Background

• Background: Popular theory until Darwinism. A milder version of creationism.
• Debate: Should be taught in schools because it is a theory, like evolution v. It is not a scientific theory
• Country Comparison: Limited to U.S.
• Recent Legislation: Pennsylvania and Kansas

Background

• Intelligent design was popularized in the early 19th century by an English clergyman William Paley who explained that the existence of God is evinced in the intricacies of life. Paley believed life is too complicated to emerge without an intelligent creator. The difference between this theory and creationism is that it does not explicitly mention God. This argument prevailed until Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" explained how life can be created through natural processes.
• Proponents of intelligent design want the theory taught in America's schools. Teaching creationism in school was banned by the Supreme Court in 1987, but proponents claim intelligent design sufficiently scientific to be taught as a legitimate alternative to evolution. Opponents claim the theory is wholly scientific and has no supporting evidence. School districts across the country (mostly in the mid-west) have been debating whether to allow intelligent design to be taught along side evolution in public schools.

Debate

• Proponents of intelligent design argue that evolution is just a theory with a number of holes that science cannot explain. Despite these gaps, the theory is taught as fact in schools and alternatives explanations for the origin of life should be given the same treatment.
• Critics argue that alternative theories of life that include supernatural intervention are not scientific because they cannot be tested by experimentation and there is no evidence therefor. Scientists assert that the claims put forward in intelligent design theory are outright inconsistent with known fact. One such claim is that organisms are complex, but biologists use Darwinian natural selection to explain complexity.

Country Comparison

• The intelligent design movement arose out of Christian fundamentalist and evangelistic creation science movements in the United States and has not gained much support outside of the U.S.
• Former Australian opposition leader Brendan Nelson declared he would support teaching Intelligent Design along side evolution as alternate theories.

Recent Legislation

• In December 2005, a U.S. District Judge struck down a Pennsylvania school board policy requiring a statement be read by science teachers endorsing intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes.
• Also in 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education held a series of hearings to review changes on how the origin of life would be taught in public high school science classes. The hearings were boycotted by the scientific community and led to new standards for teaching science that included intelligent design a critical analysis of evolution. However, voters expressed their disapproval for the new science standards by electing a Democratic majority to the board that vowed to overturn the policy.

Debate

Country Comparison

Recent Developments

Additional Information