God of the Gaps: The Argument from Ignorance and the Limits of Methodological Naturalism

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God of the Gaps: The Argument from Ignorance and the Limits of Methodological Naturalism

Journal Title: Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy - Year 2012, Vol 9, Issue 0

Abstract

In this essay I will focus on two important aspects of the philosophical baggage that is carried along in any discussion of the creation/evolution issue. Both involve questions about the nature of scientific methodology. The first deals with creationists’ contention that their creation hypothesis ought to be recognized not only as a legitimate scientific alternative to evolution but perhaps even a better alternative. The second deals with their contention that science, because of its methods, is itself an „established religion”, and an atheist religion at that. In both cases, these contentions are unjustified. Creationists’ negative attacks upon evolution miss their mark — they have not advanced anything close to a positive scientific alternative to evolution, but have simply given an argument form ignorance. The design inference fails to confirm a transcendent designer — whether it is interpreted as an argument by analogy, an inference to the best explanation, or an eliminative argument. In the end, their version is no more than a spurious god-of-the-gaps argument. Creationists’ attack upon scientific method as being dogmatically atheistic is also misplaced. Science, properly understood, is not an „established” religion. It is indeed religiously neutral.

Authors and Affiliations

Robert Pennock

Keywords

methodological naturalism metaphysical naturalism argument from design god of the gaps argument argument from ignorance inference to the best explanation Evolutionary theory intelligent design theory

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