JOHNSON, Phillip E. 1940-

PERSONAL: Born June 18, 1940, in Aurora, IL; son of Everett C. (a certified public accountant) and Rose (a homemaker; maiden name, Smely) Johnson; married first wife, Leith, March 25, 1965 (divorced, 1978); married Katharine Crawford (a volunteer), January 10, 1981; children: Emily, Thomas. Education: Harvard University, A.B., 1961; University of Chicago, J.D., 1965. Religion: Protestant.

ADDRESSES: Home—1347 Watkins St., Berkeley, CA 94706. Office—School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2499. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Law clerk with Chief Justice Roger Traynor, 1965-66, and with Chief Justice Earl Warren, 1966-67; University of California, Berkeley, 1967—, professor of law and Jefferson E. Peyser chair, associate dean, 1977-80; deputy district attorney, Ventura County, CA, 1968 and 1972. Visiting professor, Emory University School of Law, 1982-83, and University College, London, 1987-88.

WRITINGS:

Criminal Law, West Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 1975, 6th edition published as Criminal Law: Cases, Materials, and Text, 2000.

Cases and Materials on Criminal Procedure, West Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 1988.

Evolution as Dogma: The Establishment of Naturalism, Haughton (Dallas, TX), 1990.

Darwin on Trial, Regnery Gateway, 1991, 2nd edition, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1993.

Reason in the Balance: The Case against Naturalism in Science, Law, and Education, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1995.

Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1997.

Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law, and Culture, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1998.

The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2000.

The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning, and Public Debate, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2002.

Contributor to professional journals, including Stanford Law Review, Emory Law Review, and California Law Review, as well as national periodicals, including Christianity Today, Atlantic, First Things, and New Criterion.

SIDELIGHTS: Phillip E. Johnson is a professor of law who has written several books about Darwin's theory of evolution. Johnson believes that the logical arguments used by scientists who support the theory of evolution are basically flawed. He also criticizes what he sees as their refusal to admit any scientific evidence that may contradict their theory. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly explained that Johnson has "a shrewd and engaging rhetoric." Ray Olson, writing in Booklist, believed that "there are plenty of critics of 'Godless science,' but few are more intelligent (or better writers) than Johnson."

In Reason in the Balance: The Case against Naturalism in Science, Law, and Education, Johnson argues that "the message of evolution is that we are here by chance and for no purpose, that we are mere matter," Tim Stafford explained in Christianity Today. "'Naturalism' is what Johnson calls this metaphysical assessment." This Naturalism of modern science has invaded the rest of society, resulting in relativistic morals, self-indulgent hedonism, and an intolerance in science and academia for any religious opinion. Worse, as Barry Freundel noted in National Review, Johnson "convincingly argues that Naturalism is as much a religion as Judaism or Christianity, if by religion we mean a system based on unchallengable orthodoxies." Stafford concluded that, although "he is not a scientist," Johnson is "an expert logician, and his arguments about the nature of the debate ring true." Johnson, writing in Publishers Weekly concluded, "fires a major salvo in the culture wars with this sweeping critique of the reigning materialist philosophy."

With Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, Johnson addresses parents, teachers, and students in how to effectively argue against the evolutionists in America's schools. He first defines evolution, Olson noted, as being "a dogma that insists life arose solely by chance and that denies contrary evidence a hearing." Johnson then gives those who want to debate this idea the necessary rhetorical tools. The critic for Publishers Weekly described Johnson as a "witty iconoclast" who, "with measured prose and systematic thinking, … uses his legal expertise to demonstrate the ways in which arguments about evolutionary theory may be conducted."

Johnson sees science as having two quite different definitions in modern society. The first definition sees science as an unbiased pursuit of knowledge, while the other definition sees science as only finding Naturalistic explanations for all phenomena. In The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism, Johnson seeks to show that true, unbiased science is compatible with a religious viewpoint. Again writing a biting critique of Darwinian evolution as currently promoted, Johnson "succeeds best when he stands outside the whole Darwinian system as a worldview and approaches it with the forensic skills he gained from his years as a law student and professor," according to Edward T. Oakes in a First Things review.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Academic Library Book Review, June, 1994, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 36.

American Spectator, December, 1995, review of Reason in the Balance: The Case against Naturalism in Science, Law, and Education, p. 30.

Booklist, June 15, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 1917; November 15, 1993, review of Darwin on Trial (audio version), p. 640; August, 1995, Ray Olson, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 1914; July, 1997, Ray Olson, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 1785.

Books and Culture, January, 1996, reviews of Reason in the Balance and Darwin on Trial, p. 16.

Bookwatch, July, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 10.

Choice, July, 1992, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 1704.

Christian Century, July 15, 1998, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 678.

Christianity Today, August 19, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, pp. 33-35; January 8, 1996, Tim Stafford, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 42; December 8, 1997, Richard J. Mouw, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 48.

Chronicle of Higher Education, October 9, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. A10.

First Things, March, 1999, review of Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law, and Culture, p. 61; January, 2001, Edward T. Oakes, review of The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism.

Human Events, April 24, 1998, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 20; January 29, 1999, review of Objections Sustained, p. 18; September 22, 2000, review of The Wedge of Truth, p. 20.

Insight, May 27, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 44.

Journal of Church and State, winter, 1997, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 171.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1995, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 755.

Library Journal, April 1, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 142; August, 1995, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 111.

National Review, April 29, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 47; December 25, 1995, Barry Freundel, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 58.

Nature, August 8, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 485.

New York Review of Books, October 4, 2001, review of The Wedge of Truth, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, April 26, 1991, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 51; June 26, 1995, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 100; July 14, 1997, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 78; May 25, 1998, review of Objections Sustained, p. S13; July 24, 2000, review of The Wedge of Truth, p. 89; August 26, 2002, review of The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning, and Public Debate, p. 64.

Rapport, number 3, 1998, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 35.

Reason, October, 1996, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 53.

Reason and Revelation, August, 1997, Trevor Major, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds.

Religious Studies Review, April, 1996, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 137.

Science, October 10, 1997, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 236.

Scientific American, July, 1992, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 118.

Skeptic, number 3, 1997, review of Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, p. 108.

Skeptical Inquirer, January-February, 1997, David A. Shotwell, review of Reason in the Balance, p. 56.

Whole Earth Review, fall, 1992, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 12.

Zygon, December, 1992, review of Darwin on Trial, p. 466.*