A forum for discussing matters of moment, from a curmudgeonly perspective. (The ideas posted here do not necessarily represent those of any organization with which I am a part). Rude and insulting remarks will not be published, but civil disagreement is welcome.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Atheist Defends ID
Dr. Brad Monton recently lectures on Intelligent Design at The University of Colorado at Boulder. Here is the podcast of his revealing and insightful lecture. If the audio comes out, the second to last question is by me on the nature of explanation.
Good lecture. It's nice to find someone in the midst of the "culture wars" who is willing to look at all sides of an issue or controversy. As he described his view on ID as being "nuanced" it was clear he is neither a proponent nor an outright adversary to the concept of intelligent design. In our current political/social environment it is discouraging that philosophical questioning and discussion should not be allowed in the science classroom. As Dr. Monton pointed out one of the goals of education should be to promote enquiry and not just to provide facts or present theories as doctrines. I do not share Dr. Monton's self identification as an atheist, but do share many of his views on this problematic issue. You posed an interesting and obviously difficult question in that he wasn't really able to answer it, as he said. Your question was one of the few I could hear well enough to understand and you asked it concisely and intelligenty. Thanks for the link.
Did you know that Nagel has taken a big hit for being sympathetic to ID?
I think (don't quote me) that he thinks it's perfectly up for grabs as a scientific explanation despite not agreeing with it. Apparently, that's enough to get called before the inquisition.
How about this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.apologetics.org/ThomasNagelCallsIntelligentDesignScientifica/tabid/165/Default.aspx
Or if the link is too long simply go to:
www.apologetics.org
"No explanation is the best account."
ReplyDeleteGood lecture. It's nice to find someone in the midst of the "culture wars" who is willing to look at all sides of an issue or controversy. As he described his view on ID as being "nuanced" it was clear he is neither a proponent nor an outright adversary to the concept of intelligent design. In our current political/social environment it is discouraging that philosophical questioning and discussion should not be allowed in the science classroom. As Dr. Monton pointed out one of the goals of education should be to promote enquiry and not just to provide facts or present theories as doctrines. I do not share Dr. Monton's self identification as an atheist, but do share many of his views on this problematic issue. You posed an interesting and obviously difficult question in that he wasn't really able to answer it, as he said. Your question was one of the few I could hear well enough to understand and you asked it concisely and intelligenty. Thanks for the link.
Did you know that Nagel has taken a big hit for being sympathetic to ID?
ReplyDeleteI think (don't quote me) that he thinks it's perfectly up for grabs as a scientific explanation despite not agreeing with it. Apparently, that's enough to get called before the inquisition.