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“Darwin Day in America” Book Exposes the Rise of Totalitarian Science

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Image courtesy of Evolution News and Views [1].

New Edition of Darwin Day in America Exposes the Rise of “Totalitarian Science” in the Age of Obama

by Evolution News and Views [1]

Is America entering an era of “totalitarian science”? In the expanded paperback edition of Darwin Day in America [2] (ISI Books, February 2015), political scientist John G. West describes the growing misuse of science to curtail basic freedoms, erode time-honored ethics, and circumvent democratic accountability. The paperback edition includes a brand new chapter titled “Scientism in the Age of Obama — and Beyond.”

“Our culture is witnessing the rise of what could be called totalitarian science — science so totalistic in its outlook that its defenders claim the right to remake every sphere of human life, from public policy and education to ethics and religion,” says West. “Science is a wonderful enterprise, but in the Obama era, it’s being twisted in ways that are unhealthy for both science and society.”

Developments discussed in the new edition of Darwin Day include:

Darwin Day in America tells the disturbing story of scientific expertise run amuck, exposing how an ideological interpretation of Darwinian biology and reductionist science have been used degrade American culture and fuel a relentless march from democracy to technocracy in criminal justice, welfare, business, education, and bioethics.

At the dawn of the last century, leading scientists and politicians giddily predicted that science — especially Darwinian biology — would supply solutions to all the intractable problems of American society, from crime to poverty to sexual maladjustment.

Instead, politics and culture were dehumanized as scientific experts in thrall to the assumptions of philosophical materialism began treating human beings as little more than animals or machines. In criminal justice, these experts denied the existence of free will and proposed replacing punishment with invasive “cures” such as the lobotomy.

In welfare, they proposed eliminating the poor by sterilizing those deemed biologically unfit.

In business, they urged the selection of workers based on racist theories of human evolution and the development of advertising methods to more effectively manipulate consumer behavior.

In sex education, they advocated creating a new sexual morality based on “normal mammalian behavior” without regard to longstanding ethical and religious imperatives.

Based on extensive research with primary sources and archival materials, John G. West’s captivating Darwin Day in America reveals how American politics and culture have been corrupted by a massive abuse of science. West’s narrative explores the far-reaching consequences for society when scientists and politicians deny the essential differences between human beings and the rest of nature.

It also exposes the disastrous results that ensue when experts claiming to speak for science turn out to be wrong. West pleads for the restoration of democratic accountability in an age of experts.

Dr. West is a Vice President of Discovery Institute in Seattle, where he is Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture. Former chairman of the Department of Political Science at Seattle Pacific University, West holds a PhD in Government from Claremont Graduate University.

He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Darwin’s Conservatives: The Misguided Questand The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society. He is also the writer/director of documentaries including The War on Humans and Privileged Species. In 2015, his documentary Biology of the Second Reich was named “Best Documentary Short” by the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood.

Read the full article here [1].