Intelligent Design: Finding its Rightful Place in Public Education (original) (raw)

Intelligent Design Theory and Darwinism are competing answers to the same question: how did living organisms, in all their diversity and splendour, come to exist on Earth? The theories stand opposed to each other both philosophically and scientifically, and on either side of the divide stand qualified proponents who defend their theory’s verity with a tenacious veracity. In 2005 Judge E. Jones ruled in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that the teaching of Intelligent Design Theory (ID) in public schools was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and therefore unconstitutional. In this essay I shall argue against this decision and show, not only that the teaching of ID is not unconstitutional, but also that ruling out ID as teachable in public schools is itself a violation of the Establishment Clause. I shall argue that if we are to honour the value of a good liberal education as well as the Establishment Clause’s commitment to religious neutrality, that ID should not only be allowed to be taught, but should be encouraged to be taught in classrooms. The holding of the US District Court gave two reasons as to why ID would not be allowed into public education: firstly, because it is a form of creationism that cannot uncouple itself from its religious antecedents; and secondly, because it was not science. In my paper I show the first reason to be an erroneous conflation of two very different views, and argue furthermore that whatever religious connotations the ID view might have, they are not sufficient to render it’s teaching unconstitutional. Against the second claim I argue that both ID and Darwinian Evolution are scientific inferences to the best explanation, and that the strength of both inferences are influenced by prior metaphysical commitments. Therefore, I argue, that either both should be included, or both excluded. Finally, delving into the philosophy of education and the nature of the historical debate between Darwinian Evolution and Intelligent Design, I argue that the inclusion of both theories into the curriculum is more conducive to a liberal education, which values critical thinking, than the exclusion of both theories or the inclusion of only one theory would be.