Those of you who frequent this blog know that, on more than one occasion, I’ve wondered why anyone takes Paul Davies seriously when he writes anything pertaining to religion. Perhaps this is a sign of the impending apocalypse, but he’s finally produced something that doesn’t make me cringe. Davies wrote recently that “in light of modern physics discoveries, materialism is not the most viable philosophy.” No kidding.
Davies flash of religious coherence appears in his contribution to a new Cambridge title, Information and the Nature of Reality: From Physics to Metaphysics (Cambridge University Press 2010). For some commentary on how Davies’ admission is inconsistent with the way intelligent design theorists are often treated, see this from Uncommon Descent.
Uncommon Descent:
> Well, why did Baptist U Baylor shut down Dembski and Gordons Polanyi Center in 2002 for sponsoring a conference where lots of learned folk said substantially the same thing?
Gordon himseld seems to have the answer: “If design theory is to make a contribution in science, it must be worth pursuing on the basis of its own merits, not as an exercise in Christian ‘cultural renewal,’ the weight of which it cannot bear.”
http://ncse.com/rncse/20/4/baylors-polanyi-center-turmoil
Reading Eugenie Scott’s account at the link, it seems the science was not the problem, Dembski’s paranoid crusade was the problem.