Author: Stephen J. Iacoboni

A close-up of a purple water droplet creating a splash in a shallow pool of purple liquid. The background is blurred, emphasizing the droplet's shape and color.

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
May 13, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, A. N. Whitehead, active matter, agency, biomolecular condensates, biosphere, cellular biology, central dogma, cytoplasm, DNA, droplets, function, goal-directedness, Life Itself, liquid-liquid phase separations, machines, mechanism, membrane-less organelles, molecular agency, molecular biology, organelles, proteins, rigidity, RNA, science of purpose, scientific materialism, self-organization, soft matter, specified irreducible complexity, structure-function relationship, Stuart Kauffman, telos, Thomistic-Aristotelian ontology}

Studies on Active Matter: Potency into Act

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
May 13, 2026

Evolution, Intelligent Design

8}

Amorphous and dynamic as they are, the LLPS droplets support numerous crucial cellular functions, devoid of a permanent scaffolding structure. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
March 18, 2026

Categories
Biology
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, 3D spatial organization, active matter, Aristotle, biology, cargo recognition, cascades, cells, condensates, cycles, cytoplasm, Darwin's Black Box, dissipative systems, DNA transcription, droplets, electrolytes, endoplasmic reticulum, Energy, enzyme activity, function, goal-directedness, Golgi bodies, Ilya Prigogine, intentionality, intracellular landscape, living systems, lysosomes, machines, macromolecules, matter, mechanism, medical school, Michael Behe, mitochondria, molecular biology, molecular grammar, naturalism, neo-Darwinian evolution, nucleus, organisms, physics, Riccardo Babic, scaffolding, Science and Culture Today, science of purpose, signaling cascades, St. Thomas Aquinas, structure, TCA cycle, telos, tornadoes, Trends in Biochemical Sciences, Velcro, whirlpools}

Active Matter: How Function Determines Structure

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
March 18, 2026

Biology, Intelligent Design

8}

As always, the approach of naturalism is to reduce the complexity of natural phenomena to basic physical laws. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
January 9, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, Abraham, Aristotle, biology, Chance and Necessity, chemistry, Christianity, Darwinism, evolution, God Hypothesis, intelligent design, Jaques Monod, Kansas, laws of nature, Mariusz Tabaczek, materialism, Modern Synthesis, molecular biology, natural processes, naturalism, Neo-Darwinism, Nobel laureates, paradigm, physics, purpose, René Descartes, science of purpose, scientific atheism, scientism, St. Thomas Aquinas, teleology, telos, theistic evolution, Thomistic Aristotelianism, Thomists}

In Biology, Replacing Chance with Purpose Is the New Paradigm

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
January 9, 2026

Evolution, Intelligent Design

6}

The history of science begins largely in Western Europe with the overthrow of Thomistic Aristotelianism by René Descartes. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
December 9, 2025

Categories
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, biology, complementarity, consciousness, David Klinghoffer, dispositionalism, Edward Feser, emergence, Etienne Gilson, final causality, Günter Bechly, Lex Fridman, mathematics, metaphysics, Michael Levin, MIT Press, naturalism, necessity, ontology, origin of life, Peter Corning, Plato's Revenge, purpose, Richard Sternberg, science of purpose, specified irreducible complexity, teleology, teleonomy, telos, Thomism, Tufts University}

Science, Purpose, and Michael Levin: The Discussion Evolves

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
December 9, 2025

Evolution, Intelligent Design

5}

A leading spiritually agnostic (at least, that is my impression) biology researcher, Michael Levin at Tufts, is himself a proponent of teleology in nature. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
December 4, 2025

Categories
Biology
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, Antarctica, Arctic, Aristotle, bacterial flagellum, bats, biology, biosphere, blood-clotting cascade, blubber, cetaceans, Chance and Necessity, CHNOPS, complementarity, Darwin's Black Box, duality, emergence, Erwin Schrödinger, feathers, function, Jaques Monod, language, marine iguanas, Mass, Michael Behe, penguins, physical reality, property, science of purpose, scientism, specified irreducible complexity, structure, structure-function relationship, telos, Thomas Aquinas, Thomistic Aristotelianism}

How Life Becomes Comprehensible: A New Scientific Framework

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
December 4, 2025

Biology, Intelligent Design

7}

The duality of emergence and specified irreducible complexity must be discarded. In doing so, we create a framework compatible with Thomistic Aristotelianism. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
December 2, 2025

Categories
Biology
Philosophy of Science
Scientific Reasoning
Tagged
, Albert Einstein, biology, Carl Woese, complementarity, Darwin's Black Box, dualism, Erwin Schrödinger, Essays on Life Itself, function, gravitation, Inertia, Irreducible Complexity, Isaac Newton, language, Life Itself, Mass, Michael Behe, molecular biologists, natural selection, phenotype, physics, randomness, René Descartes, Robert Rosen, science of purpose, scientific atheism, scientism, structure, What Is Life?}

In Search of a Unified Theory of Life

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
December 2, 2025

Biology, Philosophy of Science, Scientific Reasoning

8}

It can be said that Erwin Schrödinger anticipated what Michael Behe formally articulated as irreducible complexity. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
November 17, 2025

Categories
Engineering
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, Aristotelianism, Aristotle, artifacts, artwork, axes, biology, causality, chairs, DNA, E.O. Wilson, emergence, enzymes, evolution, Evolution “On Purpose”, final causality, Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, intelligent design, Irreducible Complexity, Isaac Newton, Jacques Monod, Judeo-Christian tradition, Leonard Susskind, Life Itself, Ludwig Wittgenstein, machines, mechanics, Michael Behe, Neo-Darwinism, purpose, René Descartes, Robert Rosen, rockets, science of purpose, St. Thomas Aquinas, Stephen Hawking, structure-function relationship, telos, Theodosius Dobzhansky, tools, William Dembski, windmills}

What Is the Originating Source of Design in Organisms?

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
November 17, 2025

Engineering, Intelligent Design

9}

The genesis of structure-function relationships in human artifacts is as well understood as are their mechanics. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
October 29, 2025

Categories
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, __recommended, abstraction, airfoil, Albert Einstein, anatomy, antennae, Aristotle, biology, duality, emergence, engineering, Erwin Schrödinger, evolution, function, intelligent design, Isaac Newton, mathematicians, Michael Behe, molecular biology, physics, physiology, Pierre-Simon Laplace, propellers, René Descartes, Return of the God Hypothesis, rockets, science of purpose, scientism, specified irreducible complexity, Stephen Meyer, structure, structure-function relationship, Werner Heisenberg, What Is Life?}

Emergence and Irreducible Complexity: A Unified Theory

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
October 29, 2025

Evolution, Intelligent Design

7}

We are all familiar with the duality — structure and function — from both technology and biology. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
June 20, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Intelligent Design
Philosophy of Science
Tagged
, "survival of the fittest", biology, cells, Chance & Necessity, Daniel Witt, final cause, foxes, intelligent design, James Shapiro, Jaques Monod, life, materialism, materialist paradigm, miracles, Modern Synthesis, molecules, mutations, neo-Darwinian evolution, organisms, organs, Peter Corning, purpose, science of purpose, teleology, teleonomy, telos, Thomism, transposons}

From Materialist Biologists, a Profound Capitulation

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
June 20, 2025

Faith & Science, Intelligent Design, Philosophy of Science

8}

I have warned that one of the few remaining avenues that naturalism can take to rescue its paradigm is to appropriate “purpose” within a materialist framework. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen J. Iacoboni

Date
May 31, 2025

Categories
Evolution
Faith & Science
Intelligent Design
Metaphysics
Tagged
, anticipation, August Weismann, Bible, biosphere, building blocks, causation, Chance and Necessity, cognition, Design Inference, DNA, electromagnetism, Ferrari, final cause, flowering plants, Francis Crick, grizzly bear, intelligent design, Isaac Newton, Jaques Monod, natural selection, natural theology, necessity, nectar, pollinators, purpose, science of purpose, telos, Thomas Aquinas, Thomism, tuna, William A. Dembski, wolf}

Teleology: Anticipation and Necessity

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
May 31, 2025

Evolution, Faith & Science, Intelligent Design, Metaphysics

10}

Imagine a primordial grizzly bear on the northern edge of the forest adjacent to the Arctic. His soma senses the differences of the new environment. Read More ›