By Adriana Aumen, College of Arts & Sciences
PULLMAN, Wash. – Presentations about the struggle between Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and intelligent design for the 53rd Frank Fraser Potter Memorial Lecture in Philosophy and the Potter Talk on Thursday, March 12, have been canceled due to speaker injury. They might be rescheduled in the fall.
Elliott Sober, an expert in the philosophy of biology and the creation versus evolution debate, will deliver the lecture, “Darwin and Intelligent Design,” at 7 p.m. in the CUB junior ballroom. He will lead the talk, “Did Darwin Write the ‘Origin’ Backwards?” at noon in Bryan Hall 308. Both are free to the public, and audience questions are welcome. Learn more at http://libarts.wsu.edu/pppa/potter-lecture/.
Sober is the Hans Reichenbach Professor and William F. Vilas Research Professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (http://philosophy.wisc.edu/sober/). In 2014 he received the Philosophy of Science Association’s Carl Gustav Hempel Award and the University of Wisconsin’s Hilldale Award for his contributions to teaching, research and service.
His research ranges from the highly abstract topic of simplicity to more practical topics in social psychology. Find a list of his publications at http://sober.philosophy.wisc.edu/books.
“Elliott Sober is one of the most respected philosophers in the discipline,” said Joe Campbell, WSU professor of philosophy and Potter events organizer. “He has won nine National Science Foundation grants and several other awards, honors and fellowships. But what separates Professor Sober from other philosophers is his ability to break down complex issues in philosophy of science and explain them in a way that is accessible to a much wider audience.”
Both presentations will be based on material from Sober’s book “Did Darwin write the ‘Origin’ Backwards?” – a collection of essays exploring Darwin’s iconic tome, “On the Origin of Species.” Sober examines Darwin’s discussion of God and how it squares with common views of Darwin as the champion of methodological naturalism.
The Potter events are sponsored by the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs (http://libarts.wsu.edu/pppa/index.asp) in the WSU College of Arts and Sciences (http://cas.wsu.edu/). The talk is co-sponsored by the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service (http://foley.wsu.edu/) at WSU.
Contacts:
Joe Campbell, WSU professor of philosophy, 509-335-9106, josephc@wsu.edu
Adriana Aumen, WSU College of Arts and Sciences communications, 509-335-5671, adriana@wsu.edu