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Intelligent design is the proposition that aspects of the universe and the variation of life cannot be explained by reference to random mutation and natural selection alone, and that at least some of the diversity of life is not due to chance.[1] Proponents call this the problem of irreducible complexity, and say it can only be explained by reference to intelligence.[2] The philosopher Thomas Nagel argues that on the face of it this is a scientific claim about what the evidence suggests, one that is not self-evidently absurd,[1] but the argument is rejected by most scientists, who say there are natural explanations for what seems to be irreducible complexity.[3]

The concept is a contemporary version of the teleological argument for the existence of God, though it does not specify the nature of the designer;[4] scientists have called it creationist pseudoscience.[5] Nagel argues that intelligent design is very different from creation science, in that it does not depend on distortion of the evidence, or on the assumption that it is immune to empirical evidence. It depends only on the idea that the hypothesis of a designer makes sense.[1]

Philosopher Robert B. Johnson writes that most commentators inside and outside the intelligent design movement say the modern form of intelligent design began with Darwin on Trial (1991) by Philip E. Johnson, an American law professor. Johnson was influenced by two books: The Blind Watchmaker (1986) by Richard Dawkins, who argued that random mutation and natural selection could alone account for the diversity of life, and Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985) by Michael Denton, who argued that it could not. Johnson wrote in Darwin on Trial that evolutionary biologists argue for Darwinism not on the basis of evidence, but because their philosophy of science disallows any alternative. He organized conferences in 1992 and 1993, after which a listserv was set up to allow proponents to network. In 1996, the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank, set up its Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture to explore and promote intelligent design, and in November that year a conference at Biola University saw 200 scientists, philosophers, and theologians gather to discuss it.[6]

Efforts to have intelligent design taught in science classes in the United States culminated in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005), when parents of high-school students challenged a school-district requirement that teachers present it in biology classes as an alternative explanation of the origin of life. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design is not science, that it "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents," and that the school district's promotion of it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[7]

History

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Origin of the concept

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A first-century bust of Socrates. The idea of intelligent design, or the argument from design, is an ancient one, held in some form by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Whether the complexity of nature indicates purposeful design has been the subject of debate since the Greeks. In the 4th century BCE, Plato posited a good and wise "demiurge" as the creator and first cause of the cosmos in his Timaeus.[8] In his Metaphysics, Aristotle developed the idea of an "Unmoved Mover".[9] In De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods, 45 BCE) Cicero wrote that "the divine power is to be found in a principle of reason which pervades the whole of nature."[10] This line of reasoning has come to be known as the teleological argument for the existence of God. Some well-known forms of it were expressed in the 13th century by Thomas Aquinas and in the 19th century by William Paley. Aquinas, in his Summa Theologiae, used the concept of design in his "fifth proof" for God's existence.[11]

In the 17th century the English physician Sir Thomas Browne wrote a Discourse arguing the case for intelligent design. His 1658 The Garden of Cyrus is one of the earliest examples of 'proof' of the wisdom of God and gives examples of intelligent design in botany. In the early 19th century, Paley's argument from design in Natural Theology (1802), used the watchmaker analogy,[12] and such arguments led to the development of what was called natural theology, the study of nature as way of understanding "the mind of God". This movement fueled the passion for collecting fossils and other biological specimens, which ultimately led to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859). Similar reasoning postulating a divine designer is embraced today by many believers in theistic evolution, who consider modern science and the theory of evolution to be compatible with the concept of a supernatural designer. In correspondence about the question with Asa Gray, Darwin wrote that "I cannot honestly go as far as you do about Design. I am conscious that I am in an utterly hopeless muddle. I cannot think that the world, as we see it, is the result of chance; & yet I cannot look at each separate thing as the result of Design."[13] Though he had studied Paley's work while at university, by the end of his life he came to regard it as useless for scientific development.[14]

Development of its modern form

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Intelligent design in the late 20th and early 21st century is a development of natural theology that seeks to change the basis of science and undermine evolutionary theory.[15] As evolutionary theory expanded to explain more phenomena, the examples held up as evidence of design changed, though the essential argument remains the same: complex systems imply a designer. Past examples have included the eye and the feathered wing; current examples are typically biochemical: protein functions, blood clotting, and bacterial flagella; see irreducible complexity.

Philosopher Barbara Forrest writes that the intelligent design movement began in 1984 with the publication by Jon A. Buell's the Foundation for Thought and Ethics of The Mystery of Life's Origin by Charles B. Thaxton, a chemist and creationist. Thaxton held a conference in 1988, "Sources of Information Content in DNA," which attracted creationists such as Stephen C. Meyer. Forrest writes that, in December 1988, Thaxton decided to use the term "intelligent design," instead of creationism, for the movement.[16]

In March 1986 a review by Meyer used information theory to suggest that messages transmitted by DNA in the cell show "specified complexity" specified by intelligence, and must have originated with an intelligent agent.[17] In November of that year Thaxton described his reasoning as a more sophisticated form of Paley's argument from design.[18] At the Sources of Information Content in DNA conference in 1988 he said that his intelligent cause view was compatible with both metaphysical naturalism and supernaturalism,[19]

Intelligent design avoids identifying or naming the agent of creation—it merely states that one (or more) must exist—but leaders of the movement have said the designer is the Christian God.[20][21][22][23][24] Whether this lack of specificity about the designer's identity in public discussions is a genuine feature of the concept, or just a posture taken to avoid alienating those who would separate religion from the teaching of science, has been a matter of great debate between supporters and critics of intelligent design. The Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District court ruling held the latter to be the case.

Origin of the term

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[[:Image:Pandas and ppl.jpg|thumbnail|right|160px|Of Pandas and People was the first modern intelligent design book. Rethinking Schools magazine characterizes it as a "creationist treatise dressed up to look like a legitimate discussion of science".[25]]]

Use of the terms "creationism" versus "intelligent design" in sequential drafts of the book Of Pandas and People[26]

The phrase "intelligent design" can be found in an 1847 issue of Scientific American,[27] in an 1850 book by Patrick Edward Dove,[28] and in an 1861 letter from Charles Darwin.[29] The phrase was used in an address to the 1873 annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science by Paleyite botanist George James Allman:

No physical hypothesis founded on any indisputable fact has yet explained the origin of the primordial protoplasm, and, above all, of its marvellous properties, which render evolution possible—in heredity and in adaptability, for these properties are the cause and not the effect of evolution. For the cause of this cause we have sought in vain among the physical forces which surround us, until we are at last compelled to rest upon an independent volition, a far-seeing intelligent design.[30]

The phrase can be found again in Humanism, a 1903 book by one of the founders of classical pragmatism, F.C.S. Schiller: "It will not be possible to rule out the supposition that the process of evolution may be guided by an intelligent design". A derivative of the phrase appears in the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967) in the article titled, "Teleological argument for the existence of God": "Stated most succinctly, the argument runs: The world exhibits teleological order (design, adaptation). Therefore, it was produced by an intelligent designer".[31] Robert Nozick (1974) wrote: "Consider now complicated patterns which one would have thought would arise only through intelligent design".[32] The phrases "intelligent design" and "intelligently designed" were used in a 1979 philosophy book Chance or Design? by James Horigan[33] and the phrase "intelligent design" was used in a 1982 speech by Sir Fred Hoyle in his promotion of panspermia.[34]

Modern use of the term

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The modern use of the words "intelligent design", as a term intended to describe a field of inquiry, began after the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), ruled that creationism is unconstitutional in public school science curricula. A Discovery Institute report says that Charles Thaxton, editor of Of Pandas and People, had picked the phrase up from a NASA scientist, and thought "That's just what I need, it's a good engineering term".[35] In drafts of the book over one hundred uses of the root word "creation", such as "creationism" and "creation science", were changed, almost without exception, to "intelligent design",[7] while "creationists" was changed to "design proponents" or, in one instance, "cdesign proponentsists". [sic][26] In June 1988 Thaxton held a conference titled "Sources of Information Content in DNA" in Tacoma, Washington,[19] and in December decided to use the label "intelligent design" for his new creationist movement.[36] Stephen C. Meyer was at the conference, and later recalled that "the term came up".[37]

Of Pandas and People was published in 1989, and was the first book to make frequent use of the phrases "intelligent design," "design proponents," and "design theory", thus representing the beginning of the modern "intelligent design" movement.[38] "Intelligent design” was the most prominent of around fifteen new terms it introduced as a new lexicon of creationist terminology to oppose evolution without using religious language.[39] It was the first place where the phrase "intelligent design" appeared in its present use, as stated both by its publisher Jon Buell,[40][41] and by William A. Dembski in his expert witness report.[42] The book presented all of the basic arguments of intelligent design proponents before any research had been done to support these arguments, and was actively promoted by creationists for public school use.[38] Rethinking Schools magazine has criticized the book, saying it was a "creationist treatise" packaged to look like a high quality science textbook, with a "glossy cover, full-color illustrations, and chapter titles such as 'Homology' and 'Genetics and Macroevolution'", with numerous "professionally prepared charts and illustrations appear to show how concrete scientific evidence supports the existence of the unnamed 'designer'". Philosopher of science Michael Ruse believes the contents were "worthless and dishonest", and it was described by an ACLU lawyer as a political tool aimed at students who did not "know science or understand the controversy over evolution and creationism".[25]

  1. ^ a b c Nagel, Thomas. "Public Education and Intelligent Design", Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 36, no. 2, 2008, pp. 192, 197.
  2. ^ Ruse, Michael. "Creationism," in Ted Honderich (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 183.
  3. ^ Clements, A.; Bursac, D.; Gatsos, X.; Perry, A.; Civciristov, S.; Celik, N.; Likic, V.; Poggio, S.; Jacobs-Wagner, C.; Strugnell, R. A.; Lithgow, T. (2009). "The reducible complexity of a mitochondrial molecular machine". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (37): 15791–15795. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10615791C. doi:10.1073/pnas.0908264106. PMC 2747197. PMID 19717453. ([1]), see also Kitzmiller judgement
  4. ^ Numbers, Ronald L. The Creationists. Harvard University Press, 2006, pp. 373, 379–380.
  5. ^ "An intelligently designed response", Nature Methods, editorial, Vol 4, issue 12, 2007, p. 983; Mu, David. "Trojan Horse or Legitimate Science", Harvard Science Review, Vol 19, issue 1, Fall 2005.
  6. ^ Stewart, Robert B. "Introduction: What are we talking about?" in Robert B. Stewart (ed.). Intelligent Design: William A. Dembski & Michael Ruse in Dialogue. Fortress Press, 2007, p. 2ff.
  7. ^ a b Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 04 cv 2688 (December 20, 2005); s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/2:Context, pp. 31–32. Also see Edwards v. Aguillard, June 19, 1987.
  8. ^ "Plato's Timaeus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October 25, 2005.
  9. ^ Aristotle, Metaphysics Bk. 12
  10. ^ Zagzebski, Linda Trinkaus. The Philosophy of Religion: An Historical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, p. 31l Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Book I, 36–37.
  11. ^ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae "Thomas Aquinas' 'Five Ways' (archive link)" in faithnet.org.uk.
  12. ^ William Paley, Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, 1809, London, Twelfth Edition.
  13. ^ "Letter 2998 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 26 Nov (1860)". Darwin Correspondence Project. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  14. ^ Gerard Radnitzky (1993). Evolutionary epistemology, rationality, and the sociology of knowledge. Open Court Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 0812690397. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ See, e.g., the publisher's editorial description of the 2006 paperback printing of William Paley (1803) Natural Theology" : "William Paley's classic brings depth to the history of intelligent design arguments. The contrivance of the eye, the ear, and numerous other anatomical features throughout the natural world are presented as arguments for God's presence and concern. While there are distinctive differences between Paley's argument and those used today by intelligent design theorists and creationists, it remains a fascinating glimpse of the nineteenth-century's debate over the roles of religion and science".
  16. ^ Forrest, Barbara. Know Your Creationists: Know Your Allies
  17. ^ Stephen C. Meyer (March 1986). "We Are Not Alone". Eternity. Access Research Network. Retrieved 2007-10-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ^ Charles B. Thaxton, Ph.D. (November 13–16, 1986). "DNA, Design and the Origin of Life". Christian Leadership Ministries. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  19. ^ a b Charles B. Thaxton (June 23–26, 1988, revised July 1988 and May 1991). "In Pursuit of Intelligent Causes: Some Historical Background". Retrieved 2007-10-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "the writings of leading ID proponents reveal that the designer postulated by their argument is the God of Christianity". Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 04 cv 2688 (December 20, 2005)., Ruling p. 26. A selection of writings and quotes of intelligent design supporters demonstrating this are found in Horse's Mouth (PDF) by Brian Poindexter, dated 2003.
  21. ^ Dembski: "Intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John's Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory," Touchstone Magazine. Volume 12, Issue4: July/August, 1999
  22. ^ Phillip Johnson: "Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get the issue of Intelligent Design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools." Johnson 2004. Christianity.ca. Let's Be Intelligent About Darwin. "This isn't really, and never has been a debate about science. It's about religion and philosophy." Johnson 1996. World Magazine. Witnesses For The Prosecution. "So the question is: "How to win?" That's when I began to develop what you now see full-fledged in the "wedge" strategy: "Stick with the most important thing"—the mechanism and the building up of information. Get the Bible and the Book of Genesis out of the debate because you do not want to raise the so-called Bible-science dichotomy. Phrase the argument in such a way that you can get it heard in the secular academy and in a way that tends to unify the religious dissenters. That means concentrating on, "Do you need a Creator to do the creating, or can nature do it on its own?" and refusing to get sidetracked onto other issues, which people are always trying to do." Johnson 2000. Touchstone magazine. Berkeley's Radical An Interview with Phillip E. Johnson at the Wayback Machine (archived June 9, 2007)
  23. ^ Stephen C. Meyer: "I think the designer is God ..." (Darwin, the marketing of Intelligent Design . Nightline ABC News, with Ted Koppel, August 10, 2005); Nancy Pearcey: "By contrast, design theory demonstrates that Christians can sit in the supernaturalist’s “chair” even in their professional lives, seeing the cosmos through the lens of a comprehensive biblical worldview. Intelligent Design steps boldly into the scientific arena to build a case based on empirical data. It takes Christianity out of the ineffectual realm of value and stakes out a cognitive claim in the realm of objective truth. It restores Christianity to its status as genuine knowledge, equipping us to defend it in the public arena". (Total Truth, Crossway Books, June 29, 2004, ISBN 1581344589, pp. 204-205)
  24. ^ a b Leon Lynn (Winter 1997/98). "Vol 12 No 2 - Rethinking Schools Online". Creationists Push Pseudo-Science Text. Retrieved 2009-02-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "RethinkingSchools" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  25. ^ a b Nick Matzke (2006). "NCSE Resource -- 9.0. Matzke (2006): The Story of the Pandas Drafts". National Center for Science Education. Retrieved 2009-11-18. *Nick Matzke (2006). "Missing Link discovered!". National Center for Science Education. Archived from the original on 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  26. ^ Nick Matzke (August 14, 2007). "The true origin of "intelligent design"". The Panda's Thumb. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
    "Journals: Scientific American (1846 - 1869)". Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  27. ^ Dove, Patrick Edward, The theory of human progression, and natural probability of a reign of justice. London, Johnstone & Hunter, 1850. LC 08031381 "Intelligence-Intelligent Design".
  28. ^ Charles Darwin (May 23, 1861). "Letter 3154—Darwin, C. R. to Herschel, J. F. W., 23 May 1861". Darwin Correspondence Project.
  29. ^ "The British Association". The Times. September 20, 1873. pp. 10, col A.
  30. ^ William P. Alston (1967). "Teleological Argument for the Existence of God". In Paul Edwards (ed.). Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York City, London: Macmillan Publishing Company, The Free Press, Collier Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0028949900.
  31. ^ Robert Nozick (1974). Anarchy, State, and Utopia. USA: Basic Books. p. 19. ISBN 0465097200.
  32. ^ James E. Horigan (1979). Chance or Design?. Philosophical Library.
  33. ^ Nicholas Timmins (January 13, 1982). "Evolution according to Hoyle: Survivors of disaster in an earlier world". The Times. No. 61130. p. 22. F. Hoyle stated in a 1982 speech: '...one arrives at the conclusion that biomaterials with their amazing measure or order must be the outcome of intelligent design.'
  34. ^ Jonathan Witt (December 20, 2005). "Evolution News & Views: Dover Judge Regurgitates Mythological History of Intelligent Design". Discovery Institute. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  35. ^ DarkSyde (March 11, 2006). "Daily Kos: Know Your Creationists: Know Your Allies". interview with Barbara Forrest. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  36. ^ William Safire (August 21, 2005). "On Language: Neo-Creo". New York Times.
  37. ^ a b Nick Matzke (2004). "NCSE Resource". Introduction: Of Pandas and People, the foundational work of the 'Intelligent Design' movement. National Center for Science Education. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  38. ^ Richard P. Aulie (1998). "A Reader's Guide to Of Pandas and People". National Association of Biology Teachers. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  39. ^ Scott, Eugenie C.; Matzke, Nicholas J. (May 15, 2007). "Biological design in science classrooms". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (Suppl 1). United States National Academy of Sciences: 8669–8676. doi:10.1073/pnas.0701505104. PMC 1876445. PMID 17494747.
  40. ^ Nick Matzke (October 13, 2005). "I guess ID really was "Creationism's Trojan Horse" after all". The Panda's Thumb. Retrieved 2009-06-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help).
  41. ^ William A. Dembski (March 29, 2005). "Expert Witness Report: The Scientific Status of Intelligent Design" (Document). Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial document. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)