New Book: Debating Design: From Darwin to DNAWilliam A. Dembski and Michael Ruse (Editors)
Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA gives many viewpoints about origins the chance to state their case. It is a wonderful example of how constructive dialogue can occur over the origins issue, and a testimony to the fact that ID proponents are interested in dialogue, cooperative inquiry, and sharing the microphone in the debate over origins. The IDEA Center highly recommends this new volume, co-edited by ID proponent William Dembski and evolutionist Michael Ruse. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521829496/ref=pd_sim_books_4/103-8554695-5556631?v=glance&s=books Book Description William Dembski, Michael Ruse, and other prominent philosophers provide here a comprehensive balanced overview of the debate concerning biological origins--a controversial dialectic since Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859. Invariably, the source of controversy has been "design." Is the appearance of design in organisms (as exhibited in their functional complexity) the result of purely natural forces acting without prevision or teleology? Or, does the appearance of design signify genuine prevision and teleology, and, if so, is that design empirically detectable and thus open to scientific inquiry? Four main positions have emerged in response to these questions: *Darwinism* *self-organization* *theistic evolution* *intelligent design*. The contributors to this volume define their respective positions in an accessible style, inviting readers to draw their own conclusions. Two introductory essays furnish a historical overview of the debate. William A. Dembski is an associate research professor in the conceptual foundations of science at Baylor University as well as a senior fellow with Seattle's Discovery Institute. His most important books are The Design Inference (Cambridge, 1998) and No Free Lunch (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002). Michael Ruse is Lucyle T. Wekmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He is the author of many books, including Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?: The Relationship Between Science and Religion (Cambridge, 2000). TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. General Introduction -- William A. Dembski and Michael Ruse 2. The Argument from Design: A Brief History -- Michael Ruse 3. Who's Afraid of ID? A Survey of the Intelligent Design Movement -- Angus Menuge PART I: DARWINISM 4. Design without Designer: Darwin's Greatest Discovery -- Francisco J. Ayala 5. The Flagellum Unspun: The Collapse of "Irreducible Complexity" -- Kenneth R. Miller 6. The Design Argument -- Elliott Sober 7. DNA by Design? Stephen Meyer and the Return of the God Hypothesis -- Robert T. Pennock PART II: COMPLEX SELF-ORGANIZATION 8. Prolegomenon to a General Biology -- Stuart Kauffman 9. Darwinism, Design, and Complex Systems Dynamics -- Burce H. Weber and David J. Depew 10. Emergent Complexity, Teleology, and the Arrow of Time -- Paul Davies 11. The Emergence of Biological Value -- James Barham PART III: THEISTIC EVOLUTION 12. Darwin, Design, and Divine Providence -- John F. Haught 13. The Inbuilt Potentiality of Creation -- John Polkinghorne 14. Theistic Evolution -- Keith Ward 15. Intelligent Design: Some Geological, Historical, and Theological Questions -- Michael Roberts 16. The Argument from Laws of Nature Reassessed -- Richard Swinburne PART IV: INTELLIGENT DESIGN 17. The Logical Underpinnings of Intelligent Design -- William A. Dembski 18. Information, Entropy, and the Origin of Life -- Walter L. Bradley 19. Irreducible Complexity: Obstacle to Darwinian Evolution -- Michael J. Behe 20. The Cambrian Information Explosion: Evidence for Intelligent Design -- Stephen C. Meyer |
