Theory is NOT Hypothetical

One of the interesting things I picked up in the book The Canon that I commented on last week has to do with definitions. In that ongoing tail-chasing argument of "creation" vs "evolution" a great deal of the argument from the creationists is that science only calls natural selection "only" a "theory." Therefore, the straw argument goes, even science admits that it isn't fact. Well, let's first go to the dictionary:

1: the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2: abstract thought : speculation
3: the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art
4 a: a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action b: an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances
5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena
6 a: a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation b: an unproved assumption
--Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

It should (but doesn't) quickly become obvious that a word in the English language can have more than one meaning- even meanings that can go in almost opposite directions. Theory is one of those words. Natalie Angier in The Canon points this out quite clearly. The Theory of Evolution is NOT an hypothesis (def. 6) or even a speculation (def. 2). It is an analysis of a set of facts (def. 1) which leads to a general or abstract principle (def. 3.)

For example, every music major has to study a series of courses about "Music Theory". That course is not hypotethical. It is quite concrete (if abstract?) and describes the foundation on which music is based. There may be different theories of music- but those theories describe completely different types and styles of music. Our basic Western music theory covers what most of us think of when we think of music and it doesn't matter whether it's Bach, Bacharach or Brad Paisley.

Therefore to shoot down natural selection or evolution, to dismiss it as "merely a theory," is to use the word theory in a way that it is not being used by the scientists. If it were simply hypothetical, well, then we might have an argument. But a scientific theory is usually a foundational understanding of events or processes.