NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Intelligent designer

An intelligent designer, also referred to as an "intelligent agent," is the entity that the intelligent design movement argues had some role in the origin and/or development of life and who supposedly has left scientific evidence of this intelligent design. They also use the term "intelligent cause" implying their teleological supposition of direction and purpose in features of the universe and of living things. The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that arose out of the previous Christian fundamentalist and evangelistic creation science movement.^[1]^[2]^[3] Proponents of intelligent design argue to the public that their concept does not posit the identity of the designer as part of this effort. But in statements to their constituency, which consists largely of Christian conservatives, they identify the designer as God.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] The intelligent design movement is a campaign based in the United States that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the notion of intelligent design, a form of neo-creationism. ... Pre-Cambrian stromatolites in the Siyeh Formation, Glacier National Park. ... Intelligent design (ID) is the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ... Teleology (telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. ... Neo-creationism is a movement whose goal is to restate creationism in terms more likely to be well-received by the public, policy makers, educators, and the scientific community. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... The Four Evangelists, by Jakob Jordaens It has been suggested that Christian evangelism be merged into this article or section. ... Creation science refers to the attempts by creationists (especially those who believe in a young Earth) to use the methods and empirical practices of science to support their side of the creation-evolution controversy. ... Intelligent design (ID) is the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ... The Christian right is a term collectively referring to a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of social values they deem in line with traditional Christian values in western countries. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

Who does the ID movement think the designer is?

William Dembski states in his book Design Inference that the nature of the intelligent designer cannot be inferred from intelligent design. All leading intelligent design proponents have stated identifying or characterizing the designer is beyond the scope of intelligent design as a line of inquiry. Proponents had hoped that, by avoiding invoking creation by a specific supernatural entity, (such as that employed by creation science), intelligent design would be considered scientific and not violate the establishment clause of the US constitution. Proponents feared that were intelligent design identified as a restatement of previous forms of creationism, it would be precluded from being taught in public schools after the 1987 Supreme Court of the United States decision in Edwards vs Aguillard. This line of reasoning was not particularly persuasive to many in the scientific community, which largely rejected intelligent design as both a line of scientific inquiry and as a basis for a sound education in science. William Dembski Dr William Albert Bill Dembski (born July 18, 1960) is an American mathematician, philosopher and theologian known for advocating the controversial idea of intelligent design. ... The books cover The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities is a controversial 1998 book by the American mathematician, philosopher and theologian William Dembski. ... Creation (theology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Creation science refers to the attempts by creationists (especially those who believe in a young Earth) to use the methods and empirical practices of science to support their side of the creation-evolution controversy. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America and is... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Edwards v. ...

On December 20, 2005 federal district court ruled in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that intelligent design was not science and was essentially religious in nature. The ruling not only rendered that public school district's requirement endorsing intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in science classes unconstitutional on the grounds that its inclusion violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, but validated the objections of critics who discounted proponent's claim that the identity was not God. The United States federal courts are the system of courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ...

Highlighting these mutually exclusive claims about the designer, Dembski, despite having said that the intelligent designer could be any god or gods, or even space aliens, has also said that "intelligent design should be understood as the evidence that God has placed in nature to show that the physical world is the product of intelligence and not simply the result of mindless material forces"^[8] and that "Intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John's Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory."^[9] Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Extraterrestrial, as an adjective, refers to something that originates, occurs, or is located outside Earth or its atmosphere. ...

Michael Behe, in his book Darwin's Black Box, suggested the designer might be a time traveling cell biologist, apparently ignoring that such a hypothesis results in a grandfather paradox. Michael Behe Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ... The Cover of Darwins Black Box Darwins Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution is a 1996 book by Michael J. Behe in which he argues that many biochemical systems are irreducibly complex, and thus the result of intelligent design rather than evolutionary processes. ... Time travel is a concept that has long fascinated humanity—whether it is Merlin experiencing time backwards, or religious traditions like Mohammeds trip to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, returning before a glass knocked over had spilt its contents. ... The grandfather paradox is a paradox of time travel, first conceived by the science fiction writer RenÃ© Barjavel in his 1943 book Le voyageur imprudent (The imprudent traveller) [1]. The paradox, stated in the second person, is this: Suppose you travelled back in time and killed your biological grandfather before...

At various times each of the leading proponents in the intelligent design movement have clearly expressed that they consider the Abrahamic God in his role as a creator God, to be the intelligent designer and denied that intelligent designer is God, depending on which audience they are addressing. On example is William Dembski, who on his blog in response to the question "Is the designer responsible for biological complexity God?" said "not necessarily" and "To ask who or what is the designer of a particular object is to ask for the immediate intelligent agent responsible for its design. The point is that God is able to work through derived or surrogate intelligences, which can be anything from angels to organizing principles embedded in nature."^[10] Yet to the intelligent design movement's conservative Christian constituents Dembski has said "intelligent design should be understood as the evidence that God has placed in nature to show that the physical world is the product of intelligence and not simply the result of mindless material forces. This evidence is available to all apart from the special revelation of God in salvation history as recounted in Scripture. ... Intelligent design makes it impossible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. This gives intelligent design incredible traction as a tool for apologetics, opening up the God-question to individuals who think that science has buried God"^[11] and "Thus, in its relation to Christianity, intelligent design should be viewed as a ground-clearing operation that gets rid of the intellectual rubbish that for generations has kept Christianity from receiving serious consideration."^[12] The three so-called Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have in common many beliefs about God. ... God is the divine being that created the omniverse. ...

In addition, the intelligent movement seeks as a well-documented agenda the overall goal "to defeat materialism" and the "materialist world view" as represented by evolution, and replace it with "a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."^[13] Phillip E. Johnson, considered the father of the ID movement has stated that the goal of intelligent design is to cast creationism as a scientific concept: Phillip E. Johnson Phillip E. Johnson (born 1940) is a retired UC Berkeley American law professor and author. ... The Creation of Light by Gustave DorÃ©. Creationism at its core is the belief that all humanity, life, the Earth, or the universe as a whole was created by a supreme being (often referred to as God[1]) or by other forms of supernatural intervention. ...

The Discovery Institute's leaked Wedge document sets out the movement's governing goals, including: The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to, make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ...

What does the ID movement think the designer did?

Opinion as to the amount of creation the intelligent designer has done varies within the ID movement. Michael Behe's concept of irreducible complexity has natural selection accounting for most of evolution but the intelligent designer contributing the design of some proteins. Others in the ID movement however contest concepts such as common descent, particularly of humans and other apes. Though most in the ID movement seem to be Old Earth Creationists, a few are Young Earth Creationists. Michael Behe Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ... This article covers irreducible complexity as used by those who argue for intelligent design. ... The GalÃ¡pagos Islands hold 13 species of finches that are closely related and differ most markedly in the shape of their beaks. ... In 1832, while traveling on the Beagle, naturalist Charles Darwin collected giant fossils in South America. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... A group of organisms is said to have common descent if they have a common ancestor. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal apes belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ... Families Hylobatidae Hominidae Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. ... Old Earth creationism is a variant of the creationist view of the origin of the universe and life on Earth. ... ...

The amount of creation that the intelligent designer did has also been criticised by Young Earth Creationists as not being specific enough, and particularly contradicting their beliefs of Biblical inerrancy and a young earth. ^[15] ^[16] ... Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position [1] that in its original form, the Bible is without error; referring to the complete accuracy of Scripture, including the historical and scientific parts. ...

Some intelligent design proponents say the intelligent designer fine-tuned the universe's physical constants in such a way that life is the result of the universe's physical constants being related to one another in a fashion that permits life to exist. The fine-tuned universe argument is a central premise or presented as a given in many of the published works of prominent intelligent design proponents, such as William A. Dembski and Michael Behe. The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... // ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... William A. Dembski William Albert Bill Dembski (born July 18, 1960) is an American mathematician, philosopher, theologian and proponent of intelligent design in opposition to the theory of evolution through natural selection. ... Michael Behe Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ...

Criticism

Intelligent design has been presented by its proponents as a "big tent" strategy into which several accounts of creation can fit. Were a scientific version of intelligent design approved for inclusion in public school science curricula, then a path would be opened for discussion of alternatives to not only natural selection but naturalism as well, and eventually religious accounts on the origin of life. The vast majority of scientists reject the concept of intelligent design and an intelligent designer. Instead, the most widely accepted explanation is that physical processes such as natural selection can account for the complexity of life and other phenomena and features of the universe. Attempts to insert theories of intelligent design into public school science curricula fits in with the intelligent design movement's social aims, via the overturning of Western secularism as detailed in the Wedge strategy. The concept of the intelligent designer has been criticised as a God-of-the-gaps argument. Introducing the hypothesis of an intelligent designer introduces the unsolved problem of accounting for the origin of such a designer (first cause). The GalÃ¡pagos Islands hold 13 species of finches that are closely related and differ most markedly in the shape of their beaks. ... Naturalism is any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism, that do not distinguish the supernatural (including strange entities like non-natural values, and universals as they are commonly conceived) from nature. ... Pre-Cambrian stromatolites in the Siyeh Formation, Glacier National Park. ... The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ... The concept of the God of the gaps contrasts religious explanations of nature with those derived from science (see also Relationship between religion and science). ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Stub | Philosophy of science | Religious Philosophy | Theology ...

By raising the question of the need for a designer for objects with irreducible complexity, intelligent design also raises the question, "what designed the designer?" Richard Dawkins has argued that "If complex organisms demand an explanation, so does a complex designer. And it's no solution to raise the theologian's plea that God (or the intelligent designer) is simply immune to the normal demands of scientific explanation,"^[17] since such an answer would be unscientific. With religious creationism, the question "what created God?" can be answered with theological arguments, but in intelligent design, the chain of designers can be followed back indefinitely in an infinite regression, leaving the question of the creation of the first designer dangling. As a result, intelligent design does not explain how the complexity happened in the first place; it just moves it.^[18] Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ... Turtles all the way down refers to an infinite regression belief about the nature of the universe (see Cosmology). ...

Elliott Sober says that by intelligent design's own arguments, a designer capable of creating irreducible complexity must also be irreducibly complex: "Any mind in nature that designs and builds an irreducibly complex system is itself irreducibly complex"^[19] Sober says that this an argument that intelligent design proponents still need to respond to. Elliott Sober -- Hans Reichenbach Professor and William F. Vilas Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at University of Wisconsin. ...

If intelligent design proponents invoke an uncaused causer or deity to resolve this problem,^[20] they contradict a fundamental assumption of intelligent design that design requires a designer^[21]^[22] and reduce intelligent design to religious creationism. Another possible counter-argument might be an infinite regression of designers. However, admitting infinite numbers of objects also allows any arbitrarily improbable event to occur ^[23], such as an object with "specific" complexity assembling itself by chance. Again, this contradicts a fundamental assumption of intelligent design that a designer is needed for every specifically complex object, producing a logical contradiction. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Turtles all the way down refers to an infinite regression belief about the nature of the universe (see Cosmology). ...

Many critics of intelligent design also point out that it is essentially a form of creationism without mentioning God or the bible; they maintain that it is just creationists' latest method of trying to reinsert creationism into the education system. Apart from replacing the term "intelligent designer" with "God", there is very little difference between the two doctrines. The onyl real difference is the "irreducible compexity" argument. It essentially states that life is so complex and works so well that it had to have been designed. The counter argument is that a complex design does not necesarily require a designer and that science has revealed that such complicated systems can evolve (in fact, this has even been done by scientists; RNA can be evolved to do an incredible number of things). Some intelligent design advocates, notably Michael Behe, are prepared to accept some evolution, mainly small changers over each generation, but claim that these small changes cannot account for compexity of life. The scientific community, however, demonstrates that they can. It is also pointed out that if one claims that a molecule is irreducibly compex and it is later shown that it could have evolved form another molecule, it can be written off as a result of evolution and the argument cna be shifted to the earlier molecule, etc. In any case, intelligent design advocates usually point out that scientists still do not know very much aobut many molecules and their evolutionary history. Scientists, however, claim that this merely shows they di not yet know everything aobut evolutionery biology. Michael Behe Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ...

The Dover trial

In 2005, intelligent design proponents arguments regarding the identity of a designer became an issue considered by the court in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the "Dover trial," where plaintiffs successfully argued that intelligent design is a form of creationism, and that the school board policy requiring the presentation of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution as an "explanation of the origin of life" thus violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In his ruling, the judge stated that the appearance of design is subjective, Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... In 1832, while traveling on the Beagle, naturalist Charles Darwin collected giant fossils in South America. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

References

^ Ruling, Context Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
^ Life in the Big Tent: Traditional Creationism and the Intelligent Design Community Paul A. Nelson. Christian Research Journal, volume 24, number 4, 2002.
^ Expert Witness Report Barbara Forrest. Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. (PDF file)
^ Stephen C. Meyer (Discovery Institute): "I think the designer is God..." Darwin, the marketing of Intelligent Design Nightline ABC News, with Ted Koppel, August 10 2005.
^ "Now the way that I see the logic of our movement going is like this. The first thing you understand is that the Darwinian theory isn't true. It's falsified by all of the evidence and the logic is terrible. When you realize that, the next question that occurs to you is, well, where might you get the truth? When I preach from the Bible, as I often do at churches and on Sundays, I don't start with Genesis. I start with John 1:1. In the beginning was the word. In the beginning was intelligence, purpose, and wisdom. The Bible had that right. And the materialist scientists are deluding themselves." How the Evolution Debate Can Be Won. Phillip Johnson. Truths that Transform.
^ William Dembski. "Intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John's Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory," Touchstone Magazine. Volume 12, Issue 4 July/August, 1999
^ "The only apparent difference between the argument made by Paley and the argument for ID, as expressed by defense expert witnesses Behe and Minnich, is that ID's "official position" does not acknowledge that the designer is God. However, as Dr. Haught testified, anyone familiar with Western religious thought would immediately make the association that the tactically unnamed designer is God, as the description of the designer in Of Pandas and People (hereinafter "Pandas") is a "master intellect," strongly suggesting a supernatural deity as opposed to any intelligent actor known to exist in the natural world. (P-11 at 85). Moreover, it is notable that both Professors Behe and Minnich admitted their personal view is that the designer is God and Professor Minnich testified that he understands many leading advocates of ID to believe the designer to be God. (21:90 (Behe); 38:36-38 (Minnich)). Although proponents of the IDM occasionally suggest that the designer could be a space alien or a time-traveling cell biologist, no serious alternative to God as the designer has been proposed by members of the IDM, including Defendants' expert witnesses. (20:102-03 (Behe)). In fact, an explicit concession that the intelligent designer works outside the laws of nature and science and a direct reference to religion is Pandas’ rhetorical statement, "what kind of intelligent agent was it [the designer]" and answer: "On its own science cannot answer this question. It must leave it to religion and philosophy." (P-11 at 7; 9:13-14 (Haught)). A significant aspect of the IDM is that despite Defendants' protestations to the contrary, it describes ID as a religious argument. In that vein, the writings of leading ID proponents reveal that the designer postulated by their argument is the God of Christianity." Dover trial ruling: Context Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
^ Why President Bush Got It Right about Intelligent Design William A. Dembski DesignInference.com, August 4 2005 (PDF file)
^ Signs of Intelligence A Primer on the Discernment of Intelligent Design. William A. Dembski. Touchstone Journal, Volume 12, Issue 4, July/August 1999
^ Who or what is the designer? William A. Dembski. Uncommon Descent, December 22, 2005.
^ Commending President Bush William A. Dembski. DesignInference.com
^ Intelligent Design's Contribution To The Debate Over Evolution: A Reply To Henry Morris William A. Dembski. DesignInference.com.
^ Evolution or design debate heats up Paul Handley. The Times of Oman, March 7 2005
^ The Wedge Document Discovery Institute pamphlet, 1999. (PDF file)
^ AiG’s views on the Intelligent Design Movement - by Carl Wieland, 30 August 2002 [1]
^ 'Design is Not Enough' - by Henry H. Morris, Back to Genesis pamphlet series, No.127a, July 1999, Institute for Creation Research. [2]
^ "If complex organisms demand an explanation, so does a complex designer. And it's no solution to raise the theologian's plea that God (or the Intelligent Designer) is simply immune to the normal demands of scientific explanation. To do so would be to shoot yourself in the foot." Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne. 1 September 2005. The Guardian [3]
^ Claudia Wallis. Evolution Wars. Time Magazine, 15 August 2005 edition, page 32 [4]
^ Intelligent Design Theory and the Supernatural - The "God or Extra-terrestrials" Reply Elliott Sober. University of Wisconsin - Madison.
^ "Christianity postulates the religious answer to this question that the designer is God who by definition is eternally existent and has no origin. There is no logical philosophical impossibility with this being the case (akin to Aristotle's 'unmoved mover') as a religious answer to the origin of the designer. See also an answer to a subissue the implications of whether or not the first CSI come from an unintelligent source." FAQ: Who designed the designer? IDEA [5]
^ "Intelligent design, on the other hand, involves two basic assumptions: 1) Intelligent causes exist. 2) These causes can be empirically detected (by looking for specified complexity)." Access Research Network. Frequently Asked Questions about Intelligent Design. [6]
^ "According to contemporary design theory, the presence of highly specified complexity is an indicator of an intelligent cause." Access Research Network. Frequently Asked Questions about Intelligent Design. [7]
^ "To explain the origin of the DNA/protein machine by invoking a supernatural Designer is to explain precisely nothing, for it leaves unexplained the origin of the Designer. You have to say something like 'God was always there', and if you allow yourself that kind of lazy way out, you might as well just say 'DNA was always there', or "Life was always there', and be done with it." Richard Dawkins. The Blind Watchmaker : Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design pg 141

Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... Paul Nelson Paul A. Nelson PhD (born 1958) is an American young earth creationist and intelligent design advocate. ... Barbara Forrest, PhD. is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... Stephen C. Meyer. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to, make a positive vision of the future practical. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... William A. Dembski William Albert Bill Dembski (born July 18, 1960) is an American mathematician, philosopher, theologian and proponent of intelligent design in opposition to the theory of evolution through natural selection. ... William A. Dembski William Albert Bill Dembski (born July 18, 1960) is an American mathematician, philosopher, theologian and proponent of intelligent design in opposition to the theory of evolution through natural selection. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Contents

Who does the ID movement think the designer is?

What does the ID movement think the designer did?

Criticism

The Dover trial

References

See also

External links

Contents

Who does the ID movement think the designer is? GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

What does the ID movement think the designer did?

Criticism

The Dover trial

References

See also

External links

Who does the ID movement think the designer is?