The Design Revolution
Encyclopedia
The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design is a book written by William A. Dembski
in 2004 which argues for a number of points supporting intelligent design
, the controversial conjecture that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a naturalistic process such as natural selection
. The book is written in question/answer format from Dembski's point of view as one of the conceptual leaders in that movement. Each chapter is about 4 pages long and addresses one specific question. Dembski credits intelligent design's critics, who constitute the overwhelming majority of the scientific community and science education organizations, for providing these questions. The forward was written by Charles W. Colson.
The book begins with a preface polemic where Dembski maintains that the harsh critiques that his work has received to date by the scientific community, which he describes as "dogmatic Darwinists and scientific naturalists," is typical of what previous geniuses and innovators have been subjected to by science orthodoxy. Dembski claims that intelligent design theory will inevitably and soon lead to a revolution in which science will be completely overhauled according to his and fellow ID proponent's ideas.
criticises the book for evasion and dissembling — for answering the easier questions disingenuously and avoiding the harder questions entirely. He states that Dembski's assertion that "design theorists oppose Darwinian theory on strictly scientific grounds" is not even remotely plausible because "nearly every prominent intelligent design supporter a conservative Christian" and recounts how the biographies of Phillip E. Johnson
, Jonathan Wells and Dembski himself cast doubt on the assertion. Shallit also accuses Dembski of misrepresenting philosopher Daniel Dennett
and making obvious errors in the field of information theory
. The list of questions that Shallit accuses Dembski of refusing to address include:
Mathematician Mark Perakh
criticises Dembski for failing to address critiques from his most prominent and qualified critics:
William A. Dembski
William Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
in 2004 which argues for a number of points supporting intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition 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." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
, the controversial conjecture that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a naturalistic process such as natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
. The book is written in question/answer format from Dembski's point of view as one of the conceptual leaders in that movement. Each chapter is about 4 pages long and addresses one specific question. Dembski credits intelligent design's critics, who constitute the overwhelming majority of the scientific community and science education organizations, for providing these questions. The forward was written by Charles W. Colson.
The book begins with a preface polemic where Dembski maintains that the harsh critiques that his work has received to date by the scientific community, which he describes as "dogmatic Darwinists and scientific naturalists," is typical of what previous geniuses and innovators have been subjected to by science orthodoxy. Dembski claims that intelligent design theory will inevitably and soon lead to a revolution in which science will be completely overhauled according to his and fellow ID proponent's ideas.
Criticism
Mathematician Jeffrey ShallitJeffrey Shallit
Jeffrey Outlaw Shallit is a computer scientist, number theorist, a noted advocate for civil liberties on the Internet, and a noted critic of intelligent design. He is married to Anna Lubiw, also a computer scientist....
criticises the book for evasion and dissembling — for answering the easier questions disingenuously and avoiding the harder questions entirely. He states that Dembski's assertion that "design theorists oppose Darwinian theory on strictly scientific grounds" is not even remotely plausible because "nearly every prominent intelligent design supporter a conservative Christian" and recounts how the biographies of Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...
, Jonathan Wells and Dembski himself cast doubt on the assertion. Shallit also accuses Dembski of misrepresenting philosopher Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett
Daniel Clement Dennett is an American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Co-director of...
and making obvious errors in the field of information theory
Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
. The list of questions that Shallit accuses Dembski of refusing to address include:
Mathematician Mark Perakh
Mark Perakh
Mark Perakh , born in in Kiev, Ukraine, is a professor emeritus of Mathematics and statistical mechanics at California State University, Fullerton in Fullerton, California....
criticises Dembski for failing to address critiques from his most prominent and qualified critics:
See also
- Intelligent designIntelligent designIntelligent design is the proposition 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." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
- Intelligent design movementIntelligent design movementThe intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
- EvolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
- Discovery InstituteDiscovery InstituteThe Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
- Center for Science and CultureCenter for Science and CultureThe Center for Science and Culture , formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture , is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States...