Hi Rich,
You write:
>You accused me of misrepresenting Dennett's views by replacing his use of
>"evolution by natural selection" with just "evolution". But now you say it's
>"rather clear that Dennett does not distinguish between evolution and
>evolution by natural selection"! How can I be misrepresenting him if he
>doesn't distinguish between them?
Dennett thinks evolution equals evolution by natural selection. But note
this is a common confusion and you should be more careful since not
everyone accepts Dennett's equation. Here is how I saw your response to
Brian (I'll leave it to the readers to judge for themselves):
You attempted to portray Dennett as someone who merely wants all
kids to be educated about evolution. But what Dennett is arguing for
is the indoctrination in his faith (Darwin's Dangerous Idea; evolution
BY natural selection). It is this faith that he views as the universal acid
which would corrode and disable all competing memes. Thus, Dennett
is not some objective guy wanting just to teach common descent.
He is a fundamentalist zealot looking to smuggle his faith in the
belly of evolution. To tell another person about what Dennett wants
without talking about his core faith is misrepresenting what Dennett
wants/says.
Mike
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