Re: galactic formation

Steve Clark (ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Thu, 15 Aug 1996 20:14:37 -0500

>
>To my mind, Loren's delightfully challenging post boils down to the
>following question:
>
> If galaxies were not naturally caused, how would we know?
>
>
>(Yes, "naturally caused" begs all kinds of questions for many members
>of this list. But just throw those begged questions into a desk drawer
>for a couple of hours, and ask yourself: if galaxies were not naturally
>caused, how would we know?)
>
>Paul Nelson
>University of Chicago

Perhaps these questions could be restated as this: How could one
distinguish between a supernatural vs nonsupernatural cause?

Or to really confound the issue, how might one distinguish between galaxies
caused by a supernatural designer employing naturalistic means vs galaxies
caused by a designer who did not use naturalistic mechanisms vs natural
causes operating in the absence of a designer?

Enjoy!

Steve
__________________________________________________________________________
Steven S. Clark, Ph.D. Phone: (608) 263-9137
Associate Professor FAX: (608) 263-4226
Dept. of Human Oncology and email: ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu
UW Comprehensive Cancer Ctr
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53792

"Philosophers consistently see the method of science before their eyes,
and are irresistibly tempted to ask and answer questions in the way science
does. This tendency...leads the philosopher into complete darkness."
Ludwig Wittgestein, The Blue Book, 1933
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