Barbara Forrest
Encyclopedia
Barbara Carroll Forrest is a professor of philosophy
at Southeastern Louisiana University
in Hammond, Louisiana
. She is a critic of intelligent design
and the Discovery Institute
.
. She received her B.A. in English in 1974 from Southeastern Louisiana University
, her M.A. in Philosophy in 1978 from Louisiana State University
, and her Ph.D. in philosophy from Tulane University
in 1988. She has taught philosophy
at Southeastern Louisiana University
since 1988 and presently is a professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Political Science.
She co-authored Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (Oxford University Press
, 2004), with biologist Paul R. Gross
. The book examines the goals and strategies of the intelligent design movement
and its attempts to undermine the teaching of evolutionary biology. The authors analyze the absence of a scientific intelligent design hypothesis, ID's religious foundations, and the political ambitions of intelligent design proponents. They examine the movement's Wedge strategy
which has advanced and is succeeding through public relations rather than through scientific research. They also highlight intelligent design creationism's relationship to public education
and to the separation of church and state.
Forrest serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Science Education
(NCSE), the Board of Trustees of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
, and the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association (NOSHA).
for the plaintiffs in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
trial. The defendants were represented by the Thomas More Law Center
(TMLC), a conservative Christian, not-for-profit law center whose motto is "The Sword and the Shield for People of Faith". After Forrest had been deposed, the TMLC tried but failed to have her stopped from testifying. In a motion to have her removed as a witness, they described her as "little more than a conspiracy theorist and a web-surfing, ‘cyber-stalker’ of the Discovery Institute...." Judge Jones denied the motion and Forrest's testimony began on October 5.
According to Forrest, after the TMLC's attempt to exclude her as a witness had failed, and only a few days before she would be testifying, the Discovery Institute
attempted to publicly ridicule her on their website. She wrote:
During her testimony the defense lawyers again asked the court to exclude Forrest from testifying as expert witness. Judge Jones allowed them to present their case for dismissing her and then denied their request. Forrest would go on to testify on the religious origins and nature of the intelligent design movement, the wedge document, and also demonstrated that the drafts of the textbook at the center of the court case Of Pandas and People
, substituted terms such as "intelligent design" and "intelligent designer" in place of "creationism" and "creator" in an attempt to circumvent the ruling in the Edwards v. Aguillard
which determined that teaching creationism in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the United States constitution. Her testimony had a significant impact on Judge Jones's decision.
A year after the ruling Forrest commented in a telephone interview, "It was very clear to everyone who followed the case that intelligent design is not science. The Discovery Institute has been trying for years to foment a court case. And they finally got one dropped in their laps and what was ironic is they didn't want it. They knew what this case would do to them."
. The issue was titled "Evolution and Its Rivals" and was guest edited by Glenn Branch
and James H. Fetzer
, the latter a former editor of Synthese. Forrest's essay strongly criticized philosopher Francis J. Beckwith
, noting that he had "no formal credentials as a constitutional scholar" to justify his stances on issues regarding the separation of church and state
and connected Beckwith and other advocates of intelligent design to Christian Reconstructionism
. Following complaints from Beckwith and others mentioned in the issue, the regular editors of Synthese, Johan van Benthem
, Vincent F. Hendricks
, and John F. Symons, included an editorial statement in the print version of the special issue, published in January 2011, which criticized the tone of some of the papers in that issue. The note was perceived as directed at Forrest's essay and drew angry denunciations from the guest editors, who were not consulted about the statement, and other critics. At least one philosopher has withdrawn a paper from Synthese as a result.
. She was the featured speaker for Southeastern Louisiana University
's Linus A. Sims Memorial Library commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin
's Origin of Species on 23 April 2009.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
in Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
. She is a critic of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
and the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
.
Biography
Forrest is a graduate of Hammond High SchoolHammond High School (Louisiana)
Hammond Magnet High School, founded in 1866, is a public high school located in an unincorporated part of the 7th Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, east of Hammond. It is the second largest high school in the Tangipahoa Parish Public School System...
. She received her B.A. in English in 1974 from Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
, her M.A. in Philosophy in 1978 from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
, and her Ph.D. in philosophy from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in 1988. She has taught philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
since 1988 and presently is a professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Political Science.
She co-authored Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2004), with biologist Paul R. Gross
Paul R. Gross
Paul R. Gross is a biologist and author, perhaps best known to the general public for Higher Superstition , written with Norman Levitt. Gross is the University Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Virginia; he previously served the university as Provost and Vice-President...
. The book examines the goals and strategies of the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
and its attempts to undermine the teaching of evolutionary biology. The authors analyze the absence of a scientific intelligent design hypothesis, ID's religious foundations, and the political ambitions of intelligent design proponents. They examine the movement's Wedge strategy
Wedge strategy
The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the Wedge Document, which describes a broad social, political, and academic agenda whose...
which has advanced and is succeeding through public relations rather than through scientific research. They also highlight intelligent design creationism's relationship to public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
and to the separation of church and state.
Forrest serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Science Education
National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
(NCSE), the Board of Trustees of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
, and the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association (NOSHA).
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Forrest was a key expert witnessExpert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
for the plaintiffs in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
trial. The defendants were represented by the Thomas More Law Center
Thomas More Law Center
The Thomas More Law Center is a prominent conservative Christian, not-for-profit law center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is active throughout the United States. Its stated goals are defending the religious freedom of Christians, restoring "time honored values" and protecting the sanctity of...
(TMLC), a conservative Christian, not-for-profit law center whose motto is "The Sword and the Shield for People of Faith". After Forrest had been deposed, the TMLC tried but failed to have her stopped from testifying. In a motion to have her removed as a witness, they described her as "little more than a conspiracy theorist and a web-surfing, ‘cyber-stalker’ of the Discovery Institute...." Judge Jones denied the motion and Forrest's testimony began on October 5.
According to Forrest, after the TMLC's attempt to exclude her as a witness had failed, and only a few days before she would be testifying, the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
attempted to publicly ridicule her on their website. She wrote:
During her testimony the defense lawyers again asked the court to exclude Forrest from testifying as expert witness. Judge Jones allowed them to present their case for dismissing her and then denied their request. Forrest would go on to testify on the religious origins and nature of the intelligent design movement, the wedge document, and also demonstrated that the drafts of the textbook at the center of the court case Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics...
, substituted terms such as "intelligent design" and "intelligent designer" in place of "creationism" and "creator" in an attempt to circumvent the ruling in the Edwards v. Aguillard
Edwards v. Aguillard
Edwards v. Aguillard, was a legal case about the teaching of creationism that was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1987. The Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools, along with evolution, was unconstitutional because the law...
which determined that teaching creationism in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the United States constitution. Her testimony had a significant impact on Judge Jones's decision.
A year after the ruling Forrest commented in a telephone interview, "It was very clear to everyone who followed the case that intelligent design is not science. The Discovery Institute has been trying for years to foment a court case. And they finally got one dropped in their laps and what was ironic is they didn't want it. They knew what this case would do to them."
Synthese controversy
An essay by Forrest, "The non-epistemology of intelligent design: its implications for public policy", was published online in March 2009 as part of a special issue of the journal SyntheseSynthese
Synthese is a scholarly periodical edited by Johan van Benthem, Vincent F. Hendricks and John Symons specializing in papers in epistemology, methodology and philosophy of science...
. The issue was titled "Evolution and Its Rivals" and was guest edited by Glenn Branch
Glenn Branch
Glenn Branch is the Deputy Director of the National Center for Science Education and a prominent critic of creationism and its offshoot, intelligent design...
and James H. Fetzer
James H. Fetzer
James Henry Fetzer is an American philosopher, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and a well-known conspiracy theorist. He has written on the philosophy of science and on the theoretical foundations of computer science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science...
, the latter a former editor of Synthese. Forrest's essay strongly criticized philosopher Francis J. Beckwith
Francis J. Beckwith
Francis J. "Frank" Beckwith is an American Christian philosopher, scholar, debater, and lecturer. Beckwith advocates in the areas of social ethics, legal philosophy, philosophy of religion, intelligent design and the Christian countercult movement. Currently, he is the associate director of the J.M...
, noting that he had "no formal credentials as a constitutional scholar" to justify his stances on issues regarding the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
and connected Beckwith and other advocates of intelligent design to Christian Reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism is a religious and theological movement within Evangelical Christianity that calls for Christians to put their faith into action in all areas of life, within the private sphere of life and the public and political sphere as well...
. Following complaints from Beckwith and others mentioned in the issue, the regular editors of Synthese, Johan van Benthem
Johan van Benthem (logician)
Johannes Franciscus Abraham Karel van Benthem is a University Professor of logic at the University of Amsterdam at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and professor of philosophy at Stanford University . He was awarded the Spinozapremie in 1996.He studied physics , philosophy...
, Vincent F. Hendricks
Vincent F. Hendricks
Vincent Fella Hendricks , is a Danish philosopher and logician. He holds two doctoral degrees in philosophy and is Professor of Formal Philosophy at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He was previously Professor of Formal Philosophy at Roskilde University, Denmark. He is member of IIP, the...
, and John F. Symons, included an editorial statement in the print version of the special issue, published in January 2011, which criticized the tone of some of the papers in that issue. The note was perceived as directed at Forrest's essay and drew angry denunciations from the guest editors, who were not consulted about the statement, and other critics. At least one philosopher has withdrawn a paper from Synthese as a result.
Public speaking
Forrest has appeared in the media, including PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. She was the featured speaker for Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
's Linus A. Sims Memorial Library commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's Origin of Species on 23 April 2009.
External links
- Barbara Forrest's academic homepage
- Official site of Creationism's Trojan Horse
- The Newest Evolution of Creationism Intelligent design is about politics and religion, not science. by Barbara Forrest. From Natural History magazine, April, 2002, page 80.
- Collected works at Internet Infidels
- The “Vise Strategy” Undone:Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District by Barbara Forrest
- Trial transcript of Barbara Forrest's Kitzmiller vs Dover testimony
- Forrest's expert report Kitzmiller v Dover
- Forrest's supplemental report Kitzmiller v Dover