22, 2009 Issue
ASU Darwin Bicentennial Presents Michael Ruse February 2
Philosopher, scientist and “ultra-Darwinian” Michael Ruse will give a lecture titled Darwin at Two Hundred Years Old: Does He Still Speak To Us? on Monday, February 2, at 8:00 p.m.
Appalachian State University’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth continues on Monday, February 2, with a lecture by Michael Ruse titled Darwin at Two Hundred Years Old: Does He Still Speak To Us? The lecture is free and open to the public and is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium.
Michael Ruse, philosopher, scientist and admitted “ultra-Darwinian,” asks the controversial questions in sociobiology, challenging science to go beyond “soaking up social values and spewing them out again as gospel.”
Ruse explores Christianity from the earliest times. Using the work of Charles Darwin to dissect creationism, he takes a philosophical approach to the values of science. With keen wit and humor, he addresses questions raised by some of the leading spokespeople for creation science theories—such as Philip Johnson and Alvin Plantinga—specifically the relationship between evolution and Christianity.
Alongside popular evolutionary theorist Steven Jay Gould, Ruse was one of the key expert witnesses at the 1981 Arkansas trial that struck down a law that sought to impose the teaching of creationism alongside evolution.
Will the future bring about a convergence of evolutionary theory and creationism? Ruse looks past the science of evolution to the evolution of science.
Ruse is a professor of philosophy and zoology at Florida State University. His many books include Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction, Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology, The Philosophy of Biology, Taking Darwin Seriously, Can a Darwinian be a Christian?: The Relationship Between Science and Religion, The Evolution Wars, and Cloning (edited volume). He is also the founder and editor of the journal Biology & Philosophy and editor of the Cambridge University Press Series in the Philosophy of Biology. He has been a fellow and lecturer around the world. Ruse’s latest book, The Evolution Creation Struggle, was published in 2005.
Lectures presented as part of the Darwin Bicentennial Series are sponsored by the University Forum Committee, the Division of Academic Affairs, University College, the Darwin Bicentennial Celebration Committee and the College of Arts and Sciences. Additional support for the series has been provided by the Joan Askew Vail Distinguished Lectureship Endowment and the Morgan Lecture Series in the Sciences.
For more information, click to www.universityforum.appstate.edu or call the university’s Office of Academic Affairs at 828-262-7660.
Want To Go?
Date: Monday, February 2
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Farthing Auditorium, ASU
Cost: Free
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