Michael Ruse (born 21 June 1940) is a British-born Canadian

philosopher of science A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

who specializes in the

philosophy of biology The philosophy of biology is a subfield of philosophy of science, which deals with epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical issues in the biological and biomedical sciences. Although philosophers of science and philosophers generally have lon ...

and works on the

relationship between science and religion The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern ...

, the

creation–evolution controversy Recurring cultural, political, and theological rejection of evolution by religious groups (sometimes termed the creation–evolution controversy, the creation vs. evolution debate or the origins debate) exists regarding the origins of the Eart ...

, and the

demarcation problem In philosophy of science and epistemology, the demarcation problem is the question of how to distinguish between science and non-science. It examines the boundaries between science, pseudoscience, and other products of human activity, like art an ...

within

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. Ruse currently teaches at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Career

Ruse was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, attending

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The schoo ...

, York. He took his undergraduate degree at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

(1962), his master's degree at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

(1964), and Ph.D. at the University of Bristol (1970). Ruse taught at the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada for 35 years. Since his retirement from Guelph, he has taught at

and is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy (2000–present). In 1986, he was elected as a Fellow of both the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. He has received honorary doctorates from the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

, Norway (1990),

, Ontario, Canada (2003) and the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada (2007). In September 2014 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by University College London. Ruse was a key witness for the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

in the 1981 test case (''

McLean v. Arkansas ''McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education'', 529 F. Supp. 1255 (E.D. Ark. 1982), was a 1981 legal case in the US state of Arkansas. A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by various parents, r ...

'') of the state law permitting the teaching of "

creation science Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of Young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without ove ...

" in the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

school system. The federal judge ruled that the state law was

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

. His 1996 book on the idea of progress in biology (orthogenesis), '' Monad to Man'', had a mixed reception from other philosophers of biology.

Peter J. Bowler Peter J. Bowler (born 8 October 1944) is a historian of biology who has written extensively on the history of evolutionary thought, the history of the environmental sciences, and on the history of genetics. His 1984 book, ''Evolution: The His ...

described it as an important and controversial book on the status of evolutionism. Ron Amundson called Ruse an analytic and empiricist philosopher, but found Ruse's handling of

structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

"less satisfactory" than of the

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

ist, Darwinian traditions. He called Ruse's writing style "bluff, unselfconscious, and opinionated" and finds Ruse sarcastic, "scarcely a neutral observer".

Michael Ghiselin Michael T. Ghiselin (born May 13, 1939) is an American biologist and philosopher as well as historian of biology, formerly at the California Academy of Sciences. He is known for his work on sea slugs, and for his criticism of the falsification of ...

criticised Ruse as a "politically correct" "academic bigot", disagreed with Ruse's narrative about phylogenetics, and accused him of "completely ignor ngrecent work such as by

Carl Woese Carl Richard Woese (; July 15, 1928 – December 30, 2012) was an American microbiologist and biophysicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea (a new domain of life) in 1977 through a pioneering phylogenetic taxonomy of 16S ribosomal RNA, ...

, "neglect ngdata" that contradict his thesis. Ironically, in Ghiselin's view, Ruse's own epistemological ideal for science relied on the idea of Progress. Ruse delivered some of the 2001

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...

in Natural Theology at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. His lectures on Evolutionary Naturalism, "A Darwinian Understanding of Epistemology" and "A Darwinian Understanding of Ethics," are collected in ''The Nature and Limits of Human Understanding'' (ed. Anthony Sanford, T & T Clark, 2003). Ruse debates regularly with William A. Dembski, a proponent of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

. Ruse takes the position that it is possible to reconcile the Christian faith with evolutionary theory. Ruse founded the journal ''

Biology and Philosophy ''Biology & Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles about philosophy of biology, broadly understood to span conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues in the biological sciences. The journal was founded b ...

'', of which he is now Emeritus Editor, and has published numerous books and articles. He cites the influence of his late colleague

Ernan McMullin Ernan McMullin (October 13, 1924 – February 8, 2011) was an Irish philosopher who last served as the O’Hara Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He was an internationally respected philosopher of science who has wr ...

. Since 2013, Ruse has been listed on the Advisory Council of the

National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding t ...

. In 2014, Ruse was named the Bertrand Russell Society's award winner for his dedication to science and reason.Philosophy professor honored by Bertrand Russell Society for dedication to science and reason

Arts and Sciences; May 20, 2014 Ruse has sought to reconcile science and religion, a position which has brought him into conflict with

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

and ''Pharyngula'' science blogger

PZ Myers Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the ''Pharyngula'' science-blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)

. Ruse has engaged in heated exchanges with

new atheists The term ''New Atheism'' was coined by the journalist Gary Wolf in 2006 to describe the positions promoted by some atheists of the twenty-first century. New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion and irrationalism should not si ...

. According to Ruse in 2009, "Richard Dawkins, in his best selling '' The God Delusion'', likens me to Neville Chamberlain, the pusillanimous appeaser of Hitler at Munich.

Jerry Coyne Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fi ...

reviewed one of my books (Can a Darwinian be a Christian?) using the Orwellian quote that only an intellectual could believe the nonsense I believe in. And non-stop blogger

P. Z. Myers Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the ''Pharyngula'' science-blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)

has referred to me as a 'clueless gobshite.'" Ruse said new atheists do the side of science a "grave disservice", a "disservice to scholarship", and that "Dawkins in ''The God Delusion'' would fail any introductory philosophy or religion course", and that ''The God Delusion'' makes him "ashamed to be an atheist". Ruse concluded, saying "I am proud to be the focus of the invective of the new atheists. They are a bloody disaster".

Personal life

Ruse has two children from his first marriage, and has been married to his second wife since 1985, with whom he has three children. Ruse is an atheist, although he rejects the

New Atheism The term ''New Atheism'' was coined by the journalist Gary Wolf in 2006 to describe the positions promoted by some atheists of the twenty-first century. New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion and irrationalism should not si ...

movement.

Selected works

*''The Darwinian revolution'' (1979) *''Is science sexist? and other problems in the biomedical sciences'' (1981) *''Darwinism defended, a guide to the evolution controversies'' (1982) *''Sociobiology, sense or nonsense?'' (1st ed. 1979, 2nd ed. 1985) *''Taking Darwin seriously: a naturalistic approach to philosophy'' (1986) *'' Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry'' (1988) *''The Philosophy of biology today'' (1988) *''The Darwinian paradigm: essays on its history, philosophy and religious implications'' (1989) * ''Evolution: The First Four Billion Years''. (edited with Michael Travis) (2009) *''Evolutionary naturalism: selected essays'' (1995) *'' Monad to man: the concept of progress in evolutionary biology'' (1996) *''But is it science? the philosophical question in the creation/evolution controversy'' (1996) (ed.) *''Mystery of mysteries: is evolution a social construction?'' (1999) *''Biology and the foundation of ethics'' (1999) *''Can a Darwinian be a Christian? the relationship between science and religion'' (2001) *''The evolution wars: a guide to the debates'' (2003) *''Darwin and Design: Does evolution have a purpose?'' (2003) *''Darwinian Heresies'' (edited with Abigail Lustig and

Robert J. Richards Robert J. Richards (born 1942) is an author and the Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago. He has written or edited seven books about the history of science as well as ...

) (2004) *''The Evolution-Creation Struggle'' (2005) *''Darwinism and its Discontents'' (2006) *''Cambridge Companion to the Origin of Species'' (edited with

) (2008) *''Philosophy after Darwin'' (2009) *''Defining Darwin: Essays on the History and Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology'' (2009) *''Science and Spirituality: Making room for faith in the age of science'' (2010) *''The Philosophy of Human Evolution'' (2012) *''The Gaia Hypothesis: Science on a Pagan Planet'' (2013) *''Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know'' (2015) *''Darwinism as Religion: What Literature Tells Us about Evolution'' (2016) Oxford University Press *''On Purpose'' (2018) Princeton University Press

References

Sources

External links

Michael Ruse's Homepage at Florida StateMichael Ruse's page at FSU's History and Philosophy of Science siteMichael Ruse on Charles Darwin: Evolution Is No Monkey BusinessCan a Christian be a Darwinian? Lecture given in 2007 at
The

Faraday Institute for Science and Religion The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is an interdisciplinary academic research institute based in Cambridge, England. It is named after the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday, the pioneer of electromagnetic induction. It wa ...

Speech by Michael Ruse 1993 to American Association for the Advancement of ScienceBiography and summary of Gifford Lectures
(2001,

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

), by Dr Brannon Hancock
An autobiographical interview with Michael Ruse at What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruse, Michael 1940 births Living people British emigrants to Canada Canadian atheists Charles Darwin biographers Critics of creationism People educated at Bootham School Canadian philosophers Canadian skeptics Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Florida State University faculty People from Birmingham, West Midlands Philosophers of science McMaster University alumni Philosophers of biology Philosophers of sexuality Canadian expatriates in the United States