Biography
Ruse taught at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada for 35 years. Since his retirement from Guelph, he has taught at Florida State University 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 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Bergen, Norway (1990), McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2003) and most recently the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada (2007). He considers himself both an atheist and agnostic, but believes that "new atheism" is a disservice to science and loathes the term "Humanist."
Ruse was a key witness for the plaintiff in the 1981 test case (McLean v. Arkansas) of the state law permitting the teaching of "creation science" in the Arkansas school system. The federal judge ruled that the state law was unconstitutional.
Ruse's 1988 book Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry criticizes social constructionist views of sexual orientation. Philosopher Edward Stein argues that Ruse does not succeed in showing that social constructionism is mistaken, calling his discussion of it superficial.
Along with several other scholars, Ruse delivered the 2001 Gifford Lectures in Natural Theology at the University of Glasgow. His lectures on Evolutionary Naturalism, "A Darwinian Understanding of Epistemology" and "A Darwinian Understanding of Ethics," are collected in the edited volume 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. Ruse takes the position that it is possible to reconcile the Christian faith with evolutionary theory. Ruse founded the journal Biology and Philosophy and has published numerous books and articles.
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