Tuesday 27 September 2016

Why Kitzmiller v Dover Does Not Refute Intelligent Design

I have spoken with many people who, upon being informed that I support the theory of Intelligent Design simply reply by saying: "Kitzmiller v Dover". The purpose being that they believe that merely quoting the case offers a slam-dunk refutation of Intelligent Design! Besides the fact that a court case cannot rule on the definition of science or the scientific standing of a theory, Dover is unpersuasive for the following reasons:

1. The case provides an inaccurate and partisan history of ID.
The supposed history of ID is shallow and one-sided and suppresses many key facts.

2. The case against the scientific status of ID is unpersuasive.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, demarcation criteria does not adequately preclude ID from consideration. Further, the judge makes assertions beyond his legitimate authority - that flatly contradicts both logic and the evidence presented in th court.

3. The court failed to treat religion in a neutral manner.
Judges are required by the US Constitution to treat religious questions neutrally, but Judge Jones applies different standards when examining the religious implications of intelligent design and Darwinian evolution. He even attempts to decide which theological view of evolution is correct.

4. The Limited Value of the Case as Precedent.
Judge Jones purports to answer once and for all the question of whether it is lawful to include intelligent design in public school science curricula, but in fact his opinion on this question has almost no precedential value for other judges.

Indeed there are many logical issues with the judgment. The Judge's ruling is an amusing case of folly and betrays a simplistic understanding of science. But really, that critics of ID use this ruling as any sort of evidence shows the real lack of valid arguments and the degradation of reasoned discourse that can be mustered in opposition to the theory.



This ebook provides a more comprehensive argument - http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=11851

No comments:

Post a Comment