"John Wilkins"  wrote in message
news:c7172h$1fr0$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> > >> Dumbing things down to the point where they are
incorrect is a rather
> > >> unsuitable job for the professor of the public understanding of
science.
> > >
> > > That's right. That's why we have secondary school biology teachers.
> >
> > Let's not be so self-assured as to leave out university professors,
> > especially those teaching introductory biology classes.
> >
> Or, starting next semester, lecturers in undergraduate philosophy of
> biology...

Sounds like fun.  I'd be curious to see your syllabus or list of readings.
Will your
students be mostly young philosophers or young biologists?  If they are
philosophers
and you wish to offer them some negative examples for them to analyse and
critique, just have them read this newsgroup.

Incidentally, I just read a paper by Joseph LaPorte in a philosophy journal,
The Monist.  The paper was "Must Signals Handicap?" and it analyzed where
Zahavi got it right, and where he got it wrong.  That is, it covered the
same ground
as the first three chapters of "Animal Signals" by Maynard Smith
and Harper.
Although I am a big fan of JMS's writing, I must say that the subject was
covered
more clearly and concisely by the philosopher than by the biologists.  And
furthermore, the philosopher got it right first, as Maynard Smith and Harper
acknowlege.
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