Intelligent design also referred to as ID is a concept that has its early origins from 4th century BC in the works Timaeus by Plato were he describes a supreme wisdom and intelligence as the creator of the cosmos. In the Metaphysics Aristotle furthers developed the idea of a natural creator of the cosmos. One of the most famous ideas for intelligent design today comes the 13th century where Thomas Aguinas described the concept of design as the fifth of five proofs for the existence of God in his work Summa Theologia. The term intelligent design has been used several times in more recent years but the use was not related to the current use of the word such as in an 1847 issue of Scientific American. The movement of intelligent design, as we know it today, began in the late 1980's to early 1990's. In order to get a clear understand of what exactly intelligent design is, a definition that is given by the Discovery Institute is used. They describe intelligent design as "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 Discovery Institute, a Christian conservative think tank, is one of the leading proponents of intelligent design. In their definition the name of a specific designer is intentionally omitted but simply makes mention that one must exist. However opponents of intelligent design feel this designer is the Christian God. This has also been the subject of much debate in the movement. Intelligent design cannot be understood until a few other concepts are understood. First is the theory of evolution. This is the brainchild of Charles Darwin. The theory holds that all life is related and has descended from ... ... middle of paper ... ...ific knowledge and propose to fill that gap with an intelligent designer and this therefore proves that an intelligent designer does exists. The final thought is can one believe in the theory of evolution and in the theory of an intelligent designer? Could it simply be that an intelligent designer all-powerful and all knowing created mankind and simply used evolution as the means to do so? Could this be his intelligent plan? The answer to all these questions remains unknown. So the debate over intelligent design versus evolution continues. As of yet God has not given us the intelligence to know for sure. I don't think that the existence of God can or will ever be proven using scientific principles. It is based on faith. Faith is after all the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. If it could be proven it would no longer be faith.
In 1986, Richard Dawkins suggested that Paley's "design" argument might have been the best explanation in the 19th century for the existence of God and the intelligent design of the universe in his novel The Blind Watchmaker. Although Paley succeeded in making his argument, Dawkins argued that it had one major defect; the explanation itself. “Paley’s argument is made with passionate sincerity and is informed by the best biological scholarship of his day, but it is wrong, gloriously and utterly wrong.” (Dawkins : 606) Paley gave the traditional religious answer to who our designer is: God.
The Dover Area School District of Dover, Pennsylvania is seeking approval from the General Assembly of Pennsylvania House to include the theory of intelligent design in the instruction of biology. Intelligent design, also known as I.D., is a theory that seeks to refute the widely-accepted and scientifically-supported evolution theory. It proposes that the complexity of living things and all of their functioning parts hints at the role of an unspecified source of intelligence in their creation (Orr). For all intents and purposes, the evidence cited by I.D. supporters consists only of the holes or missing links in evolutionary theory; it is a widely-debate proposal, not because ?of the significant weight of its evidence,? but because ?of the implications of its evidence? (IDnet).
In very complex machines, missing or undiscovered parts are more likely to arise; yet, such disorder would no doubt make an individual more curious as to the objects purpose. Although in some cases, a part may seem useless, the individual would continue to question and wonder what purpose that part serves. No one could believe that the watch was assembled together with sheer luck; therefore, an intelligent designer exists. The watch is definitely not made by the principle of order and it is not believable to say or think that the watch was not invented. Design cannot exist without the designer. Every appearance of design, which exists in the watch, exists in the works of nature. While the world is far more complex than a simplistic instrument, like a watch, it is no different when compared at the base levels, especially when seeing that both are so mechanical, showing elements of order.
An argument is defined as presenting reasons for a conclusion in order to convince an audience of a certain point of view and an explanation as a clarification of why something has happened. An argument contains some form of an opinion while an explanation holds only facts, this does not mean that a well-constructed argument is not without facts. The second piece, Lisa Fullam’s, Of God and the Case for Unintelligent Design is evidently the argument. The title itself, “unintelligent design” proves this reasoning, she provides facts/reasoning for her audience to believe that the notion of intelligent design is unintelligent in and of itself because nature has too many flaws. Fullam provides facts about rabbit digestion, horse digestion, mammalian testicles, and human back ache followed by her opinions. First, to Elizabeth Bumiller, who doesn’t take a side while providing facts for each side, Fullam feelings strong about her opinions, her sarcastic questions help the audience tap
John Polkinghorne’s The Universe as Creation does its best to not convince the reader of Intelligent Design, but rather to dissuade the reader from the notion that although the is intelligently designed, but in this way, it has made science possible.
...e teleological argument is doomed to failure, unless some more concrete empirical evidence is discovered that would perhaps strengthen the inference, for there seems no reason for one to accept God as the intelligent designer, even if one accepts there is a divine designer.
One of the interesting fact I learned from the video that book they were trying used had a big debate between board members. The purchase of the book was put on hold because Bill Buckingham was not comfortable about using the book. This episode really get exciting after the plaintiff has come up with such a solid case and defense have to approve the intelligent design is scientific theory. One thing that really caught my attention was the reply from Paul Nelson when he was asked that is intelligence design just a critic of evolutionary theory or does it offer more? His response was “easily the biggest challenge facing the ID community is to develop a full-fledged theory of biological design. We don’t have such a theory right now, and that’s a real problem. Without a theory, it’s very hard to know where to direct your research focus. Right now, we’ve got a bag of powerful intuitions and a handful of notions such as “irreducible complexity” and “specified complexity” but, as yet, no general theory of biological design.” I totally agree to the idea that Intelligence design is a religious view, not a scientific
Its existence could be purely made by nature and no one would suspect there is a design that has created it. If there is a watch instead of a rock, then the case is different. By inspecting the watch, it is intricate to see many components that interact with one another so that the purpose is fulfilled as time-keeping. This configuration cannot be the product of nature through some certain internal principles. It is unavoidable to imply there is an intelligent planning mind that has conceived it and created it. Therefore, each human artifacts infers an intelligent designer. The universe has more in one way that resembles human artifacts. Given those two premises, a conclusion is drawn that perhaps the universe is also a product of an intelligent design. Moreover, the universe is far more complex and vast in size and variation that the intelligent designer is much more sophisticated and mighty in
"AAAS Board Resolution on Intelligent Design Theory." AAAS. N.p., 2002. Web. 7 Nov 2010. .
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking Origin of Species, which would introduce the seminal theory of evolution to the scientific community. Over 150 years later, the majority of scientists have come to a consensus in agreement with this theory, citing evidence in newer scientific research. In an average high school biology classroom, one may imagine an instructor that has devoted much of his life to science and a predominantly Christian class of about twenty-five students. On the topic of evolution, one of the students might ask, “Why would God have taken the long route by creating us through billion years of evolution?” while another student may claim “The Book of Genesis clearly says that the earth along with all living creatures was created in just six days, and Biblical dating has proven that the earth is only 6000 years old.” Finally a third student interjects with the remark “maybe the Bible really is just a book, and besides, science has basically already proven that evolution happened, and is continuing to happen as we speak.” A secular country like our own does and should treat each argument as valid. However, only the third student’s argument cites scientific backing. Is it fair that we are denying that intelligent design be taught as an alternative to evolution in our science classes? When a belief has no legitimate scientific backing, it is not science, but rather a philosophy, whereas biology is in fact science, which is why intelligent design does not belong in science classes in public schools.
The Argument from design or also known as the Teleological argument (Telos: Purpose, Teleology: Study of something’s purpose or design) is endowed on the assumption of a God or creator which has intelligently and elegantly designed the universe to such intricate and fine detail. In which argues that something so immaculately designed for example the structural complexity and delegacy of the eye, can only be as a direct result of an intelligent designer or (God). The argument from design is a collection of arguments that are empirical and inductive in nature. They identify characteristics found in natural objects and infer God as the cause. The Argument from design is analogous in nature and can be envisioned through key philosopher William
Dawkins further argues that purposeful design is an illusion. In doing so, Dawkins cites the work of William Paley as a secondary source to argue his own point there is not a divine maker. Paley points out that if a watch has a watchmaker, then it follows that living bodies have a divine designer. But Dawkins asserts this cannot be true, because Darwin has proved that living bodies exist because DNA makes it possible. It is this specific inductive argument of DNA survival which Dawkins uses to refute the idea of purposeful design.
The phenomenon of the creation of the universe has baffled many for some time. The question of whether or not a designer/God put together this most intricate world in a personal quest or project leaves many in great debate. Was life brought about by some evolutionary feat? Or, in opposition, did an intelligent being create life with perfection in mind? Both questions can be answered in many different ways. Steven Weinberg, writer of A Designer Universe, offers his thoughts, through abduction, regarding the likelihood of a designer creating the universe.
Intelligent Design is the idea that living creatures on Earth are so complex that, they could not possibly have been created through the natural selection. It is the belief that there must be an ?intelligent designer? that created us all. This creator is usually referenced as God. However, it may also be referenced to as an alien. Intelligent design leaves that possibility open as well. Many professionals feel that intelligent design is not a scientific theory that can be tested. They feel it is more of an opinion, preference, or belief.
The video focuses on the debate and court room trial about the 2 major points of view about how humans, or any other living organisms in general, were created. It tells us about the argument that began as a result of a rule that was implemented in a high school in Dover, Pennsylvania. The rule dictated that a subject on Intelligent Design must be included in the curriculum of the high school students enrolled there. According to Intelligent Design, some of the features of living organisms are too complex to have evolved entirely through the natural process of evolution, as Charles Darwin proposed. They claim that some aspects of these organisms must have been created, fully-formed, by a so-called "intelligent designer." However, this opinion clashes with Darwin’s theory of evolution that state that all organisms evolve and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the organism's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Darwin pictured the relatedness of all living things as a great tree of life, with each twig a different species ultimately...