Some Excellents Points in Response

Jonah Cohen responded to my e-mail on his article about "Why Intelligent Design Should be Taught" and made some excellent points.

Thank you very much for your email. Your raise good points, but my feeling is that the reason the nation is having this controversy is because philosophy class is not mandatory, if offered at all. As a consequence, theists and atheists keep trying to sneak into the science curriculum; they have no where else to go. Presently, I believe atheists are as guilty as theists in conflating science with metaphysics (for philosophical materialism is no less metaphysical than alternative meta-scientific views, such as the view that there was an intelligent designer of the cosmos), and perhaps that is why I have mildly taken up the case for the ID proponents. In my opinion, if we bring back philosophy, if we bring back the teaching of the Great Books of Western Civilization in our public schools, the competing intellectual factions will find a proper forum for their interesting discussion, and the political controversy will dissolve.

Best wishes,
Jonah

Certainly a reasonable position. My response.

That we don't require Philosophy in our high school curriculum I find one of the greatest failings of our educational system. Perhaps even greater than it's failing in the science arena.

I concede that putting the Great Books of Civilization back into the classroom would provide the proper forum for the discussion and it would bolster the next generation's ability to think. That's a position I could certainly support, but let's focus on strengthening the philosophy curriculum rather then allowing the dilution of the science curriculum.