Like Paul Nelson did earlier in the series, I will briefly restate and number the main questions and address them in chronological order as they appear in Hans Madueme’s redirect. Why Me? Question 1: Am I the exception that proves the rule? Why did I, as a former atheist and a naturalist, become convinced of…

  “The future is known. It is the past that keeps changing.” Thank you, Hans, for your thoughtful Redirect. I think these questions further the conversation. If I interpret them correctly, your basic concerns are as follows: 1) Is the neo-Darwinian model (NDM) really being challenged, or simply supplemented? 2) Do these new developments in…

My main point in my original essay was not that science has not been contaminated by taste, prejudices, and motivations. Of course it has been. My main point was that when judging a scientific theory, when debating its alternatives, when deciding which scientific interpretation is better, when demolishing bad theories, motivation is not a scientific…

Let me focus on your main questions, which I have numbered for ease of reference: Is it true that motives are completely irrelevant? Why do scientists so strongly disagree on the central claims of the ID movement? How do you define the scientific theory of ID? We’ll start with (1), then turn to (2) and…

In a symposium with five scholars, one might expect them to bring different, sometimes divergent, perspectives to the focal question: If ID science is not religiously motivated, why hasn’t it gained traction among mainstream scientists? The role of the moderator would then be to bring unity to the different voices (in addition to moving the…

First, there are two general problems with this somewhat loaded question: 1.) The claim that ID science has not gained traction among mainstream scientists is false: In the past few years since I became involved with the ID movement, I have witnessed a significant expansion of interest in ID theory among scientists around the world,…

Suppose you picked up a magazine at the dentist’s office and read the following phrase: “When coupled with the appropriate interpreters, multiple meanings and functions are programmed into the same sequence of configurable switch-settings. This additional layer of Ontological Prescriptive Information (PIo) purposely slows or speeds up the translation decoding process within the ribosome.” Aside…

First, the question—as it reads—carries a misconception about the foundations of science. It invokes “motivation,” but motivation is neither a scientific criterion nor a scientific argument. The motivation of a scientist in pursuing a scientific discovery or proposing or refuting a theory tells us nothing about the scientific validity of the scientist’s ideas. Motivation is…

Intelligent Design (hereafter, ID) is a view of nature older than Plato. Cambridge University philosopher David Sedley finds design (i.e., purposeful agency, rooted in mind, or nous) posited as the cause of the world, in Anaxagoras (c. 520-428 BCE). In its most recent incarnation, however, ID is still an obstreperous early 20-something, which to many…

Implicit in this question are several ideas: that ID scientists are religiously motivated, that such a motivation is a problem for mainstream scientists, and that ID is not making progress with mainstream scientists. I’ll address these points with some counterpoints: ID is evidence based, so a focus on purported motivations are, at best, of secondary…

Intelligent design is a controversial movement, especially in academic settings. In some circles, it is difficult to have a civil discussion about the issues at the heart of the debate. Even on many Christian colleges, institutions where you would expect ID to receive a warm welcome, reception is often lukewarm at best. Just earlier this…

Hans, as always, it is a pleasure to interact with you whether in person or in writing. You raise cogent points that get to the heart of the matter and ask insightful and probative questions. This case is no exception. Let me do my best to respond to your questions in the space available. Are…