The fine-tuning argument: The ‘design inference’ version
Religious Studies 42 (4):467-471 (2006)
| Abstract | William Dembski claims that the fine-tuning supports the inference that the universe was designed. His ‘design inference’ is based on the identification of two features of the fine-tuning. Dembski claims that it is a ‘specified’ event of small (a priori) probability. Specification, in this context, is the ability to describe an event without using any knowledge of the actual event itself. I argue that we currently do not have the ability to describe accurately the fine-tuning of the universe without using any knowledge of the fine-tuning itself. If we cannot generate a specification, then the fine-tuning is not a specified event, so the ‘design inference’ is not justified. | |||||||||
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David Harker (2012). A Surprise for Horwich (and Some Advocates of the Fine-Tuning Argument (Which Does Not Include Horwich (as Far as I Know))). Philosophical Studies 161 (2):247-261.
Neil A. Manson (2000). There is No Adequate Definition of ?Fine-Tuned for Life? Inquiry 43 (3):341 – 351.
Darren Bradley (2012). Weisberg on Design: What Fine-Tuning's Got to Do with It. Erkenntnis 77 (3):435-438.
John Roberts (2012). Fine-Tuning and the Infrared Bull's-Eye. Philosophical Studies 160 (2):287-303.
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Graham Wood (2007). Fine-Tuning 'Analogies' and the Law of Small Probability. Philo 10 (2):149-157.
Mark A. Walker & M. Milan (2006). Astrophysical Fine Tuning, Naturalism, and the Contemporary Design Argument. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 20 (3):285 – 307.
R. White (2011). What Fine-Tuning's Got to Do with It: A Reply to Weisberg. Analysis 71 (4):676-679.
Neil A. Manson (2009). The Fine-Tuning Argument. Philosophy Compass 4 (1):271-286.
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