Teaching evolution in schools: a thin comprehensive liberal approach

Abstract Comprehensive liberals and political liberals disagree over the extent to which the compulsory school curriculum must be ‘neutral’, in the sense of avoiding taking a stance on value-disagreements between citizens. Problems with these two liberal positions come to the fore when we consider what each has to say about the inclusion of evolutionary theory on the curriculum. Comprehensive liberals have justified its inclusion by appealing to the intrinsic value of this knowledge. But their appeal to controversial justifications is rejected by some as failing to show respect for the free, equal, and rational status of citizens. The majority of political liberals have also supported evolution’s inclusion on the curriculum, offering ‘neutral’ arguments that appeal to the value of scientific understanding. But these arguments face various challenges, including that they do not justify the teaching of evolutionary theory specifically. ‘Thin comprehensive liberalism’ offers a distinctive approach that avoids the main pitfalls of the two dominant positions within liberalism. How does this approach fare in relation to this difficult test case? This article gives a provisional case for the inclusion of evolution on the curriculum, highlighting the epistemic damage that tends (in practice) to accompany creationist beliefs, including conspiratorial thinking and confusion about the nature and methods of science. Considering this issue points to the acute challenge liberals face in deciding how to trade off schools’ epistemic responsibilities against respect for the diversity of beliefs held by citizens.