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CSAP 680 — Intelligent Design · Biola University · 2020

Intelligent Design and the Limits of “Only a Theory”

Science

The intelligent design debate is usually conducted through slogans. This work, a series of book reviews plus a presentation engaging Kenneth Miller’s Only a Theory, does the slower thing instead and reads the primary sources on both sides.

Across the Biola intelligent design course I worked through the leading voices directly: William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Angus Menuge on the design side, alongside critics like Kenneth Miller, Barbara Forrest, and Michael Ruse. The reviews assess the actual arguments about design detection, irreducible complexity, methodological naturalism, and what science can and cannot rule out. Each position gets stated in its strongest form before I weigh it.

What comes out is a map of where the real disagreements sit. A surprising amount of the debate turns out to be about philosophy of science rather than about the evidence.


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