Entry tags:

authorwank, books, fun with fundies, inappropriate references to acts of god, it's not for you, pretention, religion, reviews

Intelligently designed wank
Who's in the mood for a good ol' academic tussle?

1. Professor Steve Fuller writes a book called Dissent over Descent: Intelligent Design's Challenge to Darwinism.

2. Professor AC Grayling reviews the book for New Humanist magazine.

It is sometimes hard to know whether books that strike one as silly and irresponsible...are the product of a desire to strike a pose and appear outrageous (the John Gray syndrome), or really do represent that cancer of the contemporary intellect, post-modernism.

3. Fuller responds to the review.

I wish I could repay AC Grayling’s compliment by naming an exotic mental pathology after him, but regrettably his review of Dissent over Descent displays disorders of a much more mundane kind: he has merely failed to read the book properly and does not know what he is talking about.

4. Grayling responds to the response.

Steve Fuller complains, as do all authors whose books are panned, that I did not read his book properly (or at all). Alas, I did.

5. Forum fight!

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	mmanurere 2008-10-02 02:28 am UTC (link)
	that cancer of the contemporary intellect, post-modernism. You use that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means. Looking up AC Grayling: Yup, he's a British philosopher. They make it a point of national pride to have no idea what postmodernism is. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	mcity 2008-10-02 05:50 am UTC (link)
	To be fair, most postmodernists don't either. /rimshot (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	negativecosine 2008-10-02 06:13 am UTC (link)
	This exchange just made my night. I may have to print it and bring it to class tomorrow. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mmanurere 2008-10-02 06:55 am UTC (link)
	True! Just don't tell Grayling that -- or he'll pretend to know just so that he isn't mistaken for one of those. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	fools_game 2008-10-02 12:56 pm UTC (link)
	You mean there are people who do know what postmodernism is? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	frequentmouse 2008-10-02 03:41 pm UTC (link)
	Why are you acceding to the old rule that words have fixed meaning? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	darksumomo 2008-10-02 05:05 pm UTC (link)
	LOL. Changing the subject, I love your icon. That has to be the most messed up Klein bottle I've ever seen. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	frequentmouse 2008-10-02 07:00 pm UTC (link)
	BoingBoing has some excellent pictures. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mmanurere 2008-10-02 05:40 pm UTC (link)
	Post-structuralists! ...which of course raises another question. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mary_mac 2008-10-03 02:38 pm UTC (link)
	Dude, some of them haven't figured out what Modernism is yet. has flashbacks to third year Eng Lit (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -