Intelligent Design: The Biochemical Challenge to Darwinian Evolution?

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avondale-bepress-to-dspace.peer_review_statusPeer reviewed
avondale-bepress.abstract<p>The idea that nature shows evidence of intelligent design has been argued by theologians and scientists for centuries. The most famous of the design arguments is Paley’s watchmaker illustration from his writings of the early 19th century. Interest in the concept of design in nature has recently had a resurgence and is often termed the Intelligent Design movement. Significant is the work of Michael Behe on biochemical systems. In his book, Darwin’s Black Box, Behe develops the idea that many biochemical systems are irreducibly complex in the sense that each component of these systems is essential for their functioning and cannot be removed or altered without compromising the system of which they are a part. Thus traditional Darwinian evolutionary theory has difficulty in explaining their development. When applied to the question of life’s origin on this planet, design arguments raise serious questions about traditional views of chemical evolution. To be considered a scientific alternative to Darwinian evolution, intelligent design needs to be empirically detectable. The development of a three-stage explanatory filter by William Dembski is arguably a fully scientific method that can, on the basis of observational data, reliably distinguish intelligent design in biological systems from undirected natural causes. However, at this stage, detection of intelligent design does not necessitate speculation on the nature of the designer, but does infer an intelligence behind the design.</p>
avondale-bepress.articleid1005
avondale-bepress.authorsEwan Ward
avondale-bepress.authorsMarty A. Hancock
avondale-bepress.context-key1252625
avondale-bepress.coverpage-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/css/vol2/iss1/2
avondale-bepress.document-typearticle
avondale-bepress.field.custom_citation<p>Ward, E., & Hancock, M. (2001). Intelligent design: The biochemical challenge to Darwinian evolution? <em>Christian Spirituality and Science, 2</em>(1), 7-23. Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/css/vol2/iss1/2</p>
avondale-bepress.field.peer_reviewedtrue
avondale-bepress.field.publication_date2001-01-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.short_titleIntelligent Design
avondale-bepress.fulltext-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&amp;context=css&amp;unstamped=1
avondale-bepress.keywordsWilliam Paley
avondale-bepress.keywordsWatchmaker
avondale-bepress.keywordsDarwin's Black Box
avondale-bepress.keywordsCreation
avondale-bepress.keywordsIrreducible Complexity
avondale-bepress.keywordsBiochemistry
avondale-bepress.keywordsExplanatory Filter
avondale-bepress.keywordsIntelligence
avondale-bepress.keywordsDesign Argument
avondale-bepress.label2
avondale-bepress.publication-date2001-01-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.publication-titleChristian Spirituality and Science
avondale-bepress.statepublished
avondale-bepress.submission-date2010-03-29T23:10:14Z
avondale-bepress.submission-pathcss/vol2/iss1/2
avondale-bepress.titleIntelligent Design: The Biochemical Challenge to Darwinian Evolution?
avondale-bepress.typearticle
dc.contributor.authorHancock, Marty A.
dc.contributor.authorWard, Ewan
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T00:21:29Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T00:21:29Z
dc.date.issued2001-01-01
dc.date.submitted2010-03-29T23:10:14Z
dc.description.abstract<p>The idea that nature shows evidence of intelligent design has been argued by theologians and scientists for centuries. The most famous of the design arguments is Paley’s watchmaker illustration from his writings of the early 19th century. Interest in the concept of design in nature has recently had a resurgence and is often termed the Intelligent Design movement. Significant is the work of Michael Behe on biochemical systems. In his book, Darwin’s Black Box, Behe develops the idea that many biochemical systems are irreducibly complex in the sense that each component of these systems is essential for their functioning and cannot be removed or altered without compromising the system of which they are a part. Thus traditional Darwinian evolutionary theory has difficulty in explaining their development. When applied to the question of life’s origin on this planet, design arguments raise serious questions about traditional views of chemical evolution. To be considered a scientific alternative to Darwinian evolution, intelligent design needs to be empirically detectable. The development of a three-stage explanatory filter by William Dembski is arguably a fully scientific method that can, on the basis of observational data, reliably distinguish intelligent design in biological systems from undirected natural causes. However, at this stage, detection of intelligent design does not necessitate speculation on the nature of the designer, but does infer an intelligence behind the design.</p>
dc.identifier.citation<p>Ward, E., & Hancock, M. (2001). Intelligent design: The biochemical challenge to Darwinian evolution? <em>Christian Spirituality and Science, 2</em>(1), 7-23. Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/css/vol2/iss1/2</p>
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/01252625
dc.language.isoen_us
dc.subjectWilliam Paley
dc.subjectWatchmaker
dc.subjectDarwin's Black Box
dc.subjectCreation
dc.subjectIrreducible Complexity
dc.subjectBiochemistry
dc.subjectExplanatory Filter
dc.subjectIntelligence
dc.subjectDesign Argument
dc.titleIntelligent Design: The Biochemical Challenge to Darwinian Evolution?
dc.title.alternativeIntelligent Design
dc.typeJournal Article
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