Debating Design - From Darwin to DNA

423 Pages·2007·1.78 MB·English

by  William A. Dembski

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DebatingDesign
FromDarwintoDNA
This volume provides a comprehensive and even-handed overview
ofthedebateconcerningbiologicalorigins.Thishasbeenacontro-
versialdebateeversinceDarwinpublishedOntheOriginofSpeciesin
1859. Invariably, the source of controversy has been design. Is the
appearance of design in organisms as exhibited in their functional
complexitytheresultofpurelynaturalforcesactingwithoutprevision
orteleology?Ordoestheappearanceofdesignsignifygenuineprevi-
sionandteleology,and,ifso,isthatdesignempiricallydetectableand
thus open to scientific inquiry? Four main positions have emerged
inresponsetothesequestions:Darwinism,self-organization,theistic
evolution,andintelligentdesign.
Inthisuniquesurvey,leadingfiguresinthedebatearguefortheir
respective positions in a nontechnical, accessible style. Readers are
thusinvitedtodrawtheirownconclusions.Twointroductoryessays
furnishahistoricaloverviewofthedebate.
Thereisnocomparablecollectionofthiskind.DebatingDesignwill
eagerly be sought out by professionals in philosophy, the history of
science,biology,andreligiousstudies.
WilliamA.DembskiisAssociateResearchProfessorintheConceptual
Foundations of Science at Baylor University and a Senior Fellow of
theDiscoveryInstitute’sCenterforScienceandCulture.
Michael Ruse is Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at
FloridaStateUniversity.
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Debating Design
From Darwin to DNA
Edited by
WILLIAM A. DEMBSKI
BaylorUniversity
MICHAEL RUSE
FloridaStateUniversity
iii
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY PRESS
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Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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© Cambridge University Press 2004, 2006
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2004
ISBN-13 978-0-511-33751-2 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-10 0-511-33751-5 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-82949-6 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-82949-6 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-70990-3 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-70990-3 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Contents
NotesonContributors page vii
introduction
1. GeneralIntroduction 3
WilliamA.DembskiandMichaelRuse
2. TheArgumentfromDesign:ABriefHistory 13
MichaelRuse
3. Who’sAfraidofID?ASurveyoftheIntelligentDesign
Movement 32
AngusMenuge
part i: darwinism
4. DesignwithoutDesigner:Darwin’sGreatestDiscovery 55
FranciscoJ.Ayala
5. TheFlagellumUnspun:TheCollapseof“Irreducible
Complexity” 81
KennethR.Miller
6. TheDesignArgument 98
ElliottSober
7. DNAbyDesign?StephenMeyerandtheReturnofthe
GodHypothesis 130
RobertT.Pennock
part ii: complex self-organization
8. ProlegomenontoaGeneralBiology 151
StuartKauffman
9. Darwinism,Design,andComplexSystemsDynamics 173
BruceH.WeberandDavidJ.Depew
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vi Contents
10. EmergentComplexity,Teleology,andtheArrowofTime 191
PaulDavies
11. TheEmergenceofBiologicalValue 210
JamesBarham
part iii: theistic evolution
12. Darwin,Design,andDivineProvidence 229
JohnF.Haught
13. The Inbuilt Potentiality of Creation 246
JohnPolkinghorne
14. TheisticEvolution 261
KeithWard
15. IntelligentDesign:SomeGeological,Historical,and
TheologicalQuestions 275
MichaelRoberts
16. TheArgumentfromLawsofNatureReassessed 294
RichardSwinburne
part iv: intelligent design
17. TheLogicalUnderpinningsofIntelligentDesign 311
WilliamA.Dembski
18. Information,Entropy,andtheOriginofLife 331
WalterL.Bradley
19. IrreducibleComplexity:ObstacletoDarwinianEvolution 352
MichaelJ.Behe
20. TheCambrianInformationExplosion:Evidencefor
IntelligentDesign 371
StephenC.Meyer
Index 393
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Notes on Contributors
Francisco J. Ayala was born in Madrid, Spain, and has been a U.S. citizen
since 1971. Ayala has been president and chairman of the board of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993–96) and was
a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Tech-
nology(1994–2001).AyalaiscurrentlyDonaldBrenProfessorofBiological
SciencesandofPhilosophyattheUniversityofCaliforniaatIrvine.Heisa
recipientoftheNationalMedalofSciencefor2001.Otherhonorsinclude
electiontotheNationalAcademyofSciences,theAmericanAcademyofArts
and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and numerous foreign
academies,includingtheRussianAcademyofSciencesandtheAccademia
Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome). He has received numerous prizes and hon-
orarydegrees.Hisscientificresearchfocusesonpopulationandevolution-
arygenetics,includingtheoriginofspecies,geneticdiversityofpopulations,
theoriginofmalaria,thepopulationstructureofparasiticprotozoa,andthe
molecularclockofevolution.Healsowritesabouttheinterfacebetweenre-
ligion and science and on philosophical issues concerning epistemology,
ethics,andthephilosophyofbiology.Heisauthorofmorethan750articles
andof18books.
James Barham was trained in classics at the University of Texas at Austin
and in the history of science at Harvard University. He is an independent
scholarwhohaspublishedsomedozenarticlesonevolutionaryepistemol-
ogy, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of biology in both print
andelectronicjournals,includingBioSystems,EvolutionandCognition,Rivista
diBiologia,andMetanexus.net.Hisworkconsistsofacritiqueofthemech-
anistic and Darwinian images of life and mind, as well as an exploration
ofalternativemeansofunderstandingvalue,purpose,andmeaningasob-
jectivelyreal,naturalphenomena,inboththeirhumanandtheiruniversal
biologicalmanifestations.HeisworkingonabooktobecalledNeitherGhost
norMachine.
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viii NotesonContributors
Michael J. Behe graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1974,
with a B.S. degree in chemistry. He did graduate studies in biochemistry
at the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1978 for his
dissertationresearchonsickle-celldisease.From1978to1982,hedidpost-
doctoralworkonDNAstructureattheNationalInstitutesofHealth.From
1982to1985,hewasanassistantprofessorofchemistryatQueensCollegein
NewYorkCity.In1985hemovedtoLehighUniversity,whereheiscurrently
aprofessorofbiochemistry.Inhiscareerhehasauthoredmorethanforty
technicalpapersandonebook,Darwin’sBlackBox:TheBiochemicalChallenge
toEvolution,whicharguesthatlivingsystemsatthemolecularlevelarebest
explainedasbeingtheresultofdeliberateintelligentdesign.Darwin’sBlack
Box has been reviewed by the New York Times, Nature, Philosophy of Science,
Christianity Today, and more than eighty other publications and has been
translated into eight languages. He and his wife reside near Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania,withtheireightchildren.
WalterL.Bradley,Ph.D.,P.E.,receivedhisB.S.inengineeringscienceandhis
Ph.D.inmaterialsscience,bothfromtheUniversityofTexasatAustin.He
taughtforeightyearsasanassistantandassociateprofessorattheColorado
School of Mines in its Metallurgical Engineering Department before as-
suming a position as professor of mechanical engineering at Texas A&M
University in 1976. He served as head of his department of 67 professors
and 1,500 students from 1989 to 1993. He also served as the director of
the Texas A&M University Polymer Technology Center from 1986 to 1990
andfrom1994to2000.Hehasreceivedmorethan$5millioninresearch
contractsfromgovernmentagenciessuchasNSF,NASA,DOE,andAFOSR
andfrommajorcorporationssuchasDupont,Exxon,Shell,Phillips,Equi-
star,TexasEastman,UnionCarbide,and3M.Hehaspublishedmorethan
125 technical articles in archival journals, conference proceedings, and as
bookchapters.HewashonoredbybeingelectedaFellowoftheAmerican
SocietyforMaterialsin1992.Hehasreceivedonenationalandfivelocalre-
searchawardsandtwolocalteachingawards.Hecoauthoredaseminalwork
on the origin of life entitled The Mystery of Life’s Origin: Reassessing Current
Theories in 1984, has published several book chapters and journal articles
related to the origin of life, and has spoken on more than sixty university
campuses on this topic over the past ten years. He took early retirement
from Texas A&M University in 2000 and now holds the title of Professor
EmeritusofMechanicalEngineering.
Paul Davies was born in London in 1946 and obtained a doctorate from
University College, London, in 1970. He held academic appointments at
CambridgeandLondonUniversitiesuntil,attheageofthirty-four,hewas
appointed professor of theoretical physics at the University of Newcastle
uponTyne.From1990until1996hewasprofessorofmathematicalphysics,