Tag: ontology

^{Type
post

Author
William A. Dembski

Date
January 20, 2026

Categories
Intelligent Design
Philosophy
Philosophy of Science
Tagged
, AI Overview, archaeology, art, Bas van Fraassen, biology, ChatGPT, complex specified information, computation, computer science, Conservation of Information, control, cryptography, Darwinian theory, Discovery Institute, Ernest Nagel, experiment, fecundity, Forensics, function, gnana yoga, Grok, Hinduism, ID 3.0 Research Program, Imre Lakatos, information, intelligent design, James Tour, James Woodward, Karl Popper, large language models, Larry Laudan, law, Lex Fridman, living things, materialism, mathematics, mechanism, methodological naturalism, Michael Levin, Nancy Cartwright, naturalism, ontology, origin of life, patterns, Paul Feyerabend, philosophy, Pierre Duhem, Plato, Platonic space, pseudoscience, Richard Dawkins, Sandra Mitchell, scientific theory, SETI, steganography, Stephen Meyer, testability, testing, thermostats, Thomas Kuhn, Tufts University, Willard Van Orman Quine}

Michael Levin and the Philosophy of Intelligent Design

_{William A. Dembski
January 20, 2026

Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science

36}

Levin is not a reflexive Darwinian materialist. Moreover, he touches on many themes that intelligent design theorists touch on. 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 ›

The interior of ancient buildings in the Qin and Han dynasties of China

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
October 3, 2025

Categories
Computational Sciences
Neuroscience & Mind
Philosophy
Tagged
, Baylor University, brain, ChatGPT, Chinese Room argument, computation, digestion, Discovery Institute Press, John Searle, language, Minding the Brain, ontology, philosophy, Science and Culture Today, scientism, subjectivity, The Nature of Nature, William Dembski}

John Searle (1932–2025): A Titan Passes

_{Bruce Gordon
October 3, 2025

Computational Sciences, Neuroscience & Mind, Philosophy

7}

Searle’s most famous argument is undoubtedly the Chinese Room argument, first presented in his essay “Minds, Brains, and Programs” (1980). Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Günter Bechly

Date
December 6, 2023

Categories
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Origin of Life
Tagged
, abiogenesis, Assembly Theory, chemical evolution, Clockwork, complexity, consciousness, Elon Musk, fallacy, Harvard University, information theory, intelligent design, James Tour, Justin Brierley, Lee Cronin, materialism, methodological naturalism, molecular biology, naturalism, Nature (journal), ontology, Oxford University, phase transition, quantum entanglement, Reductionism, Rice University, saltation, scientific method, theoretical physics, Unbelievable, worldview}

A Few Thoughts on the Cronin-Tour Debate

_{Günter Bechly
December 6, 2023

Biochemistry, Chemistry, Origin of Life

7}

Under the theory of an unguided process of chemical and biological evolution, should a threshold of complexity, clearly identifying life, be expected? Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Paul Nelson

Date
March 31, 2023

Categories
Biology
Engineering
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Philosophy of Science
Social Sciences
Tagged
, agency, computer science, economy, ecosystems, evolution, innovation, intelligent design, naturalism, ontology, scholars, scientific knowledge, Siberia, teleology}

Dangerous Skating: Kauffman, Jaeger, and Roli on the Need for a New Teleology

_{Paul Nelson
March 31, 2023

Biology, Engineering, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Philosophy of Science, Social Sciences

2}

Openly breaking with naturalism can get one dispatched to the gulag of intelligent design. For most scholars, that is a one-way trip to academic Siberia. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Paul Nelson

Date
February 2, 2021

Categories
Epistemology
Physical Sciences
Tagged
, 'Oumuamua, atheism, Avi Loeb, Carl Sagan, Design Inference, Eric Anderson, extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent design, natural science, natural theology, ontology, scientific method, SETI}

The Most Valuable Aspect of Avi Loeb’s Intelligent Design Case

_{Paul Nelson
February 2, 2021

Epistemology, Physical Sciences

2}

The most valuable aspect of his case is the stimulus it provides to the question, "If non-human intelligences exist, how would we detect them?" Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
October 17, 2019

Categories
Faith & Science
Tagged
, __edited, act, Aristotle, clouds, contingency, Five Ways, goodness, grass, images, light, mirror, nobility, ontology, Plato, potency, sky, Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas, trees, truth}

Aquinas’ Fourth Way: Light in a Mirror

_{Michael Egnor
October 17, 2019

Faith & Science

7}

It’s helpful, as with his Third Way, to begin with a metaphor, in order to get an intuitive feel for the proof. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
January 22, 2018

Categories
Metaphysics
Neuroscience & Mind
Philosophy
Tagged
, __k-review, Aristotle, brain, Cartesian dualism, emergence, materialism, matter, mind, neurons, neurotransmitters, ontology, res cogitans, res extensa, soul, Thomism, water}

“Emergence” and the Soul

_{Michael Egnor
January 22, 2018

Metaphysics, Neuroscience & Mind, Philosophy

9}

Emergence, as a perceptual surprise, can’t explain the mind because emergence presupposes the mind. Read More ›

Starry Night over the Allen Telescope Array: A Celestial Symphony of Science and Wonder

^{Type
post

Author
Paul Nelson

Date
September 24, 2014

Categories
Epistemology
Intelligent Design
Metaphysics
Philosophy
Physics
Tagged
, __nedited, agent causation, alien intelligence, atheism, identity theory, logic, materialism, methodological naturalism, ontology, Reductionism, SETI, undirected process}

Do You Like SETI? Fine, Then Let’s Dump Methodological Naturalism

_{Paul Nelson
September 24, 2014

Epistemology, Intelligent Design, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Physics

7}

After reading my article about MN, a correspondent wrote and asked a good question. Read More ›