Explanatory Filter: Detecting Intelligent Design in the Natural Sciences
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to present the concept of explanatory filter as developed by William Dembski, a proponent of intelligent design theory. The explanatory filter is intended as a tool for detecting design, i.e. for discriminating between the results of intelligent and unintelligent activity, in case when the underlying causal history is unknown. Dembski claims that the explanatory filter as a method of design detection is already widely used in various branches of knowledge, although in a pre-theoretic form. His goal is to give the filter a rigorous theoretical shape, as well as to apply it to natural sciences such as cosmology or biology. After outlining the foundations of Dembski’s proposal, various objections to the concept of explanatory filter will be analyzed.
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