Phillip E. Johnson facts for kids

Phillip E. Johnson (born June 18, 1940 – died November 2, 2019) was a law professor at UC Berkeley. He was known for being a main founder of the intelligent design movement. This movement suggests that life and the universe are too complex to have formed by chance. Instead, it proposes they were created by an intelligent designer.

Johnson was a strong critic of Darwinism, which is the theory of evolution by natural selection. He believed that scientists accepted evolution without enough testing. He also thought they used their authority to convince people that natural processes alone could create humans from simple life forms. The scientific community generally sees intelligent design as pseudoscience, meaning it is not based on scientific methods.

About Phillip Johnson

Phillip Johnson was born in Aurora, Illinois, in 1940. He earned a degree in English literature from Harvard University in 1961. He then studied law at the University of Chicago, graduating at the top of his class in 1965.

After law school, he worked for important judges. He was a law clerk for the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Earl Warren. He also worked for the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Roger J. Traynor. Johnson became a lawyer in California in 1966.

From 1967 to 2000, Johnson was a law professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law. He also taught as a visiting professor at other universities.

His Path to Intelligent Design

When he was 38, Johnson became a born again Christian. He later became a leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He said that while on a break in England, he felt inspired after reading books by Richard Dawkins and Michael Denton. These books discussed evolution.

Johnson felt that scientists who supported Darwin's ideas seemed to be hiding something. Even though he wasn't a biologist, he believed he could offer new ideas. He approached the debate about creation and evolution like a lawyer. His goal was to analyze the logic and hidden assumptions in arguments.

In 1991, Johnson published his book Darwin on Trial. This book became a key text for the intelligent design movement. He later helped start the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture (CSC). He described himself as "in a sense the father of the intelligent design movement".

Later Life and Recognition

After 2001, Johnson had some health issues that limited his public activities. In 2004, he received an award named after him from Biola University. This university is known for supporting intelligent design. Johnson had two children and lived with his wife in Berkeley, California.

Intelligent Design Movement

Phillip Johnson is most famous for helping to start the intelligent design movement. He was also a main creator of the "wedge strategy." He strongly argued that intelligent design should be taught instead of evolution. Johnson called evolution "atheistic" and said its "logic is terrible."

He believed that science, by only looking for natural causes, unfairly ignores any explanation that includes a supernatural cause. Johnson wrote several books about intelligent design, science, and religion. These include Darwin on Trial and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds.

The scientific community generally views intelligent design as unscientific. They see it as pseudoscience or junk science.

Darwin on Trial

In his 1991 book, Darwin on Trial, Johnson questioned the main ideas of evolution. He promoted Intelligent design instead. He wrote the book as if evolution were on trial in a courtroom. This book became a very important text for the intelligent design movement.

The Wedge Strategy

In its early days, the intelligent design movement was sometimes called the "wedge movement." Johnson used the idea of a metal wedge splitting a log. This meant using a strong public relations effort to open people's minds to the idea of a supernatural cause in science. Johnson openly said that the movement's goal was to promote a theistic (God-centered) idea as a scientific concept.

Johnson explained that the wedge movement wanted to question the idea that science only deals with material things. He aimed to take back the "intellectual world" from those he saw as "atheists and agnostics." He believed that Darwin's theory was not true and that its evidence was weak. He felt that truth came from "intelligence, purpose, and wisdom," as stated in the Bible.

Johnson was clear about the Christian beliefs behind his ideas and the intelligent design movement. He helped write the Discovery Institute's Wedge Document. This document outlined a plan to cast doubt on the theory of evolution. It also aimed to reduce evolution's role in public school science classes. The "Teach the Controversy" campaign, part of this strategy, presented evolution as "a theory in crisis."

Johnson described the wedge strategy as a way to make people's natural belief in God a scientific idea. He said, "Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit, so that we can get the issue of intelligent design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools." He also stated that the debate was "about religion and philosophy," not just science.

Wedge of Truth

Johnson published another book, Wedge of Truth, in 2000. This book expanded on the ideas in the Wedge Document. He believed that truth could speak for itself.

Criticism of His Ideas

Phillip Johnson faced criticism for his arguments supporting intelligent design. Some critics said he was not honest in his thinking. They argued that he often confused different meanings of "naturalism." He didn't clearly separate methodological naturalism (science studying the natural world) from philosophical naturalism (the belief that only the natural world exists).

One biology professor, Brian Spitzer, said that Johnson often misused or twisted scientific sources in his books. Spitzer called Darwin on Trial a very misleading book. Another professor, Nancey Murphy, said Johnson's arguments were "dogmatic and unconvincing." She felt he didn't understand scientific reasoning well enough.

Critics also pointed to Johnson's central role in the Discovery Institute's wedge strategy. They argued that this strategy was designed to make intelligent design seem scientific, even though it is based on religious beliefs. This was seen as a way to get around legal rules that separate church and state in schools.

In 2005, a court case called Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District found that intelligent design is not science. The court ruled that it is religious in nature. This ruling supported the critics' view.

Critics also stressed that the theory of evolution is widely supported by scientists. They said that debates among scientists are about how evolution happened, not if it happened.

Later Views on Intelligent Design

In his later years, Johnson changed his view slightly. He no longer claimed that intelligent design was a scientific theory itself.

Death

Phillip Johnson passed away in early November 2019 at his home.

See also

In Spanish: Phillip E. Johnson para niños

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Chief Justice)