In Biology, Replacing Chance with Purpose Is the New Paradigm

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 my most recent post in this series on the science of purpose, I concluded that the proper means of understanding our world requires that we include both purpose and necessity as fundamental elements of any comprehensive framework. I noted that the flagship phrase of 20th-century scientific atheism, as articulated by Nobel laureate Jaques Monod in his book Chance and Necessity, acknowledged necessity but explicitly and intentionally eliminated purpose from scientific dialogue.  Now some fifty years later we see that Monod’s paradigm has failed. And that the only possible way of understanding life on earth is to replace chance with purpose. Doing so reverses an epistemological trend stretching back almost 150 years. As such, it is incumbent that we fortify and substantiate the basis for what many would see as a revolutionary new paradigm. That is the goal of this essay. In Read More › Source
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In Search of a Unified Theory of Life

Albert Einstein, Ambrose Bierce, biology, Carl Woese, complementarity, Darwin's Black Box, dualism, dualisms, Erwin Schrödinger, Essays on Life Itself, function, gravitation, Inertia, Irreducible Complexity, Isaac Newton, language, Life Itself, Mass, Michael Behe, molecular biologists, natural selection, phenotype, Philosophy of Science, physics, randomness, René Descartes, Robert Rosen, science of purpose, scientific atheism, scientific reasoning, scientism, structure, structure-function relationships, The Devil's Dictionary, What Is Life?
It can be said that Erwin Schrödinger anticipated what Michael Behe formally articulated as irreducible complexity. Source
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John Searle (1932–2025): A Titan Passes

Baylor University, brain, ChatGPT, Chinese Room argument, computation, Computational Sciences, conscious states, Daniel Vanderveken, digestion, Discovery Institute Press, epistemic objectivity, Expression and Meaning, Foundations of Illocutionary Logic, John Searle, language, Minding the Brain, Neuroscience & Mind, ontic dualism, ontological idealism, ontology, philosophy, prose, qualitativeness, Science and Culture Today, scientism, Speech Acts, subjectivity, The Construction of Social Reality, The Nature of Nature, Unity, William Dembski
Searle’s most famous argument is undoubtedly the Chinese Room argument, first presented in his essay “Minds, Brains, and Programs” (1980). Source
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Why Philosophical Proofs For God Are Better Than “Scientific” Proofs

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Aquinas’s Five Ways, Argumentation, Arguments for God, BrianHuffling.com, Christianity, ed feser, Gospel, metaphysics, philosophy, science, scientism
Let me first say that I think the “scientific” proofs for God’s existence are very good, as far as they go (I’ll explain why that word is in quotes later). Since middle school one of my hobbies has been backyard astronomy. I am very familiar with the intelligent design arguments from cosmology and biology. They are all very good and very convincing. So, what’s the issue? Well, for one, natural science alone can’t prove God. It needs philosophy. What then makes the scientific arguments good? They are good because they show that the chances for the design (not existence) of the universe and life due to random events are essentially zero. But the jump from probability to cause is a philosophical one. Science, does after all, require the use of…
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Scopes Revisited: An Interview with Historian Jefrey Breshears

American Birth Control League, American Crisis, Apologetics, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Charles Darwin, Clarence Darrow, Culture, Dayton, Discovery Institute, Eugene Debs, Eugenics Education Society, Evolution, Francis Galton, fundamentalist Christianity, H. L. Mencken, history of science, Hollywood, Human Origins and Anthropology, Industrial Workers of the World, Inherit the Wind, Jefrey Breshears, John Scopes, John West, Only Yesterday, Origin of Species, religion, Roaring Twenties, scientific racism, scientism, Scopes trial, Tennessee, The Areopagus, The Descent of Man, The Magician’s Twin, trial lawyers, William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, Young Earth Creationists
Promoted as a battle royale between science and religion — evolutionary theory versus biblical creation — in its actual content the trial was underwhelming. Source
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Philosophy Disguised as Science

2. Does God Exist?, 3. Are Miracles Possible?, age of the earth, Apologetics, Christianity, FreeThinkingMInistries, Gospel, Intelligent Design, naturalism, Origin Science, Phil Bair, philosophy, Philosophy of Science, science, scientism
One of the basic principles that atheistic scientists live by is that science is based on evidence and religion is based on faith. I scarcely have to provide examples of atheistic scientists telling us that for something to be scientific, it must be evidence-based, and it must rely on the time-honored methods of scientific inquiry. Nor do I need to provide examples of them telling us there is no scientific evidence for the existence of God or miracles, and that all religious doctrine is faith-based. Theism, we are told, is based on faith with no objective or valid (which, of course, means scientific) evidence to support it. Even a cursory reading of the publications of the [relevant] atheists will yield example after example of both of these claims. Science, we are…
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31 Nobel Prize Quotes That Challenge the ‘Faith vs. Science’ Myth – Smart Faith

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Evidence for God, Faith vs. Reason, Gospel, Medicine, Miguel Rodriguez, science, Science vs. Religion, scientism, SmartFaith.me, theology
You have seen it on social media or even books. Someone gambling his head that faith impedes the progression of science. Faith, they say, is believing something without evidence or in spite of, and science relies on evidence to reach at truth. This gives the false impression that the majority of scientist are atheist, or at least non theist. It’s even considered conventional wisdom for many (maybe you thought it too). But in reality… this is just plain doodoo. Faith vs. Science? First, because it starts with a false definition of faith like the one mentioned above. Pistis, the Greek word for faith, means trust and is the word used in the Bible. Trust cannot be conceived without reasonable justification. The biblical faith doesn’t shy away from doubt. Doubt and faith…
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The Emergence of Freedom: A New Book by James Barham

Aeneid, An Inventive Universe, Aristotle, Darwinism, Evolution, Gerald H. Pollack, Harvard University, human evolution, human spirit, Inkwell Press, Intelligent Design, James Barham, John McDowell, Kenneth G. Denbigh, Latin, Mind and Cosmos, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, natural selection, naturalism, neo-Thomists, Nicolaus Copernicus, philosophy of nature, Philosophy of Science, Richard Dawkins, scientism, teleology, Thomas Browne, Thomas Nagel, University of Texas
Barham’s approach to teleology in nature is, if anything, Aristotelian. Indeed, Aristotle is the most cited person in the index of his book. Source
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Recovering the Right Brain in a Scientistic Culture

Artificial Intelligence, Atheism, beauty, brain, Culture, Culture & Ethics, faith, Faith & Science, human experience, Ian McGilchrist, Intelligent Design, left brain, Living in Wonder, Matthew Crawford, Meaning, New Atheism, Paul Kingsnorth, Peter Savodnik, right brain, Rod Dreher, scientism, secular culture, Technology, The Free Press, The World Beyond Your Head
Science and technology were hailed as the saviors of mankind, but instead, they’ve helped to push out crucial aspects of the human experience.  Source
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