| Phillip E. Johnson |
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Phillip E. Johnson (born 1940 ) is a retired UC Berkeley American Law professor and author. A Born-again Christian , he is considered the father of the Intelligent Design movement, which criticizes the Theory Of Evolution , and promotes intelligent design, a form of Creationism , as an alternative. Johnson has also participated in a movement challenging the scientific orthodoxy that HIV is the cause of AIDS . In both of these areas his critics accuse him of promoting Pseudoscience . BIOGRAPHY Johnson was born in Aurora , Illinois in 1940 . He received a Bachelor Of Arts degree in English Literature , from Harvard University in 1961 . He studied law at the University Of Chicago . He served as a law clerk for the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Earl Warren . He is an emeritus professor of law at Boalt School Of Law at the University Of California At Berkeley , where he served on the active faculty from 1967-2000. Despite having no formal background in the Biological Sciences , Johnson has become a prominent critic of evolutionary theory. Johnson popularized the term "intelligent design" in its current sense in his 1991 book, '' Darwin On Trial .'' He remains one of the best known advocates for Intelligent Design , and is considered the founder of the Intelligent Design Movement . He is a critic of Methodological Naturalism , the basic principle of science that restricts it to the investigation of natural causes for observable phenomena, and espouses a philosophy he has coined Theistic Realism . He is the author of several books on intelligent design and related topics, as well as textbooks on Criminal Law . Johnson is a Christian and elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) . Since 2001, Johnson has sufferred a series of minor right brain strokes. His rehabilitations have limited his public activities and participation in the debate over Intelligent Design, both because of their physical effects as well as Johnson's belief that they were signs from God urging him to spend more time with his faith and family and less in prideful debate. IDEAS ]] Intelligent Design Johnson is best known as one of the founders of the Intelligent Design Movement , principal architect of the Wedge Strategy , author of the Santorum Amendment , and one of the ID movement's most prolific authors. Johnson is co-founder and program advisor of the Discovery Institute's Center For Science And Culture (CSC). Johnson has advocated strongly in the public and political spheres for the teaching of Intelligent Design in favor of evolution; which Johnson characterizes as " Atheistic ," "falsified by all of the evidence" and whose "logic is terrible." In portraying the Philosophy Of Science , and by extension its theories like evolution as atheistic, Johnson argues that a more valid alternative is " Theistic Realism ". Theistic realism asserts that Science , by relying upon methodological naturalism, demands an a priori adoption of a naturalistic Philosophy that wrongly dismisses out of hand any explanation that contains a supernatural cause. These concepts are a common theme in his many books, including " Darwin On Trial ," "Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law and Education," "Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds," and "The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism." Working through the Center For Science And Culture Johnson wrote the early draft language of the Santorum Amendment , which encouraged a " Teach The Controversy " approach to evolution in public school education, a theme now common to the Intelligent Design Movement . Nancy Pearcey, a Center For Science And Culture fellow and Johnson associate, acknowledges Johnson's leadership of the Intelligent Design Movement in two of her most recent publications. In an interview with Johnson for World magazine, Pearcey says, "It is not only in politics that leaders forge movements. Phillip Johnson has developed what is called the 'Intelligent Design' movement..." In Christianity Today, she reveals Johnson's religious beliefs and his animosity toward evolution and affirms Johnson as "The unofficial spokesman for ID" [http://www.windowview.org/arnfiles/notinkansasanymor.html In his 1997 book ''Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds'' Johnson summed up the underlying philosophy of his advocacy for intelligent design and against methodological and philosophical naturalism: "If we understand our own times, we will know that we should affirm the reality of God by challenging the domination of materialism and naturalism in the world of the mind. With the assistance of many friends I have developed a strategy for doing this,...We call our strategy the "wedge." Johnson acknowledges that the goal of the Intelligent Design Movement is to promote a Theistic agenda cast as a scientific concept [http://www.leaderu.com/pjohnson/world2.html [http://ebd10.ebd.csic.es/pdfs/DarwSciOrPhil.pdf] Unlike other members of the Intelligent Design Movement such as Michael Behe , Johnson rejects Common Descent and does not take a position on the age of the Earth. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Johnson is the author of the Discovery Institute's Teach The Controversy campaign which attempts to cast doubt on the validity of the theory of evolution, its acceptance within the Scientific Community , and reduce its role in public school science curricula. The Teach the Controversy campaign portrays evolution as "a theory in crisis." Johnson has been explicit about the Christian principles underlying his philosophy and agenda and that of the Intelligent Design Movement . In speaking at the "Reclaiming America for Christ Conferences" Johnson has described the movement thus:
HIV and AIDS Johnson is involved in a movement challenging the scientific orthodoxy that HIV is the cause of AIDS.[http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/index.htm] This group asserts, broadly, that there is no scientific evidence that HIV actually causes AIDS, and that while HIV and AIDS are correlated, they are not universally correlated, as (it is argued) there are people who have AIDS symptoms without HIV and people with HIV who have no AIDS symptoms. They argue that correlative statistics are misleading, because AIDS is defined by the presence of the HIV virus, so that a person with tuberculosis and HIV has AIDS, but a person with Tuberculosis but without HIV does not have AIDS. One researcher for the organization reported finding over 4,000 cases in which AIDS symptoms were suffered without HIV, but these cases were not counted as AIDS because the HIV virus was absent. Since, they argue, there is no known mechanism of causation nor is there a perfect correlation, they conclude that the cause of AIDS is as yet unknown.[http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/kmreason.htm] In Johnson's view "The decision to blame AIDS on HIV was a political one - certainly not a scientific one." [http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/kmsdtrib.htm] Johnson's viewpoint that HIV is not the cause of AIDS is rejected by the scientific and medical communities at large. CRITICISMS The most serious specific allegation leveled by a number of critics is that Johnson is often , particularly involving the term naturalism which can refer either to Methodological Naturalism or to Philosophical Naturalism . [http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/9481_darwin_prosecuted_review_of_j_12_15_1993.asp In fact-checking Johnson's books Darwin on Trial and Defeating Darwinism, one reviewer discovered that almost every scientific source Johnson cited had been misused or distorted, from simple misinterpretations and innuendos to outright fabrications. The reviewer, Brian Spitzer, a professor of Biology, described Darwin on Trial as the most deceptive book he had ever read. {Link without Title} Since Johnson is considered by those both inside and outside the movement to be the father and architect of the Intelligent Design Movement and its strategies, Johnson's statements are often used to validate the criticisms leveled by those who allege that the Discovery Institute and its allied organizations are merely stripping the obvious religious content from their anti-evolution assertions as a means of avoiding the legal restrictions of the Establishment Clause . They argue that ID is simply an attempt to put a patina of secularity on top of what is a fundamentally religious belief and thus that the "Teach the Controversy" exhortation is disingenuous, particularly when contrasted to his statements in the Wall Street Journal and other secular media. Critics point out that contrary to the Discovery Institute's and Johnson's claims, the theory of evolution is well-supported and widely accepted within the scientific community; there is little controversy on a scientific level. Popular disagreement with evolutionary theory should not be considered as a reason for challenging it as a scientifically valid subject to be taught, they contend. In making their case, critics of Johnson commonly point to his central role in the Discovery Institute's carefully-orchestrated campaign known as the Wedge Strategy . The Wedge Strategy, as envisioned by the Discovery Institute, is designed to leave the science establishment looking close-minded in the short term with a long-term goal being a redefinition of science that centers on the removal of methodological naturalism from the Philosophy Of Science and the Scientific Method , thereby allowing for supernatural explanations to be introduced as science. This would have the net effect of bringing a religious orientation into the public schools via science classrooms. Critics note that Johnson, as a principal officer of the Discovery Institute, often cites an overall plan to put the United States on a course toward the theocracy envisioned in the Wedge Strategy, and that the Discovery Institute as a matter of policy intentionally obfuscates its agenda. According to Johnson, "''The movement we now call the wedge made its public debut at a conference of scientists and philosophers held at Southern Methodist University in March 1992.''" {Link without Title} Johnson describes the wedge strategy thusly:
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