Recent discoveries have made the theory that God created the world according to a plan the object of renewed interest. This introduction includes new perspectives, from prominent scientists and philosophers. List of illustrations xi Notes on contributors xii Preface xv Introduction 1(24) NEIL A. MANSON Classifying the design argument 1(1) The resurgence of the design argument in the late twentieth century 2(3) The logic of the design argument 5(6) Specifying for what the Universe is designed 11(3) What should we expect from a supernatural designer? 14(3) The much-maligned multiverse 17(8) PART I General considerations 25(2) 1 The design argument 27(28) ELLIOTT SOBER What is the design argument? 28(1) Clarifications 29(4) Other formulations of the design argument, and their defects 33(3) Three objections to the likelihood argument 36(6) The relationship of the orgasmic design argument to Darwinism 42(1) Anthropic reasoning and cosmic design arguments 43(6) A prediction 49(6) 2 The meaning of design 55(11) JOHN LESLIE The miraculous and the natural 57(4) The place of evil in a designed universe 61(2) Explaining God: the Platonic approach 63(3) 3 The design inference: old wine in new wineskins 66(22) ROBERT O'CONNOR Introduction 66(2) The distinctive strengths of LDA 68(1) Empirical evidence for design 69(8) The philosophic assumptions of intelligent design 77(5) Conclusion 82(6) 4 God by design? 88(17) JAN NARVESON "Natural" theology and the design argument 88(1) The cosmological argument 88(2) Arguments from design: telling creation from non-creation 90(2) Clarifying "design" 92(1) The argument from design: mechanisms 93(1) Design and cosmic purpose 94(3) Three examples 97(3) The goodness of God and the badness of theological explanations 100(3) A note on religion as a social phenomenon 103(2) 5 The argument to God from fine-tuning reassessed 105(19) RICHARD SWINBURNE Why a world with human bodies is likely if God exists 107(8) Why a world with human bodies is unlikely if there is no God 115(9) 6 Perceiving design 124(21) DEL RATZSCH Background: Reid 125(2) Reid and design 127(4) Assessment 131(5) Implications 136(1) Some prospects 137(8) PART II Physical cosmology 145(2) 7 The appearance of design in physics and cosmology 147(8) PAUL DAVIES 8 Design and the anthropic fine-tuning of the Universe 155(23) WILLIAM LANE CRAIG Introduction 155(1) Examples of wider teleology 155(6) The inference to design 161(4) The design argument examined 165(10) Conclusion 175(3) 9 Evidence for fine-tuning 178(22) ROBIN COLLINS Introduction 178(1) Definition of and criteria for fine-tuning 179(1) Six solid cases of fine-tuning 180(10) Conclusion 190(1) Appendix: seriously problematic claims in the literature 191(9) 10 Probabilities and the fine-tuning argument: a skeptical view 200(9) TIMOTHY MCGREW, LYDIA MCGREW, AND ERIC VESTRUP The structure of the argument 201(2) The normalizability problem 203(1) Rescues and replies 204(5) PART III Multiple universes 209(2) 11 Other universes: a scientific perspective 211(10) MARTIN REIS Many "universes"? 211(1) A special recipe' 212(1) Three interpretations of the apparent "tuning" 212(2) Are questions about other universes part of science? 214(2) Scenarios for a multiverse 216(2) Universal laws, or mere bylaws? 218(1) Testing multiverse theories here and now 218(3) 12 Too many universes 221(8) D.H. MELLOR Universes and the multiverse 221(1) Existence, location, and ultimate explanations 222(1) Explanations and probabilities 223(2) A prerequisite of chances 225(1) An improbable argument 225(1) Facing the firing squad 226(3) 13 Fine-tuning and multiple universes 229(22) ROGER WHITE Introduction 229(1) Probabilistic confirmation 230(3) Our universe versus some universe 233(1) Carter's hypothesis 234(1) The observational selection effect 235(3) Improbable and surprising events 238(2) Leslie's shooting analogy 240(3) Conclusion 243(1) Postscript 243(8) 14 The chance of the gaps 251(24) WILLIAM DEMBSKI Probabilistic resources 251(2) Universal probability bounds 253(2) The inflationary fallacy 255(2) Four widely discussed inflations 257(3) Explanatory power and independent evidence 260(3) Arthur Rubinstein - consummate pianist or lucky poseur? 263(2) Independent evidence for a designer 265(2) Closing off quantum loopholes 267(8) PART IV Biology 275(2) 15 The modern intelligent design hypothesis: breaking rules 277(18) MICHAEL BELIE Differences from Paley 277 Darwinism and design 279(3) An "evolved" operon 282(4) Blood clotting 286(2) Falsifiability 288(7) 16 Answering the biochemical argument from design 292 KENNETH R. MILLER An exceptional claim 293 Mr Darwin's workshop 295(3) Getting to the heart of the matter 298(1) Whips and syringes 299(1) Disproving design 300(3) Caught in the mousetrap 303(1) Breaking the chain 304(1) Paley's ghost 305(4) 17 Modern biologists and the argument from design 308 MICHAEL RUSE Intelligent design 309(2) The explanatory filter 311(4) Intelligent design criticized 315(3) Explanatory filters 318(1) The blind watchmaker 319(2) Pain 321(4) Redundancy? 325(1) Conclusion 326(3) 18 The paradoxes of evolution: inevitable humans in a lonely universe? 329(19) SIMON CONWAY MORRIS What is best? 330(2) Hallmarks of creation? 332(4) Focusing on convergence 336(2) Converging brains? 338(2) Rare Earth? 340(3) Inevitably lonely? 343(5) 19 The compatibility of Darwinism and design 348(16) PETER VAN INWAGEN Index 364