NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch contributed a brief article on "Philosophy on the Stand in America's Evolution Wars" to a focus section of the history of science journal Isis. The section is entitled "Cultural Wars at 100," alluding to the centennial of the Scopes trial in 2025.
Reviewing the actual or prospective participation of philosophers in three legal cases over the teaching of evolution — the Scopes trial in 1925, the McLean trial in 1981, and the Kitzmiller trial in 2005 — Branch concludes, "The philosophical discussion in these cases of the question of what constitutes science increased strikingly in complexity over the years, even taking into account the general tendency toward specialization and sophistication in the philosophical community. ... It is fitting that the evolution battlegrounds of the culture wars have been the site of what can be aptly termed a philosophical arms race."
Also contributing to the section were Christina Littlefield, Susan Trollinger and William Vance Trollinger Jr., Kathleen M. Sands, José G. Perillán, and Kathleen M. Sands. The section was edited by Edward J. Larson, Stephen P. Weldon, and Christopher G. White.
