Creationism and the Nature of Science
Lecture
The United States is rather unique among Western countries in having a majority of its population rejecting the scientific theory of evolution in favor of one or another kind of creationism. Even some European countries, though, Italy included, have seen an unexpected resurgence of creationist thinking about human origins in recent years. Scientist and philosopher Massimo Pigliucci will examine why so many otherwise rational people deny basic scientific notions (not just evolution, but climate change, the lack of any connection between vaccines and autism, and many others), and what role is played by different strands of anti-intellectualism and by a general lack of appreciation for the nature of science.
Prof. Pigliucci has a Doctorate in Genetics from the University of Ferrara (Italy), a PhD in
Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in Philosophy from the
University of Tennessee. He has done post-doctoral research in evolutionary ecology at
Brown University and is currently K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at City College and
Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His
research interests include the philosophy of biology, the relationship between science and
philosophy, and the nature of pseudoscience.
Prof. Pigliucci has been elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science “for fundamental studies of genotype by environmental interactions and for public
defense of evolutionary biology from pseudoscientific attack.”