Does the Royal Institute of Philosophy now endorse, or even consider intellectually respectable, intelligent design (ID)? Some are saying so (see here).
Next time a neo-darwinist claims that ID people do not publish papers I am going to bring out the relevant edition of Think magazine and show them. I can just imagine their jaws drop in outrage when they see that the world's best philosophers have turned their back on the defunct theory of evolution and embraced ID.
I edit the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK: Philosophy For Everyone. I devoted Issue 11 to intelligent design and fine-tuning, and thought it would be interesting to get Phillip E Johnson - who is v much the public face of ID - to write a piece.
Personally, I consider ID intellectually bankrupt (fine-tuning is slightly more respectable, I think). Many Christians agree with me about that of course.
The idea was to let the ideas slug it out in THINK. Then people will hopefully have a better grasp of the arguments - and their flaws.
The risk of doing this (which I knew I was taking, of course) is that some of the more committed ID people may claim that ID stuff is "being taken seriously", published in "intellectually rigorous publications", and even "endorsed by the Royal Institute of Philosophy".
So, just to make it clear, The R.I.P. does not endorse ID. Nor should people conclude that because Johnson's piece was published by THINK, the R.I.P considers Johnson's arguments intellectually robust. The R.I.P., as an organization, has never expressed any view at all about any of these things.
Unfortunately, posts on www.overwhelmingevidence.com suggest otherwise.(NB. some posts on creationist sites are spoofs - could this be one?)
Next time a neo-darwinist claims that ID people do not publish papers I am going to bring out the relevant edition of Think magazine and show them. I can just imagine their jaws drop in outrage when they see that the world's best philosophers have turned their back on the defunct theory of evolution and embraced ID.
I edit the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK: Philosophy For Everyone. I devoted Issue 11 to intelligent design and fine-tuning, and thought it would be interesting to get Phillip E Johnson - who is v much the public face of ID - to write a piece.
Personally, I consider ID intellectually bankrupt (fine-tuning is slightly more respectable, I think). Many Christians agree with me about that of course.
The idea was to let the ideas slug it out in THINK. Then people will hopefully have a better grasp of the arguments - and their flaws.
The risk of doing this (which I knew I was taking, of course) is that some of the more committed ID people may claim that ID stuff is "being taken seriously", published in "intellectually rigorous publications", and even "endorsed by the Royal Institute of Philosophy".
So, just to make it clear, The R.I.P. does not endorse ID. Nor should people conclude that because Johnson's piece was published by THINK, the R.I.P considers Johnson's arguments intellectually robust. The R.I.P., as an organization, has never expressed any view at all about any of these things.
Unfortunately, posts on www.overwhelmingevidence.com suggest otherwise.(NB. some posts on creationist sites are spoofs - could this be one?)
Comments
His beginning material on Darwin's finches being the best example of speciation should have been cut for being plain wrong. Darwin's finches may be an accessible example of many aspects of evolution, and a time honoured example, but it is hardly "the best". If you want to watch "species" evolve on a human timeframe, you have to look at organisms with very short generational spans - bacteria and viruses. Perhaps Johnson does not need a flu shot every year because the influenza around him does not evolve, but everyone else is exposed to evolving germs.
Further, Johnson cavils at changes of a few percent in beak size in the Darwin finches, as if that is insignificant. It is in fact significant to sorting individuals by what seeds they can and cannot eat, therefore by their relative choice of mates based on where and when they feed, and many related issues.
It is very unfortunate that Johnson is allowed to setup and knock down his chosen strawman version of evolution. As editor, I would have expected you to exercise more control over such egregious misstatements. Johnson can rant about IDM anywhere. The great bulk of this article is not about thinking, certainly not about thinking more acutely. Its frequent appeals to authority are the opposite of thinking.
Please scrutinise this kind of writing better in the future. It will make for a better journal.
I wanted to give readers who have some interest in ID, and perhaps a little sympathy, a deeper knowledge of the arguments (and also some flavour of the characters). I thought it worth getting the most prominent ID people to make their best case (such as it is), before wheeling out the opposition. I thought that would be more educational and interesting for the reader, in fact, than simply having one side only present their case (which could then be dismissed by the skeptical with a weary "Well that was very one-sided".)
I'm personally against giving Discovery Institute people the opportunity to publish in a reputable journal, even if it is in the context where their incorrect arguments are rebutted. All that will happen (and has already happened) is that creationists will quote the parts they like out of context and other people will have to expend hard work to show that the RIP's journal actually did not support their position.
Stephen Law is correct about the fact that some of the OverwhelmingEvidence.com commentators are hoaxers. It's been well known that the site attracts a large troll community who are currently engaged in a Skoals-style hoaxing operation. It is likely that "hblavatsky" is really trying to draw attention to this blatent abuse of the RIP's name.
Either that or Helena Petrova Blavatsky, the Russian occultist and founder of the theosophical society and died in the 1940s has converted to Christianity and found a way to post messages from beyond the grave.