-
8There is a Place for Intelligent Design in the Philosophy of BiologyIn Francisco José Ayala & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in philosophy of biology, Wiley-blackwell. 2010.This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction A Brief Historical Note Failed Shortcuts Looking Deeper The Richness of Biology The Persistence of Design Real Design? Conclusion Postscript: Counterpoint Notes References.
-
Perceiving designIn Neil A. Manson (ed.), God and design: the teleological argument and modern science, Routledge. 2003.
-
18Saturation, World Ensembles, and DesignFaith and Philosophy 22 (5): 667-686. 2005.Multiple-universe theories (involving the saturation of a state space of alternative universes) enjoy growing popularity as proposed counters to the design-suggestiveness of increasingly impressive cosmic fine-tuning cases. In this paper I explore this type of counter, and argue that (i) multiple-universe theoriesdo not necessarily undercut the design relevance of cosmic fine-tuning, that (ii) both the required saturation and the hypothesized mechanisms supposed to generate such saturation face …Read more
-
28The Little Logic BookCalvin Press. 2013.Written by four members of the Calvin College philosophy department, The Little Logic Book is a valuable resource for teachers and undergraduate students of philosophy. In addition to providing clear introductions to the modes of reasoning students encounter in their philosophy course readings, it includes a nuanced description of common informal fallacies, a narrative overview of various philosophical accounts of scientific inference, and a concluding chapter on the ethics of argumentation. The…Read more
-
17Tomberlin and McGuinness on Plantinga's Free Will DefenseInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 12 (4). 1981.
-
34
-
19Nomo(theo)logical NecessityFaith and Philosophy 4 (4): 383-402. 1987.The issues of just what laws of nature are and what makes statements law-like have been more discussed than advanced. After exploring the general area and uncovering some difficulties which, I suspect, make the case even knottier than generally imagined, I argue that certain resources available only to the theist---in particular, counterfactuals of God’s freedom---may provide the materials needed for constructing solutions.
-
Design in Nature: What Is Science Properly Permitted to Think?In Janel M. Curry & Ronald Wells (eds.), Faithful Imagination in the Academy: Explorations in Religious Belief and Scholarship, Rowman & Littlefield. 2008.
-
72The Nature of ScienceIn Melville Y. Stewart (ed.), Science and Religion in Dialogue, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 39--53. 2010.This chapter contains sections titled: * I Conceptions of Science * II Beyond the Empirical * III Points of Contact * IV The Hierarchy * V Interconnections * VI Conclusion * Notes * Bibliography
-
8Quantified Subjunctives, Modality and Natural LawIn D. F. Austin (ed.), Philosophical Analysis, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 323--347. 1988.
-
349How Not to Critique Intelligent Design Theory (review)Ars Disputandi 5. 2005.I have been an interested observer of the Intelligent Design movement for some years, and although I have argued elsewhere that some of the philosophical points made by a number of ID advocates are right, I have been critical of other aspects of ID views. Having that interest, I would welcome a comprehensive, competent, evaluation and critique of ID. The structure, the catalogue of topics addressed, and the Oxford University Press imprimatur initially suggest that Niall Shanks’s God, the Devil, …Read more
-
There is a place for intelligent design in the philosophy of biology : intelligent design in (philosophy of) biology : some legitimate rolesIn Francisco José Ayala & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in philosophy of biology, Wiley-blackwell. 2010.
-
20Stenmark, Plantinga, and Scientific NeutralityFaith and Philosophy 21 (3): 353-364. 2004.In the preceding article Mikael Stenll1ark rejects both (a) Alvin Plantinga's specific arguments aimed at legitimating' Augustinian' science (or more generally 'worldview-partisan' science) and (b) the legitimacy of such 'sciences.' After contending further that the Augustinian-science strategy is in any case not the most appropriate response by believers to the matters motivating Plantinga's attempt, Stenmark then offers an alternative strategic proposal of his own. In the following response, I…Read more
-
142Nomo(theo)logical NecessityFaith and Philosophy 4 (4): 383-402. 1987.The issues of just what laws of nature are and what makes statements law-like have been more discussed than advanced. After exploring the general area and uncovering some difficulties which, I suspect, make the case even knottier than generally imagined, I argue that certain resources available only to the theist---in particular, counterfactuals of God’s freedom---may provide the materials needed for constructing solutions.
-
581Design Theory and its Critics: Monologues Passing in the Night (review)Ars Disputandi 2 240-255. 2002.
-
60The Religious Roots of ScienceIn Melville Y. Stewart (ed.), Science and Religion in Dialogue, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 54--68. 2010.This chapter contains sections titled: * I A Brief History * II The Rise of Science and the Doctrine of Creation * III âWhy there?â * IV âWhy then?â * V Other Implications and Parallels * VI Conclusion * Notes * Appendix
-
87The Alleged Demise of Religion: Greatly Exaggerated Reports from the Science/Religion âWarsâIn Melville Y. Stewart (ed.), Science and Religion in Dialogue, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 69--84. 2010.This chapter contains sections titled: * I Refutation: some preliminaries * II Foundations â Deep Conflict? * III Epistemic Undertows: Dissolving Rationality * IV Conflicting Mindsets * V Historical Erosion * VII Conflict and Rational Justification * VII Conclusion * Acknowledgments * Notes
-
37Science and religionIn Thomas P. Flint & Michael C. Rea (eds.), The Oxford handbook of philosophical theology, Oxford University Press. 2008.This article focuses on the relationship between science and religion. The natural sciences have profoundly shaped modern life and have notoriously generated challenges for religious belief – even being credited by some with having destroyed religion's rational defensibility. Most people, however, see both science and religion as having important truths to tell us, and try to fit both into a coherent world-view. Among that wider group, some see science and religion as occupying separate, isolate…Read more
-
50Natural Theology, Methodological Naturalism, and “Turtles All the Way Down”Faith and Philosophy 21 (4): 436-455. 2004.
-
29Explanation, subjunctives and statistical theoriesInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 3 (1): 80-96. 1988.(1988). Explanation, subjunctives and statistical theories. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 80-96. doi: 10.1080/02698598808573326
-
40Nature, Design, and Science: The Status of Design in Natural ScienceState University of New York Press. 2001.Explores the question of whether or not concepts and principles involving supernatural intelligent design can occupy any legitimate place within science
-
237Teleological Arguments for God’s ExistenceStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2015.Some phenomena within nature exhibit such exquisiteness of structure, function or interconnectedness that many people have found it natural—if not inescapable—to see a deliberative and directive mind behind those phenomena. The mind in question, being prior to nature itself, is typically taken to be supernatural. Philosophically inclined thinkers have both historically and at present labored to shape the relevant intuition into a more formal, logically rigorous inference. The resultant theistic …Read more
Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
General Philosophy of Science |