Article Title

On the Logic of Evolution and the Vanity of Scientism

Authors

Thomas E. Elliott, Eastern Michigan University

Abstract

The cultural debate about Creationism contra evolution by natural selection may be far from over, but the logic underlying it is settled. Creationism is ill-suited to take the place of methodological naturalism for the investigation of biology. In this paper, I survey how philosopher Elliott Sober uses some well-formed concepts from statistics and epistemology, including the nature of evidence, data, as well as the contemporary theory of evolution by natural selection to destroy Creationism as a viable theory once and for all. Creationism is a demonstrable logical fallacy, one that has no support biblically, or in science, but is a thoroughly political conception. I also challenge the idea that disproving Creationism means that the nature of ultimate reality is described by ontological physicalism. I argue contemporary empiricists are mistaken about the significance of the logical defeat of the erroneous system of Creationism, and that the ontological statements about unknowable facets of existence made by materialists about reality are not obviously the case. Due to the indispensability of numbers in instantiating empirical theories, I argue that numbers are quasi-Platonic abstract entities that transcend space-time. I argue that the elements of numbers are not invented, but discovered by the human mind, and are not reducible to psychological factors.

Recommended Citation

Elliott, Thomas E. (2017) "On the Logic of Evolution and the Vanity of Scientism," Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy: Vol. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://commons.emich.edu/ac/vol2/iss1/5