Dose evolution belong in a philosophy class - or a science class?

Question

Ok, when I ask most educators "why evolution is the only theory we study for the origin of life, and why it is; for that matter, presented as fact, not theory?" the stock answer is "because it's the best thing we have - there are other theories - but they belong in a philosophy class." However in my studies I have found nothing scientific about the theory at all that should make it better than any other. It seems to be a kind of faith. And in my mind (unless proven) also belongs in a philosophy class, So my big question to you is...
-DOSE EVOLUTION BELONG IN A PHILOSOPHY CLASS - OR A SCIENCE CLASS?-

You don't have to, but it would be helpful to me if you could include your: education level, belief system(including Atheism, and Evolutionism), age, gender, and race. I will let the community vote for best answer because of my biest. May the best answer win.

Answer 1

It is not clever enough for the Philosophy class and is too bad science for the Science class.

It is too boring for the Story telling, Fantasy and Imagination, Fiction class in English and not funny enough for the Comedy and Acting class, although if you take it seriously it is quite laughable.

Foreign Languages might consider it as a modern language since it has been made up by man, like Esperanto, with bits and pieces arbitarily cobbled together, but to be honest it is better to learn something more useful. Only those who have learnt it can understand it's crazy rantings and then they can't speak sensibly to others.

It can't really go in the Religious Studies class since it doesn't explain anything although it does require it's adherants to practise mindless devotion.

It isn't really suitable for the Sex Education class although it does encourage wanton irresponsibility and tramples on sensitivities.

It won't fit into the Mathematics class since it doesn't add up nor into History because nobody was around nor knows what happened and anyway historical records contradict it. Maybe in the future it could go here as one day it will be history.

It would like a place in Geography but there is nowhere on earth that it has been found and also in Archaeology but all the fossil remains deny it.

It is too unnatural for Biology and offends against all know laws of Nature besides looking so stupid next to all those things that only work fully formed or not at all.

Astronomy might find a place for it in a black hole somewhere and the very great distances in space could perhaps accommodate the very great leaps of faith that Evolution requires but it is supposed to be about life on earth so it can't really go there.

It's no good for Physical Education since it only stretches the imagination to breaking point and not the body, although at a pinch it might for a short while be allowed in the Sports lesson since baiting it is good sport, but winning all the time becomes boring.

Poor old mis-fittest Evolution theory with nowhere to go. How will it survive ? I suppose it will have to go in the Propaganda class for although it has been proved impossible it does serve a hidden agenda.

Answer 2

I don't have a belief system. I'd love to know how you came to the erroneous impression that evolution is not a scientific theory. Its wholly scientific - unlike intelligent design which is an underhanded attempt by bible bashers to sneak God in to school.

My education level is post-graduate - my race and gender are irrelevent! Evolution certainly does NOT require faith - are you sure you didnt get what you know about it from a creationist textbook? Evidence for evolution is all around you. Science never asks you for faith - it says look at the facts, look at the evidence, if its wrong, so be it, we'll find a better theory if it is wrong.

Evolution belongs in a science class as much as anything can. I'm just stunned to read 'I have found nothing scientific about the theory at all' - May I suggest you go back to Darwin. He was a religious man and he did not want to discover something that showed things in the bible to be false but that's what he found.

If you are honest you must ask yourself if your religion will allow you to give any theory of creation an objective view, if to you the bible is 'inerrant' then no theory no matter how accurate can dissuade you from following a religious view and neither can reasoned debate reach you. I pity you if such is the case.

There is more wonder to be found in science than in your religion.

**Also you have fallen in to a trap intentionally spread by religious types that wilfully misunderstand the term theory as applied to the sciences. You might consider Einstein's THEORY of gravity. Do you think that because it's 'just a theory' it might be wrong and one day you might violate curved spacetime by falling up in to the sky? A theory is not just a hypothesis - it is one that has been well formulated and supported by evidence and NEVER ever contradicted - and dont you think creationists have tried to disprove it? A century later they've got nothing. What does that tell you?**

Answer 3

Evolution is a science because proper scientific principles are used to study it unlike any of the other suggestions for the origins of life which depend on ideas written down by people who did not have all the knowledge we have today There is not one single fact which will proved the the evolutionary process happened (A fact that creationists try to use to defend their hopeless position) However evolution is a proven fact because of the total amount of evidence to support it which is over whelming. The latest research in DNA also supports the discoveries made by paleontologists and archaeologists.No faith is involved or necessary just a careful study of the available evidence which does take some time as it is so vast and comprehensive . If you have found nothing scientific about the evidence for evolution you have not been studying it properly or you are not sufficiently intelligent to understand it. I an a university graduate, a member of Mensa and an agnostic

Answer 4

There is more scientific, concrete, hard evidence supporting the theory of evolution than there is for almost any other theory in any scientific field.

Perhaps we should also put the study of gravity, relativity and thermodynamics into a philosophy class?

Scientific theories are never 'proven'. They can only be supported by evidence, or disproven. So far, all evidence gathered from paleontology, genetics, geology, physics, anatomy, biogeography and a hundred other disciplines supports the theory of biological evolution through natural selection.

This is why evolution belongs in a science classroom. Because it is a scientific theory. You do not mention what 'alternatives' you propose, but I suspect that they are not actually scientific theories, but pure speculation with no evidence to support them. Those belong in a religion class, not a science class.

I myself am a professional biologist with degrees in Paleontology and Education, with numerous courses in evolutionary biology. I'm a big, old white guy born the same year scientists used the unproven theory of gravity to land men on the moon. And I'm an atheist, but that's not germaine to the discussion of the scientific merits of a theory.

Answer 5

Both, it is scientific in its methods so it should be taught as a science, and it explains the origins of life, a very philosophical question.

I am an active Christian, and am somewhere between a "Progressive Creationist," and a "Deistic Evolutionist," meaning that I do not know, or care how the creation was done, whether God used natural forces to create the universe, or whether God said it, and it was so. I have read the Bible many times, and taken countless religious and philosophy classes, and when going back to the original texts of the Bible, it does not seem that a 24 hour period of time is inferred by the day mentioned in the Bible. Also, it seems peculiar that the Biblical account of the order of creation matches that of the theory of evolution, first animals in the water, then on the land, then man.

Anyway, Religion tells us why we are here, and science attempts to explain how we got here. Each one is answering a different question. Science does not attempt to tell you why you are here, but only how humans came to be, just as religions emphasis is on what the purpose of your life is.

As for your demographic questions:
Education; MBA and BS in Anthropology.
Belief System: Active Christian
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian.

Answer 6

When was the last time you were in school? No one teaches evolution as scientific "fact." Every textbook presents evolution as scientific "theory," as did all my science teachers.

One of the very first topics of most science classes is an overview of the scientific method and the difference between facts (something that has be proved, the results can be reproduced reliably every time in an experiment) and theories (a reasonable, logical explanation that is supported by evidence, but cannot be reproduced in an experiment).

Many other theories such as creationism and intelligent design do not follow the scientific method, and therefore cannot be examined as science or compared to scientific theories. They are religious theories. I don't think any of these really qualify as "philiosophic theories," but a philiosophy class could examine the difficulties of comparing theories that use different evaluation methods, and ponder the nature of what is "true" for each theory.

The answer is, evolution belongs in science class; creationism belongs in religion class; and everything belongs in a philosophy class.

Your request for demographics of the responders is totally unnecessary - the validity of their responses should be able to stand on its own. Would you suddenly respect my answer more if I said I was a Christian? a Buddhist? a PhD? How you evaluate my answer says far more about you than it does about me, or the truth of my statements.
But just in case you're doing research for a report, the answer is: BA in Sociology; non-religious but deeply respectful of all faiths; recognize evolution as the most logical theory available, but allow for divine influence; white female in her late 20s.

Answer 7

Your teachers are doing you no favours with an explanation like that. I think that maybe they were never taught well enough about it either. Evolution Theory is not about the beginning of life, that is another study all together. Evolution is how changes happen, the theory is about explaining the reasons for the changes and the method that the changes happened by. It definitely is science.

Answer 8

Science must be able to be falsifiable, and be able to predict outcome of events.
Can you prove evolution false? Yes, it is a theory and it can be proved false.
Can it predict outcome of events? Yes, there are ways to test it and see if the outcome is as predicted.
These are the two points that most obviously point out that it is a science, not a philosophy.
Of course arguments could be made that it is both. But those two grounds are what show science vs belief.
If you have not found science then maybe you are not reading the right books. Consider what you read, and talk to others. Talk to professors at local universities. Open your mind up to different ideas.
I am a agnostic male with a PhD in history, 31, white.
B

Answer 9

I'll go with keeping evolution in a science class, but it should be theory only and students should be invited to ask questions that invite further research or even debunk these theories.

On the other hand, this would also mean that children should be free to ask their Sunday school teacher about faith issues concerned with creationism.

Of course one teacher is paid by the state and one teacher is usually a volunteer. And the student is in the middle, asking questions. Good for the student.

My belief system is Protestant, and I give God the benefit of the doubt. But I'm free to ask questions as well as answer them to the best of my ability, and I also feel free to pick answers I feel are the best, even if I stand corrected.

Answer 10

Look up the word 'theory' in a decent dictionary and you will get several meanings. One is applied only to science, and refers to an idea based on evidence, which can be observed or tested. That's evolution. Everything you learn in science is a theory in that sense. Unless you learn intelligent design or creationism, which are theories in one of the other applications of the word, meaning that they're ideas thought to be consistent with known facts but not supported by any evidence and not testable or observable.