"Intelligent Design not supported by science" (2005)

"Iowa State Daily" August 23, 2005

LETTER: Intelligent Design not supported by science

Editor’s note: The following was a statement sent to the Daily regarding Intelligent Design, signed by nearly 120 Iowa State faculty members. Most of the names signed have been removed because of space constraints.

We, the undersigned faculty members at Iowa State, reject all attempts to represent Intelligent Design as a scientific endeavor.

Advocates of Intelligent Design claim the position of our planet and the complexity of particular life forms and processes are such that they may only be explained by the existence of a creator or designer of the universe.

Such claims, however, are premised on 1) the arbitrary selection of features claimed to be engineered by a designer; 2) unverifiable conclusions about the wishes and desires of that designer; and 3) an abandonment by science of methodological naturalism.

Methodological naturalism, the view that natural phenomena can be explained without reference to supernatural beings or events, is the foundation of the natural sciences. The history of science contains many instances where complex natural phenomena were eventually understood only by adherence to methodological naturalism.

Whether one believes in a creator or not, views regarding a supernatural creator are, by their very nature, claims of religious faith, and not within the scope or abilities of science. We, therefore, urge all faculty members to uphold the integrity of our university of science and technology, and convey to students and the general public the importance of methodological naturalism in science and reject efforts to portray Intelligent Design as science.

Mark R. Ackermann, Professor, Department of Veterinary Psychology

Dean Adams, Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology

Roger K. Alexander, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

Robert J. Angelici, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry

Daniel Ashlock, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

Hector I. Avalos, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies

Ethan Badman, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry

Jeffrey K. Beetham, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathology

Roger Berger, Professor Emeritus, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Cliff Bergman, Professor, Department of Mathematics

Terry L. Besser, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology

Amy Bix, Associate Professor, Department of History

Bryony Bonning, Professor, Department of Entomology

Bonnie S. Bowen, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology

E. Charles Brummer, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy

Joseph W. Burnett, Lecturer, Department of Chemistry

C. Lee Burras, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy

Alexander Burstein, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics

Anson Call, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design

Cinzia Cervato, Associate Professor, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Silvia R. Cianzio, Professor, Department of Agronomy

Michael P. Clough, Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Joel R. Coats, Professor, Department of Entomology

Jim Colbert, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

John D. Corbett, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry

Paula J. Curran, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Design

Dennis Dake, Professor, Department of Art and Design

Jane Dawson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Vinay Dayal, Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering

Alan A. DiSpirito, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

James H. Espenson, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry

Nancy J. Evans, Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Steven L. Fales, Professor, Department of Agronomy

David Fern?ez-Baca, Professor, Department of Computer Science

Herbert J. Fromm, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

Douglas A. Gentile, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

B. C. Gerstein, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry

Jack Girton, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

David M. Gradwohl, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology

Sara M. Gregg, Assistant Professor, Department of History

William J. Gutowski, Professor, Dept. of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, and Department of Agronomy

Richard B. Hall, Professor, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management

Chris Harding, Assistant Professor, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Mark S. Hargrove, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology

Thomas Harrington, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology

Rachel Haywood-Ferreira, Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Stan Henning, Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy

Madeleine Henry, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Kristen Hessler, Lecturer, Department of Biotechnology

Matthew G. Hill, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology

Gordon Hull, Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Neal R. Iverson, Professor, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Carl Jacobson, Professor, Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences

Jean-Luc Jannink, Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy