Intelligent Design Course at Cornell

Several sources have reported on the new course at Cornell University. Do not miss the post and comments at Telic Thoughts. Allan MacNeill, the professor teaching the course, has posted several interesting comments there. For example, regarding Michael Behe [I have deleted his attacks on another person, which were beside the point]:

What makes Behe a worthy opponent is that Behe "follows the rules" of academic debate: he sticks to the subject, constructs his arguments by citing facts and inferences from facts, and never descends to the kind of vicious character assasination that . . . [others] seem to revel in. Behe recognizes . . . that all of us are motivated by an honest search for understanding of the workings of nature, and that we welcome a worthy opponent who helps us clarify our own beliefs and arguments.

That is precisely what I hope will happen in the course I am offering this summer. As an evolutionary biologist, I will of course be entering the discussion from the standpoint of a methodological naturalist, with all of the metaphysical assumptions that position entails. However, if am to hold my head up in the "community of scholars" I must be as prepared to change my position in the face of superior logic and evidence as I will be prepared to try to change the minds of my colleagues.

Oh to be a student at Cornell! Hopefully, more courses like this will follow at major universities.

A press release from the pro-ID IDEA Club at Cornell is very positive.

A WorldNetDaily report is here.

Allen MacNeill's announcement is here.