johnnyb at UD makes the pertinent point that ID is not an apologetic, and should not be critiqued as if it were.
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/ed-feser-and-intelligent-design-pt-1-id-is-not-an-apologetic/#comment-429565
I agree. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that ID is consistent with atheism! What kind of apologetic for God's existence is also consistent with God's non-existence? A horrible one, that's for sure!
http://appliedintelligentdesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/intelligent-design-and-atheism-are.html
Some think ID still gets us part of the way there by ruling out materialism. Well, ID kind of rules out materialism, at least as it is construed today. Namely, ID rules out non-intelligent matter as an explanation for intelligence. Intelligence cannot arise from non-intelligence. However, intelligent matter is a coherent concept. Intelligent matter is not a completely outlandish idea. Intelligent matter is a crucial principle for Mormonism, as an example.
So, if ID doesn't rule out atheism, and it doesn't rule out materialism, what does ID do? Is anything and everything consistent with ID? Is ID a completely vapid concept? Heh, I can hear the heads nodding from the Darwinist camp!
ID does do something very, very important. Personally, I consider this "something" to be much more important than any apologetic or ideological argument, because it undergirds the rationality of such arguments. Furthermore, many bad ideas are quite consistent with many apologetics. The importance of ID partially lies in its ability to rule out these bad ideas. But that is just an accidental benefit to ID, just as ID can accidentally serve as a premise for an apologetic argument.
No, there is something much more important about ID.
This "something" is what Applied Intelligent Design is about.
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/ed-feser-and-intelligent-design-pt-1-id-is-not-an-apologetic/#comment-429565
I agree. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that ID is consistent with atheism! What kind of apologetic for God's existence is also consistent with God's non-existence? A horrible one, that's for sure!
http://appliedintelligentdesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/intelligent-design-and-atheism-are.html
Some think ID still gets us part of the way there by ruling out materialism. Well, ID kind of rules out materialism, at least as it is construed today. Namely, ID rules out non-intelligent matter as an explanation for intelligence. Intelligence cannot arise from non-intelligence. However, intelligent matter is a coherent concept. Intelligent matter is not a completely outlandish idea. Intelligent matter is a crucial principle for Mormonism, as an example.
So, if ID doesn't rule out atheism, and it doesn't rule out materialism, what does ID do? Is anything and everything consistent with ID? Is ID a completely vapid concept? Heh, I can hear the heads nodding from the Darwinist camp!
ID does do something very, very important. Personally, I consider this "something" to be much more important than any apologetic or ideological argument, because it undergirds the rationality of such arguments. Furthermore, many bad ideas are quite consistent with many apologetics. The importance of ID partially lies in its ability to rule out these bad ideas. But that is just an accidental benefit to ID, just as ID can accidentally serve as a premise for an apologetic argument.
No, there is something much more important about ID.
This "something" is what Applied Intelligent Design is about.
