A historical-critical approach to Intelligent Design and its arrival in Brazil

Abstract

This work presents a brief history of the creationist movement represented today by the defenders of Intelligent design (ID), who stand as proponents of a scientific theory in confrontation with defenders of the biological evolutionary theory. It discusses two creationist concepts through criticisms made by evolutionists. It briefly reports the main legal disputes between the two parties occurred in the United States throughout the 20th century, characterizing some of the strategies used on both sides of the confrontation. Departing from the establishment of an intelligent design research centre in Brazil in 2017 it describes other recent actions aimed at including creationism in the curriculum of primary schools in the country, notably two bills at the federal level. It analyses the interviews with Intelligent Design advocates to identify strategies for their arguments. It concludes that the concepts defended by the proponents of Intelligent design do not correspond with the scientific evidence discussed by them, which makes illegitimate the claim of alleged scientificity. It also estimates that the academic community should take a frank and active stand in defence of teaching the theory of biological evolution. This consensual and scientifically exclusive theory underlies life studies.