Objectives:

As scientific theories go, the theory of evolution has had a history of controversy; many people find the theory difficult to swallow, despite large-scale scientific support for it. It has been rejected (and defended) on a variety of grounds: scientific, religious, and moral. We want to get a grasp of the theory of evolution itself—what it says, what sort of support it has, what it can be used to explain, what limits there are to what it can explain—and see what (if any) implications it has for philosophy, for religion, for morality, and generally for the understanding we have of ourselves and our world.

Required Books:

Philip Appleman (ed), Darwin (Norton, 2001—3rd edition)
Philip Kitcher, Living With Darwin (Oxford, 2007)
Peter Singer, The Darwinian Left (Yale, 1999)
Other readings will be assigned as needed.

Course Requirements:

2 Paper/Commentaries (at least 5 pages) 60 %
Take-home Final Exam 30 %
Class Engagement 10 %

Papers/commentaries: Due on the 2nd and 3rd Fridays of the block at 4 PM. Papers require research beyond material assigned for class. For your first paper, I would like you to focus on the scientific status of the theory of evolution. I will provide a handout of questions you might address. The second paper topic is up to you. I will be very happy to make suggestions, talk with you about what you've read, help you sort out the issues, etc. Generally, papers should be philosophical, where, for our purposes, this means they should be analytical or argumentative papers. Only extreme circumstances justify turning in a paper late (or missing a quiz), and these should be cleared if in any way possible before the event in question. Make sure you document carefully material you use in writing your papers. Academic dishonesty will result in your failing the course.

The final exam will consist of three or four essay questions concerned with arguments we’ve discussed.

I also expect your engagement/participation in class. I expect you to come to class and come prepared with questions to ask, comments about what you've read, etc. Unless you are actively engaged in thinking about the issues we'll be discussing, you are not functioning as a member of the class.

Cornell College is committed to providing equal educational opportunities to all students.  If you have a documented learning disability and will need any accommodation in this course, you must request the accommodation(s) as early as possible and no later than the third day of the term. Additional information about the policies and procedures for accommodation of learning disabilities is available on the Cornell web site at  
http://cornellcollege.edu/academic_affairs/disabilities/.

Tentative Schedule (readings for each date are to be done by class on that date):

Sept	29	Introduction to the course.
	30	Appleman: Mayr (pp.23-29), De Beer (pp. 33-39), Malthus (pp, 39-40), Paley (pp. 41-44), Whewell (pp. 57-61), Darwin (pp. 95-105). Dawkins: "Darwin and Darwinism"
	1	Appleman: Darwin (pp. 106-135). Dawkins: "Gaps in the Mind"
	2	Appleman: Darwin (pp. 135-174)
	3	Appleman: Darwin (pp. 175-194, 242-254)
	6	Appleman (pp. 581-612). Dembski (http://www.designinference.com/documents/2005.06.Defense_of_ID.pdf)
	7	Plantinga (http://www.asa3.org/ASA/dialogues/Faith-reason/CRS9-91Plantinga1.html), Bethell (http://origins.org/articles/bethell_neodarwinism.html)
	8	Dawkins (http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Articles/1998-sumimprobabilityofgod.shtml), Dennett (http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/atheism.pdf)
	9	Singer, Into and chapters 1 & 2.
	10	Papers due at 4:00
	13	Singer, chapters 3-5.
	14	Kitcher (Preface and chapters 1 & 2).
	15	Kitcher (chapters 3-5).
	16	TBA.
	17	Papers due at 4:00
	24	Dennett, "In Darwin's Wake, Where Am I?"
	25	TBA
	26	Final Exam (due at 12 PM).