Despite being an ID advocate for several years now (and having an authors account on this forum), I haven’t really taken the time to put pen to paper and write about it, apart from a few lengthy exchanges I had with a close friend and critic of ID. He has since stepped away from the online world, and so the exchange has ended. You can still view my responses to him here, here, here, here, and here. I also published one article where I highlighted various atheists and agnostics who are critical of neo-Darwinism and supportive of ID here.
The last thing I wrote on the subject was two years ago now, however this last year I’ve been wishing to start up a new ID blog. I made this decision for several reasons. One reason is that I simply want a place where I can write and consolidate my thoughts on the matter. I’ve also been meaning to get back into writing in general, and of course, I need a specific topic to focus on. Having said all this, I’m genuinely fascinated with this whole topic, particularly philosophy of science and biology. Yes, there are already plenty of good, active blogs and websites that cover this area so it isn’t as if another one is necessary, but I do think I can add something to the discussion.
There are other factors that make this new blog slightly different to ones already out there. I’m from the UK and not officially affiliated with other ID organisations like the Discovery Institute and so really, mine is an independent one. There have been some pro-design UK blogs in the past but they are now in stasis and as far as I’m aware there isn’t much other commentary coming from my neck of the woods. Of course, I’m fully aware of the excellent work that Centre for Intelligent Design have and are still doing (and I hear they’ll be launching a brand new website in the new year). I have contacts with many involved with C4ID and have taken part in some of their events. But I still feel that there needs to be a little more activity coming from us Brits so hopefully I can help to fill that gap.
To give a few more concrete details about this blog, it’s provisional title is ‘Design Disquisitions’, as I think it accurately captures my intentions behind this endeavour. I intend to use it to explore all aspects of the ID conversation, documenting different perspectives in the debate and turning a critical eye to both sides (even though I do side with the design view). I’ll also be defending ID by responding to critics and documenting the powerful, positive arguments in its favour. I have little interest in the political culture wars that often get dragged in to this issue and I want to focus on the science and philosophy. I love places like Uncommon Descent and Evolution News and Views, yet I think perhaps conservative ethical, political and and other extra-scientific issues get mixed in too much, which distorts the corpus. I’m not saying I necessarily disagree with conservative views on those issues, and of course, ID may have many extra-scientific implications, but for me they are not relevant to ID as a scientific theory.
I’ve already been working hard on this blog throughout the year, so I have quite a bit of material stocked up. I’ve also worked hard at just gathering resources and it’ll be the most thorough storehouse of ID material on the web. As for when it will be online, I’m aiming for January in the new year. Until then I’ve got a lot of work to do!
Stay tuned!
Joshua