Intelligent Design Theory and the Supernatural: The „God or Extra-Terrestrials” Reply Cover Image

Teoria inteligentnego projektu a nadnaturalizm - o tezie, że projektantem może być Bóg lub istoty pozaziemskie
Intelligent Design Theory and the Supernatural: The „God or Extra-Terrestrials” Reply

Author(s): Elliott Sober
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii, Uniwersytet Zielonogórski
Keywords: intelligent design theory; supernaturalism; supernatural being; Darwinism; irreducible complexity; testability

Summary/Abstract: When proponents of Intelligent Design (ID) theory deny that their theory is religious, the minimalistic theory they have in mind (the mini-ID theory) is the claim that the irreducibly complex adaptations found in nature were made by one or more intelligent designers. The denial that this theory is religious rests on the fact that it does not specify the identity of the designer – a supernatural God or a team of extra-terrestrials could have done the work. The present paper attempts to show that this reply underestimates the commitments of the mini-ID Theory. The mini-ID theory, when supplemented with four independently plausible further assumptions, entails the existence of a supernatural intelligent designer. It is further argued that scientific theories, such as the Darwinian theory of evolution, are neutral on the question of whether supernatural designers exist.

  • Issue Year: 2007
  • Issue No: 04+05
  • Page Range: 21-39
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish