Re: [asa] God as Cause

Like many attempts to redefine science (not only on the part of ID
advocates), Platinga seems to be falling prey to a touch of scientism.
 If science is seen as merely a category and not something that is
inherently more important as a source of information than
alternatives, the definition can be approached more impartially. It
should also be recognized that science is not very good at addressing
many types of questions. The restriction to "methodological
naturalism" is in large part a statement that science can't handle
more important issues.

There is some justification to the ID complaints in that atheists try
to misuse the fact that science is largely theologically irrelevant
(even ID advocates often admit that their evidences for design
wouldn't do any good on identifying the designer) as evidence that
theology is irrelevant. However, the standard ID response is to
accept the claim that secondary causes remove God from the picture.
Most prominent ID advocates have at various points denied that
secondary causes remove God, but they also at many points have argued
in a way that assumes that secondary causes remove God.

The ID complaints about methodological naturalism are also
hypocritical, for they claim to use methodological naturalism to reach
their own conclusions. The goal of ID is to arrive at supernatural
conclusions using natural methods. The arguments about the definition
of science are also something of a red herring (on both sides). The
problem with ID is that the conclusions don't follow from the actual
evidence, not that it wants to allow supernatural conclusions.

Everyday experience also shows that the use of natural methods is
quite practical for all sorts of things. You are using natural
methods to find out what I am saying (e.g., reading email rather than
expecting the Spirit to reveal my thoughts to you), yet you ought to
evaluate my statements from a thoroughly theistic perspective.

Like much ID, Platinga's arguments sound to me as though the
conclusions came first and a less than persuasive attempt at
justifying them was then inserted.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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