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  3. The Design Inference
  • Cited by 139
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      06 July 2010
      13 September 1998
      ISBN:
      9780511570643
      9780521623872
      9780521678674
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511570643
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.52kg, 264 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.365kg, 264 Pages
      • Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory
      Subjects:
      Philosophy of Science, Religion, Philosophy, Theology
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    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory
    Subjects:
    Philosophy of Science, Religion, Philosophy, Theology
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    Book description

    The design inference uncovers intelligent causes by isolating their key trademark: specified events of small probability. Just about anything that happens is highly improbable, but when a highly improbable event is also specified (i.e. conforms to an independently given pattern) undirected natural causes lose their explanatory power. Design inferences can be found in a range of scientific pursuits from forensic science to research into the origins of life to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This challenging and provocative 1998 book shows how incomplete undirected causes are for science and breathes new life into classical design arguments. It will be read with particular interest by philosophers of science and religion, other philosophers concerned with epistemology and logic, probability and complexity theorists, and statisticians.

    Reviews

    "...quite readable. Those who have no knowledge of the mathematics of probability may be put off, but in fact the level of mathematics and symbolic logic employed is not very difficult...The main arguments...are given in ordinary prose, then translated into symbols...Dembski has made a real advance in probability and information theory..." Books & Culture

    "...generally careful and precise, often persuasive, and at times surprisingly philosophically sensitive." Ethics

    "Dembski has produced an astonishing work. The Design InferenceR^ will no doubt become the cornerstone of the intelligent design movement. A marked and dog-eared copy of The Design InferenceR^ deserves a place on your shel not just for its clear historical significance, but also to allow yourself a place in the momentous discussion to come. Philosophia Christi

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