It is perplexing as to why there is this dichotomy between evolution and intelligent design when in reality it is a simple matter of splitting hairs of what is actually observed and what is transcendent. For Darwin deduced from the complexity of evolving life forms an inherent natural selection of intentionality. That is, from a cell there may be underlying it intentionality of inexistent or nebulous other forms which may indeed transcend itself into another material object and become existent. On the lower levels it may appear to be accidental or incidental, yet in actuality there is the implication of a pre-condition intentionality that if such an “accident” occurs, a given transition or some incidental function will arise. If a wolf is in the “making” yet does not contain intentional instincts of a wolf, it is not a wolf but an incompetent mammal that will inevitably fall by the wayside. If early man is equipped with instinct only, he is not ready for manhood and eventually will give way to another intentionality that has modified that instinct to intuition and the first stage of thinking. Thinking, that is, that which intrudes upon common consciousness by questioning and reflecting on intuition — however crude — is what makes one human. The “designer” on the other hand, would prefer the “intrusion” be a divine spark of energy.
The dichotomy, then, springs from the manner in which “design” is perceived. Both views admit to the concept but one, predicated on materialism, is from the perspective of inherent intentionality toward transcendence; hijacked by creationists, the other — predicated on theism, rather than deism — is from the perspective transcending the material matrix to a divine, but active consciousness free of material baggage. The non-religious ID intentionality transcends only to the inner dimension whereby God, demiurge or gods manipulate the natural selection within viewable creation — “God exists in the understanding” [Anselm]. Actual understanding, not a conditional intentionality that there be unicorns.
In other words, natural selection, the demiurge, or God are all transcendent “objects” derived from an intrusive consciousness.
Copyright © 2005 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: December 22, 2005.
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