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"
You are six years old. Every day after school your father takes you to a sprawling castle filled with exotic animals, bowls of candy, and half-naked women catering to your every need.
You have your own room. You have new friends. You have an uncle Hef who's always there for you.
Welcome to the world of
Playground, the true story of a young girl who grew up inside the Playboy Mansion. By the time she was fourteen, she'd done countless drugs, had a secret affair with Hef's girlfriend, and was already losing her grip on reality. Schoolwork, family, and ""ordinary people"" had no meaning behind the iron gates of the Mansion, where celebrities frolicked, pool parties abounded, and her own father -- Hugh Hefner's personal physician and best friend, the man nicknamed ""Dr. Feel Good"" -- typically held court.
Every day was a party, every night was an adventure, and through it all was a young girl falling faster and faster down the rabbit hole -- trying desperately hard not to get lost.
"
Customer Reviews:
Very Disturbing Story.......2007-08-20
This is a very disturbing story. It could have dug in deeper into the story line. But, It did give you a idea of what she was dealing with. It really sad that she got into drugs and having sex at such a young age. It is sad & disturbing that she didn't really have parental support. That she was able to do the things that she did. When I got done, I didn't really learn anything new. Just that this little girl was able to have this terrible life.
beach book.......2007-08-10
this book is good for the beach. the author tells you about the hard life of drugs, sex and playboy bunnies. This book gave me an insight on what it is like in the playboy manison. now when i look at the parties in the manison that they throw I know what the scene is like. The author tries really hard to write about her self discovery but she really didnt have much of a discovery. Most of the book is about confused life with playboy kendra and her relationship with her father. Basically the same kind of thing you see on the news about lindsay nowadays.
Enticing.......2007-06-09
This book gives, yes one side of the story to the Playboy Mansion but it gives a really good view. This book had me riveted from the first chapter!!! Definetly a good read and will recommend it to everyone I know!!!!
This book is a perfect example...........2007-05-31
...of the phrase, "the banality of evil": poorly written, about stupid people, and with no insight.
Worst of all, the author fails to consider the real source of her problems: herself.
I, also, would give it a zero of I could.
If I could give it 10 Stars I would!.......2007-05-25
This was one of the most insightful books I have ever read. What an interesting life Jennifer Saginor lead and what insight she gave to the Playboy Years at the Mansion. With children of my own, it was very disturbing to read what she was exposed to at such a young age- Wow! But, having said that, what she described- the sex, drugs, celebrity etc was amazing. I thought it very poignant when she described playing hide-no-go-seek with Dorothy Stratton just a week before her murder. I thought that Jennifer did a great, great job on this book while maintaining the mystery and respect of Hugh and his empire.
Average customer rating:
- Powerful, painstaking work
- Inaccurate information provided in the summary
- Important biography of a person who was a catalyst for India's independence
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The Butcher of Amritsar: Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer
Nigel Collett
Manufacturer: Hambledon & London
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ASIN: 185285457X
Release Date: 2005-05-19 |
Book Description
On April 13, 1919, General Reginald Dyer marched a squad of Indian soldiers into the Jallianwala Bagh, an enclosed public space in the holy city of Amritsar, and opened fire without warning on a crowd gathered to hear political speeches, leaving over 200 dead. To some, Dyer was the savior of India, responding decisively to threatened insurrection, but to many in India, including Gahndi and Nehru, his action proved the moral bankruptcy of the British Empire. The bitter debate that followed the shootings, the worst atrocity perpetrated by the British in the twentieth century, almost brought down the Liberal Government and was a decisive turning point in India's march to independence. The Butcher of Amritsar is a definitive account of the massacre and a biography of Reginald Dyer, a man whose attitudes reflected many of the views common in the Raj.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful, painstaking work.......2007-10-07
There are several events that are seared into Indian memory. One was the massacre at Delhi by Nadir Shah's troops in 1739. The second is the one ordered by General Dyer at Jallianwala Bagh in 180 years later. This book, by a British scholar, is a sort of soul-searching biography of the General.
The story starts with General's family history, and covers his education, his military training, and subsequent career. His career is described in great detail, in nearly 200 closely typed pages. The rest of the 200 odd pages are devoted to the massacre, the investigation and trial, and General Dyer's natural death.
There is a great deal of detail. There are extensive notes as well. There are 28 photographs, apart from some maps. The photographs bring out the horrors of colonial rule clearly - one showing an elderly man having to crawl in the street to get to his own house, because of the dehumanising crawling order. Mr. Collett has done a painstaking job. To my knowledge, this is the most detailed and authentic work on this tragic event.
The British were at the zenith of their power and glory, and this was getting reflected in their behaviour and thinking. This comes through very nicely in Mr. Collett's work. He shows how British opinion about the massacre was divided. There were a large number of people who were horrified, but there was also a determined group which defended his actions. General Dyer himself remained defiant, unrepentant to the end.
Mr. Collett's book is also timely - the curtains have not been drawn on such excesses. They were repeated across Europe during the second world war. They continue to take place today in Iraq. Today's military may have become more accountable, but it has certainly not become more responsible in its use of force than General Dyer was.
There was a post-script to this, which Mr. Collett has not mentioned. On 13-March-1940, an Indian named Udham Singh, who had seen the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, searched out and shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer (the then Governor of Punjab, and an untiring defender of General Dyer) at Caxton Hall in London. He surrendered to the Police, giving his name as Ram Mohammed Singh D'Souza, signifying brotherhood among Indians of different faiths. He was hanged by the British on 12-June-1940.
All in all an excellent book for scholars, and those interested in this period of Indian history or in colonialism.
If you read Hindi, you may also be interested in a shorter book 'Jallianwala Kaand ka Sach', Major General Sooraj Bhatia, published by Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi.
Inaccurate information provided in the summary.......2005-09-05
The summary over here reads over 200 dead. This isn't anywhere close to the 1500 plus people who died on this day.
1 star is more of a neutral view, having not read the book.
Important biography of a person who was a catalyst for India's independence.......2005-08-03
This was a carefully thought out, well researched biography of a person whom I had heard only a few facts about. While I grew up in India, history in India is not well taught and one reads basic facts without the details. This book shows the details behind the person from his childhood to his adulthood that lead to the culmination of the major dead he did, ordering the firing on the crowd without reason. It was prompted by the attack on one English woman before. It shows that colonialism is never simple, it is always accompanied by such atrocities. The crawling order that followed was also terrible. What is worse is that so many English felt that Dyer was justified in doing what he did and supported him, both in India and in England. To people who have not read the history, this will be a painful remainder that the positives that India got from the British came with terrible negatives. He felt that there should be a eleventh commandment, "Thou shalt not revolt". He felt Indian to the core as long as every Indian knew his place and served every Englishman. What is not covered in the book is the reaction to Dyer by the Indian freedom fighters. The author marginalizes the work done by people like Gandhi. However, having known what the British did in India and how they debated Dyer's actions, I for one am glad that they are not in India anymore. India may have limitations in its democracy, it may have deficiencies, but it is improving. When part of the colonial empire, the literacy of India moved from 6% to 11% from 1900 to 1945. The British spent more in the city of Manchester in city system than one whole province. Now, India's literacy is more than 60% in 50 years and economy is improving. Anyone would take that to a colonial power. What General Dyer did was epitomize the worst of what was in the British at that time.
Customer Reviews:
Another Grossly Distorted, Quite Biased, Tome In Praise of So-Called "Intelligent Design".......2007-05-28
This miserable collection of papers is yet another blatant attempt by Intelligent Design advocates to demonstrate that their idea has ample scientific validity and is not religiously-oriented at all; a conclusion that is quite untenable to hold in light of the harsh, negative verdict rendered against Intelligent Design by Republican Federal Judge John Jones in his ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the 2005 Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District trial (He concluded that Intelligent Design was a religious idea masquerading as science; a verdict which two distinguished conservative commentators, Charles Krauthammer and George Will, applauded soon thereafter in their newspaper columns published originally in The Washington Post.). Hoping to persuade a potential audience that this volume is balanced, the editors, John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer (who is a key member of the Seattle, Washington-based Discovery Institute's staff; the same institute which has provided ample lavish funding on behalf of Intelligent Design and its advocates for nearly a decade), have also included some papers by authors harshly critical of Intelligent Design, especially philosopher Michael Ruse's. However, don't be deceived thinking that you will indeed get a balanced presention, both pro and con, on the Intelligent Design" issue, when the book's real raison d'etre is to offer a defense of Intelligent Design for both scientific and science educational reasons. Most of the issues covered are done admirably well in Robert Pennock's "Tower of Babel" and especially, Eugenie Scott's "Evolutionism vs. Creationism", which are far better examples of serious scholarship devoted to this issue than virtually all of the papers published in this anthology ( I also recommend any of the books I've cited in my Amazon.com Listmania! List (http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-Is-Science-amp-Creationism-Isn-t/lm/R1288DTMHQJI13/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full/105-5149275-4621242). Otherwise, if you insist on purchasing this book, then I would strongly advise instead, to think of acquiring one devoted to Klingon Cosmology, since Klingon Cosmology, like Intelligent Design, depends solely upon faith, not reason, in articulating and defending its principles.
DI Does it Again.......2007-03-03
I think that intelligent design advocates really do want what is best for "the kids." Then again, so do creationists.
A Balanced Volume with Arguments from Scientists and other Scholars Both For and Against Teaching Intelligent Design in Schools.......2006-06-22
This balanced volume contains essays by both supporters and critics debating intelligent design and whether design should be allowed in public school science classes. The scholars approach the question from the standpoints of constitutional law, philosophy, rhetoric, education, and science.
Legal scholar David DeWolf argues that teachers should have the academic freedom to teach intelligent design in the classroom because of its empirical, nonreligious basis. John Angus Campbell sees intelligent design as the pedagogical and historical antithesis to Neo-Darwinism, both of which must be taught if students are to properly understand biological origins. Pro-design technical arguments reach into many forums: William Dembski finds that many scientific fields already use design reasoning to detect design via "specified complexity," Stephen Meyer applies such reasoning to argue for design of the encoded information in DNA and the origin of life, while Michael Behe argues that irreducibly complex molecular machines were designed. Stephen Meyer, Paul Chien and others argue that there is design indicated by the rapid origin of the animal phyla during the Cambrian explosion. And Paul Nelson, and Jonathan Wells argue that design is the best explanation for homology and genetic convergence in biology.
Then, too, are the articles critical of intelligent design. Celeste Michelle Condit argues that the natural origin of rock bridges provide a useful analogy to defeat Behe's arguments about the supposed unevolvability of irreducibly complex machines. Bruce H. Weber contends that we should not rule out evolutionary explanations, arguing that there are many promising accounts for biochemical evolution in the scientific literature. Massimo Pigliucci attacks the funding sources of design proponents and suggests that natural selection can produce specified complexity. Michael Ruse proposes that critics are far more valuable in intellectual debate than are friends, and goes on to call design "religion," and explains that neither religiously oriented "popular" versions of Darwinism nor intelligent design belong in the classroom. Ruse contends that the science classroom should only teach "professional Darwinism."
This book provides an excellent and readable source of primary literature for and against intelligent design.
why state religion?.......2006-02-22
I intend to make only several "quick" observations:
Since Denton's Nature's Destiny and Behe's work, and now this current book, for example, it would seem that any "objective" person would be impressed with the material presented. But that's the issue: objectivity.
How a "coldly" objective scientific type such as Sullivan would take personal and emotional umbrage at this issue- in a meaningless universe- strikes me as truly "funny". Afterall, then, why or how would it make any difference? Would it enhance his evolutionary fitness for survival? But that leads me to what I consider to be the most significant point. Let the "sullivans" of this world teach their children what they wish and allow us the freedom to inform our children of all the evidence- without sarcasm and name-calling. Better yet, eliminate the problem completely by ceasing to assume or posit the "state" educational system altogether! Afterall, is this really about whether Sullivan's world-view or mine will be- by the power of the State- imposed on my children? Why in heaven's name do we subject our children to such mental brutality? Are they the "football" in this "game"?
Scaling the Mount Everest of assumptions made by dogmatic neo-Darwinians.......2005-12-07
It is refreshing that at least some healthy discussion has commenced regarding the literal plethora of misinformation on which most of the assumptions regarding Darwin's theory on the origin of the species are based. This book and others of its kind, though not exhaustive enough to tackle in only a single volume every aspect of the countless controversies surrounding Intelligent Design vs. Darwinism, nicely inspires interested parties to adhere to the principle of searching for truth, not simply accepting verbatim what mainstream academia has been promoting over the past century.
The fact is, most proponents of macro evolutionist theory, when thoroughly questioned, do not even know what it is, have never taken a biology course, nor could they explain the difference between natural selection itself (aka. adaptation, a phenomenon which can be empirically observed as occurring in nature) and the theory that entirely new species of living creatures make the quantum leap from a previous species to a complete other via the motor of natural selection (merely a theoretical model used to explain the broad variation of species, which is not able to be empirically proven through simple observation, only assumed through deduction).
One such lay proponent of neo-Darwinist theory has been busily flaming this very review board. His name is Tom Sullivan of York, Pennsylvania. Due to a sheer lack of understanding of what ID is and an absence of any semblance of objectivity, his reviews are absolutely useless to sincerely interested observers. Instead of simply objectively reporting on the content or value of books centering on the topic of Intelligent Design, he angrily resorts to hyperbole and slander, even basing one of his statements regarding "Christians" on a myth about the flat earth theory, which was maliciously created by proponents of Darwinism themselves, in an attack on organized religion at that time. This is the typical mindset in the world today, which, ironically, has always been the fearful reaction of anyone troubled by attacks on the status quo. This book, and others like it, are at least make a positive step toward dismantling such unhealthy attitudes and is a refreshing attempt at civility.
Even though such attempts may strike fear into the hearts of the likes of Patrick Sullivan, who has cut and pasted a nearly identical review onto this site concerning every single book in this series, the painful but necessary job of blowing over card houses is appreciated by some.
As mentioned above, what should be embarrassing to Mr. Sullivan (assuming he has any self respect) and to others like him is that they are not refuting Intelligent Design at all by slandering young-earth creationists or erroneously stating that Christians once believed the earth was flat.
Intelligent Design, in its principles, contains elements pertaining to the science of observation which are imperative to fields such as forensic science and archeology, to name only two. The proponents of Intelligent Design he and others like him attack cannot be lumped in with creationists in general, and doing so only demonstrates sheer ignorance, or bigoted dismissal, of the distinctions between these groups.
If our quest is to eventually obtain a presentation of truth that is as unbiased as possible, then, against the backdrop of advancements in technology which our information age brings with it, Darwin's theory must be revisited and critically analyzed on entirely new bases - if only to dispel misconceptions, poor assumptions, or worse - myths.
As far as the assertion is concerned that holding the earth to be flat was formerly required in order to ascribe to the Christian faith, here's an excerpt by Wells himself, refuting such claims:
"According to the standard story, Christians used to believe for biblical reasons that the Earth is flat. When modern science demonstrated that the Earth is actually a sphere, that belief became a legitimate target for ridicule. Now, since modern science has likewise demonstrated the truth of Darwin's theory (so the story goes), critics of Darwinism are just as silly as flat- Earthers.
But the story is totally false. It was pure fiction until it was turned into a phony historical claim by late-19th century Darwinists who used it to slander Christians.
The spherical shape of the Earth was known to the ancient Greeks, who even made some pretty good estimates of its circumference. Christian theologians likewise knew that the Earth was a sphere. The only two Christian writers who seem to have advocated a flat Earth were a 4th-century heretic, Lactantius, and an obscure 6th-century eccentric, Cosmas Indicopleustes.
The modern Flat Earth Myth originated with the 19th-century American writer Washington Irving. In his fictional History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828), Irving wrote that flat-Earth churchmen had opposed Columbus on the grounds that he would fall off the edge of the Earth if he tried to sail across the Atlantic. In actuality, Columbus's opponents knew not only that the Earth is a sphere, but also approximately how big it is. Since they (like Columbus) knew nothing about the Americas, it was quite reasonable for them to believe that a voyage to the Far East would not be a good investment.
The Flat Earth Myth remained clearly in the realm of fiction until Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859. Then two of Darwin's followers presented it as actual history in books that defended Darwinism against imaginary attacks from ignorant Christians: John Draper's The History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874), and Andrew Dickson White's A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). The pseudo-historical propaganda of Draper and White has been thoroughly discredited by twentieth-century historians.
Apparently, however, Graur doesn't read much history. Instead, he unknowingly caricatures critics of Darwinism on the basis of a myth that the Darwinists themselves fabricated.
Now THAT's funny!"
Book Description
Francis J. Beckwith asks whether teaching Intelligent Design in public schools would be constitutional, in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Edwards v. Aguillard.
Customer Reviews:
A Noted Scholar Explains Why Intelligent Design is Constitutional.......2006-06-22
Legal scholar Francis J. Beckwith recounts the legal history of court battles over the teaching of biological origins. Though many thought that the landmark Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard would permanently settle these questions by ruling creationism unconstitutional, Beckwith observes that intelligent design poses a new challenge to legal scholars. Beckwith, who has published about teaching intelligent design in law journals such as Harvard Law Review, provides a thorough treatment of the subject.
After recounting the history of cases which involved the "Creator in the courtroom,' Beckwith turns to analyzing intelligent design. Under various legal definitions of religion, Beckwith contends that design is not religion as conventionally understood because it derives its support from empirical data and philosophical arguments. Intelligent design, Beckwith explains, is distinct from creationism, for it derives its support from the scientific argument rather than religious texts such as the book of Genesis. Design also fails other legal tests for "religion," such as the "parallel position test" because it does not function as a religion in the lives of its proponents. While design may come to conclusions shared by some religions, this does not necessarily make it "religion" for legal purposes. After all, Beckwith observes, courts have acknowledged that "a decision respecting the subject matter to be taught in public schools does not violate the Establishment Clause simply because the material to be taught `happens to harmonize with the tenets of some or all religions.'"
Finally, Beckwith argues that intelligent design does not fit under the Edwards test for religion because it lacks a historical connection with the Scopes Trial and other Genesis-inspired anti-evolution endeavors. Teaching about intelligent design could be justified on the basis that it improves the religious "neutrality" of a curriculum.
Beckwith provides a deep and thorough treatment of the legal arguments raised by critics of teaching design in public schools. Those interested in studying the relevant technical legal arguments surrounding the teaching of intelligent design will require an understanding of Beckwith's well-reasoned position explained in this book.
A well-informed, even-handed assessment.......2004-11-11
Francis Beckwith's LAW, DARWINISM, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION does an excellent job of sorting through and analyzing the relevant court cases and legal arguments concerning the teaching of creation/evolution in public schools. With the emergence of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, a much stronger and more sophisticated case can be made, both empirically and philosophically, for the plausibility of a Creator and Designer. The strength of these arguments cannot justifiably be barred from public education curricula.
Beckwith suggests a point I would like to underscore: the "creation vs. evolution" debate is often a red herring, masking the more fundamental metaphysical issues at stake. First, there are theistic evolutionists (Howard Van Till calls this view "fully gifted creation"), who believe that God has been working through the evolutionary process in the unfolding of His purposes. Darwin himself started out believing this. In the early editions of *The Origin of Species*, Darwin himself spoke of "laws impressed on matter by the Creator" and "life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one" (Ch. 15, "Recapitulation and Conclusion"). Later, Darwin apparently gave up on his faith based, not on any scientific evidence, but due to theological and philosophical assumptions (which turn out to be deeply problematic: see Cornelius Hunter, DARWIN'S GOD [Brazos Press]). So the ultimate issue is not "creation vs. evolution" but "naturalism vs. supernaturalism." Whether we should prefer naturalistic explanations over supernaturalistic ones is a philosophical matter, not a scientific one.
Second, biological evolution presupposes (a) the emergence of the universe a finite time ago and (b) its delicately-balanced conditions for life. Without these, the process of evolution could not even get started. One could add that (c) simply because conditions are conducive to the emergence of life, this by no means guarantees that non-living matter will produce living organisms. The emergence of first life itself is a huge difficulty for the naturalist (see Bradley, Olson, and Thaxton, THE MYSTERY OF LIFE'S ORIGIN* [Philosophical Press])..
To underscore the constitutional legitimacy of ID in public education, one could make the minimalist case for bracketing the issue of biological evolution itself and first focusing specifically on a Creator and Designer as the best explanation for (a) the emergence of the universe from nothing a finite time ago and (b) the "Goldilocks effect"--that the many interlocking conditions for biological life are "just right." Even if evolution has taken place, the explanatory context of a powerful and intelligent Being makes much better sense of (a) and (b) than its naturalistic alternatives. Once these are in place, only then could evolution get going.
I heartily recommend Beckwith's refreshing, insightful book and wish it all the success it deserves.
It is "Your Daddy's Fundamentalism".......2004-06-29
Next to sex education, evolution is the most controversial school subject. This book makes the modest argument that an idea called "Intelligent Design" should be taught in public schools alongside evolution. The author sets out a framework for analysis which unfortunately leads to the opposite conclusion, failing to achieve its modest goal. I read it because it received a glowing review in the Harvard Law Review, entitled, "Not Your Daddy's Fundamanetalism."
The author's argument is that various court cases rejected creationism in public schools because it violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The author argues that Intelligent Design should be treated differently. First it is not the "New Earth" creationism, which was rejected by the courts. Furthermore, attempts by various courts to define "science" fail on philosophical grounds, so there is no philosophical preference between evolution and Intelligent Design. Methodological Naturalism, the basis for evolution is not a scientific theory but a philosophical outlook no more or no less valid than Intelligent Design's outlook. The author does not conceal the fact that he objects to evolution because it "cannot account for the existence of the universe, morality rationality," and therefore it should be rejected on philosophical grounds as the overarching scientific theory of biology.
According to the author, the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court Case, Edwards v Aguillard, struck down the creationist law based on (1) the historical continuity with the famous Scopes trial and other well publicized creationist-evolutionist debates throughout the twentieth century; (2) How closely the curriculum content parallels the Genesis story or that curriculum is proscribed because it departs from Genesis; (3) the motives of the statute's supporters; and (4) Whether the statute was a legitimate means to achieve an appropriate state ends. The author attempts to argue that the analysis of these points applied to "Intelligent Design" leads to a different result.
The author's suggested framework is plausible, but when applied to the facts as recognized by the author, himself, it fails. As a general proposition, how do we determine whether any idea is to be presented to students in an elementary school science class? A list of candidates could include atomic theory, Newtonian physics, evolution, relativity, quantum mechanics, yeti, astrology, ES, geocentricism, creationism and Intelligent design. The Author makes the incorrect and novel idea that a discipline, such as science or medicine, cannot define itself. Only philosophy, not coincidentally the author's area of expertise, is qualified to sort out which of the above ideas qualify as true "science."
In McLean v Arkansas, the trial judge determined that "science" had several characteristics. Application of the McLean criteria would quickly eliminate yeti, ESP creationism and Intelligent Design from the above list, so the author suggests that "demarcation issues' prevent a trial judge from reliably distinguishing between "real science" and imposters. Beckwith especially relies on the methodology of Larry Laudan, who suggests that the demarcation is unsolvable, i.e., it is not possible or desirable to distinguish between science and non-science. Laudan however, completes the argument that Beckwith does not-Laudan holds that some ideas are demonstrably scientifically wrong. Laudan holds that it is possible to determine what those ideas are, and Intelligent Design is one of them. I don't know why the author did not refer to Laudan's specific rejection of Intelligent Design.
Amazingly, at the time he wrote the book (2002), the author conceded that there was insufficient scholarly support for Intelligent Design. (p. 43, fn. 125). Since 2002, that situation has become worse, not better, according to the author, who, as of March 2004, holds that he does not favor teaching intelligent design in public schools because of a lack of scientific documentation for the theory (http://www.moteworthy.com/archives/000242.html). This is an amazing admission in light of the myriad of footnotes citing nearly all the Intelligent Design literature as of 2002, including the collected works of Michael Behe, Philip Johnson and William Demski. At this point, Beckwith's argument has to be re-phrased to, "Is it unconstitutional to teach incorrect ideas as established science?" After all, a law may be stupid without being unconstitutional.
Although Beckwith (and Scalia) may disagree, a court is entitled to ask why on earth anyone would want to teach a subject such as intelligent design (or ESP) with no scientific evidence in support and vast amounts contradicting it. (Beckwith's analysis of evolution is cursory, incorrect and irrelevant to his argument). It is reasonable to suggest that the idea is a sham in an effort to inject religious creationism into science class. If so, then the four Edwards criteria make sense. Reference to the history of evolution /creationism debates, the religious motivations of Intelligent Design proponents, their extra-scientific comments, their refusal to address the evolution's scientific evidence and predictive powers and legislative history would all be relevant under the Edwards analysis. Applying the Edwards criteria to Intelligent Design leads to the conclusion that it is a sham and should be treated the same as all other forms of creationism.
Teaching about Intelligent Design in a philosophy, religion or history course would be a different matter entirely.
Well-written book with a modest conclusion.......2004-05-10
I've read virtually all of the law reviews written on the constitutional status of presenting alternative theories to evolution in the publics school classroom. Francis Beckwith's modest conclusion falls just slightly to the right of assessments made by other respected legal scholars like Kent Greenawalt and Jay Wexler. It is his contention that an alternative theory like Intelligent Design could probably survive an Establishment Clause challenge whereas the Genesis-based creation science presentation has not. Greenawalt and Wexler aren't sure and tend to think ID might not survive an Establishment Challenge.
As far as quality goes, the book is well-written and researched. It also display's Beckwith's strength as a philosopher as he parses arguments. The bottom line is that Beckwith offers a very modest conclusion. Intelligent Design may someday be offered as an alternative theory of origins in public school and may survive an Establishment Clause challenge largely due to its lack of allegiance to any theological tradition. The theory makes no attempt to offer an explanation of who or what provides the agency of design
Beckwith's book is a valuable contribution to the literature estimating the constitutional status of intelligent design. If a court case does arise, his book will certainly be part of the material considered.
"Don't Criticize What You Can't Understand".......2004-05-09
Too many people reviewing this book don't get it. The Daubert case flap is an illustration. Beckwith does not say whether he agrees or disagrees with Daubert. All that he is saying is that Daubert, as precedent, helps the cause of ID if a judge were to require a high level of scrutiny as to what counts as "science." However, he does point out that ID folks will likely not have to rely on Daubert because the issues they raise are found throughout the peer-review science literature (though mostly NOT raised by ID advocates) and have been published in peer-reviewed monographs, anthologies, and academic journals that deal with the philosophy of science.
Beckwith's book is a brief for the permissibility of teaching ID in public schools. As any good law student knows, a brief is not meant to critique the plausibility of the opinions it cites in support of its case. So, if Beckwith had not consulted or employed Daubert, then it would have been a bad brief.
The negative reviewers, whose motives are impure, will not tell you what I just told you. Their concern is "spin" and not accuracy.
They have been helpful, however: they have provided yet another piece of evidence of the wicked vitriol that goes on in this controversy by the Darwinian Bull Dogs.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 4652 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Dembski, Darwin, and Devils.(The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design)(God, the Devil and Darwin)(Darwinism, Design and Public Education)(Book Review)
Author: Jason Rosenhouse
Publication:
Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11
Issue: 2
Page: 79(6)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Law, Darwinism, and Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Church and State
Jon P. Alston
Manufacturer: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
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Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0008E3LTK
Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State on June 22, 2003. The length of the article is 726 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Law, Darwinism, and Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design.(Book Review)
Author: Jon P. Alston
Publication:
Journal of Church and State (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2003
Publisher: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
Volume: 45
Issue: 3
Page: 600(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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