God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory

By Niall Shanks

Book Overview

In the last fifteen years a controversial new theory of the origins of biological complexity and the nature of the universe has been fomenting bitter debates in education and science policy across North America, Europe, and Australia. Backed by intellectuals at respectable universities, Intelligent Design Theory (ID) proposes an alternative to accepted accounts of evolutionary theory: that life is so complex, and that the universe is so fine-tuned for the appearance of life, that the only plausible explanation is the existence of an intelligent designer. For many ID theorists, the designer is taken to be the god of Christianity.

Niall Shanks has written the first accessible introduction to, and critique of, this controversial new intellectual movement. Shanks locates the growth of ID in the last two decades of the twentieth century in the growing influence of the American religious right. But as he shows, its roots go back beyond Aquinas to Ancient Greece. After looking at the historical roots of ID, Shanks takes a hard look at its intellectual underpinnings, discussing modern understandings of thermodynamics, and how self-organizing processes lead to complex physical, chemical, and biological systems. He considers cosmological arguments for ID rooted in so-called "anthropic coincidences" and also tackles new biochemical arguments for ID based on "irreducible biological complexity." Throughout he shows how arguments for ID lack cohesion, rest on errors and unfounded suppositions, and generally are grossly inferior to evolutionary explanations.

While ID has been proposed as a scientific alternative to evolutionary biology, Shanks argues that ID is in fact "old creationist wine in new designer label bottles" and moreover is a serious threat to the scientific and democratic values that are our cultural and intellectual inheritance from the Enlightenment.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195161998
• ISBN13: 9780195161991
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.8" x 1.1" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Demolishes the modern argument from design

Professor Shanks has done somebody a real service here in painstakingly demonstrating the utter intellectual poverty of so-called "intelligent design theory." Just who that person is I don't know. Perhaps it's a US congressman. Most people I know either haven't a clue about the subject, or are rationalists and are well aware that the intelligent design argument is scientifically vacuous and actually a religious power play, or they are religious true believers themselves and uncritically accept the notion that the universe was designed by a supernatural being whom they call God. In other words, all the close and detailed analysis done by Shanks in this book--and trust me, he really addresses the question in the most thorough way--isn't about to persuade anybody one way or the other. Most people won't--and could not even if they tried--read it. It is entirely too finely meshed in technical detail about matters of no particular interest to them: cosmology, quantum mechanics, probability theory, biochemistry, thermodynamics, etc. Yet the book had to be written just for the record, one might say. All the pseudoscience served up by the creationists and the intelligent designers needed to be answered thoroughly, and Shanks has done that in a most impressive manner. Shanks takes the intelligent designers seriously and presents their arguments, and then, piece by piece, refutes them. Frankly, I believe he gives them more attention than they deserve. After all, how seriously can one take a man (leading intelligent design theorist, William Dembski, for example) who writes: "My thesis is that all disciplines find their completion in Christ and cannot be properly understood apart from Christ" (quoted on page 157)? I mean, isn't it enough to just quote such a person? He's a true believer and all his "arguments" are merely attempts to justify his belief in a supernatural being and supernatural causation. No amount of counter argument from logic or scientific experiment or from the multitudinous conclusions of the various sciences is going to sway him one iota. But of course Shanks is not aiming his arguments at Dembski or his colleagues. Rather, like the good teacher he is, Shanks wants it spelled out for his students and for students everywhere just how absurd and wanting is the case for intelligent design. He is writing for those not yet entirely corrupted by religious propaganda and as yet innocent of the weight of the scientific evidence. Why, one might ask, are the religious fundamentalists so intent on attacking Darwinism? Is it because they are uncomfortable with being closely related to apes, as were the Victorians? They probably are, but the real reason is that "Darwin's theory of evolution can be viewed as a sustained refutation of the argument from design..." (p. 24) Before evolution it was a mighty mystery as to how species arose, and any argument was as good as another, with the hoary argument from design being especially agre

Required reading for anyone interested in ID

An excellent book which I enthusiastically recommend to anyone interested in the present "intelligent design" anti-evolution movement. In fact, my recommendation has a touch of envy -- I have written on ID myself, and when reading Shanks, I often found myself wishing I had found such a good way to express what's wrong with ID.I also notice there are a number of uncalled-for and anonymous attacks on the book posted here. I read these as further recommendations for the book. It obviously has touched a nerve among some ID supporters at least. Perhaps some will be prompted to go beyond vituperation and reply to ID's critics with some scientific substance, showing how ID provides a better explanation of complexity than what mainstream natural scientists are accustomed to. I doubt that this is going to happen, but it would be the more appropriate response. Shanks has presented a very good explanation of why ID has not been able to challenge mainstream science; that judgment will stand as long as ID proponents present complaints about exclusion rather than scientific substance.

Very relevant for current times

A must read for anyone interested in the creation evolution debate or scientific education in general. This is the most informative and well-written book on the current manifestation of the creation evolution controversy that I have read. Dr Shanks has written a book that not only addresses the concept of Intelligent Design but that makes points applicable to the creation evolution debate in general. Shanks debunks the arguments from Anthropic coincidences, irreducible complexity, entropy and others areas. He contrasts the arguments creationist's make with those that have come down from the Enlightenment. My favorite chapter was the last one where Shanks fully exposes the wedge strategy of the creationists. Those concerned about policy-making in the US will also appreciate this book.

Succinct tour de force

After introducing his book by situating intelligent design theory in the context of resurgent religious fundamentalism, Shanks discusses traditional design arguments for the existence of God and early critical reactions (e.g., those of Hume and Kant) to them. This discussion provides background for the rest of the book.In chapter 2 Shanks examines Darwin's response to the traditional biological version of the argument from design, as well as his views of religion. Shanks also presents key developments in evolutionary biology since Darwin, including the impact of genetics and recent research bringing together issues in evolution with issues in developmental biology.In chapter 3 Shanks attends to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. He contends that errors about the meaning of the Second Law pervade creationist writings. He also argues that non-equilibrium thermodynamics has revealed how natural mechanisms can result in self-organization, by which physical systems organize themselves into complex, highly ordered states. Thus, Shanks contends, in addition to evolutionary mechanisms studied by biologists, there are other natural sources of ordered complexity working in the universe. Supernatural science is the subject of chapter 4. Shanks emphasizes that, typically, scientists do not reject the possibility of supernatural causation; they do not presently take it seriously because of a lack of convincing evidence. To sharpen the issues here, Shanks examines some recent attempts to introduce supernatural causes into medicine, namely, with respect to the efficacy of prayer as effective therapy. He points out that such studies are relevant because they are serious attempts to gather evidence in favor of supernatural causation.In chapter 5 Shanks presents some recent and influential biochemical arguments put forward by Michael Behe and others to justify the conclusion of intelligent design. Shanks argues that irreducible complexity, the centerpiece of these arguments, could have evolved.Shifting his focus from biology to cosmology, in chapter 6 Shanks focuses on arguments for the conclusion of intelligent design that proceed from the nature of the universe and from anthropic principle cosmology in particular. He argues that the cosmological design arguments are inconclusive. In the concluding chapter, Shanks briefly discusses science, morality, and God. He points out that intelligent design theorists are part of a movement which has a social agenda which goes well beyond science education. By contrast, Shanks argues that Darwin himself provides a way of thinking about morality which fits well with the democratic values which are our common inheritance from the Enlightenment. Shanks states that finally his book is about the Enlightenment and its enemies and about the choices we will all have to make, not just about science, but about life itself: how we want to live, how we want society to be structured, how we want to see the future unfold