Theory of Evolution
State why the TE and the DA are competitors, why the TE questions the soundness of the DA. Here it is enough
to point out that TE provides an explanation of the order/complexity of living
beings that does away with any intelligent influence. People who wrote their
paper about the wrong variant of the DA (i.e. about the order/complexity of
the world, as opposed to life) will find problems with this item, because the
TE is not at odds with that argument.
Common Descent Hypothesis: Explain the idea that all species of living beings on Earth are related, and that the more alike they are,
the more recent their common ancestor. It is not enough with just saying that
all living beings have a common ancestor because that doesn’t rule out that all
of them come directly from the same single species, which is false. Also, it is
a bonus to link the hypothesis with the diversity of forms of life that exist on
Earth as well as with the extinction of some species (e.g. dinosaurs).
Natural Selection: Explain in what sense the environment “selects” some
individuals to continue the tree of life, and why the word does not refer to an
agent. Many students write wrongly that the environment selects species. But
natural selection is about the organisms.
Random Mutation: Explain when the variation occurs, the principles that
govern it and how it combines with Natural Selection to bring about new
species.
10 Origins of Life: It is important to make it clear that the TE accounts only for
the complexity and diversity of life, but not for its origin. ID supporters have
used this loophole to argue that the best explanation we have is that God
created the first forms of life wherefrom evolution picked up.
10%
11 Irreducible Complexity: Explain 1) why evolutionary change is gradual, 2)
the definition of irreducible complexity, 3) at least one example of a
biological trait that is irreducibly complex, and 4) why this is a problem for
theory of evolution.
10%
12 Fine-Tuning Argument: Explain 1) the shift from biology to physics, 2) the
need to explain massive coincidences, and 3) at least one coincidence the
argument refers to.
10%
Extra Credit: These are backup points in case you lose others
13 Traditional Versus ID Creationists: Explain the difference between these two
types of creationism and their relation with the TE and the Genesis story.
5%
14 Cosmological Argument: Explain at least 1) the principle of cause and effect
and 2) why, according to the best formulation of the argument, the first cause
would have to be otherworldly.
5%
15 Historical and Background information: Provide the reader with context. 5%
16 Excellent Writing: Your writing must be clear, engaging and contain close to
no typos, misspellings, punctuation errors, etc
The following may help to organize the work:
1) Explain the conclusion of the design argument.
2) Explain its premises, why they seem true and how they support the conclusion.
3) Explain the theory of evolution.
4) Explain why the theory of evolution contradicts the conclusion of the design
argument.
5) Explain at least one rebuttal to the theory of evolution from the supporters of the
design argument.
6) If you have space left, briefly explain another arguments for or against the existence
of God discussed in class.
7) Write an introduction for the essay. This must have a statement of the goal of the
essay and of the plan you will follow to achieve it. It may also provide further
context such as historical information. Also, feel free to add a word or two about
why the problem is worth reading about.
8) Write a conclusion for the essay. This must have a rough statement of what you
have tried to do. Also, you may want to add some questions that the previous
discussion leaves open.
we must use two readings from the class readings to support your evidence
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