{"id":94554,"date":"2022-03-18T09:59:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T15:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=94554"},"modified":"2022-03-19T21:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T03:16:07","slug":"some-thoughts-on-explanations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html","title":{"rendered":"Some thoughts on “explanations”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Very<\/a>
Very near downtown St. George, in a Wikimedia Commons public domain photo by Murray Foubister<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley and earning his doctorate at Caltech (the California Institute of Technology), he went on to post-doctoral work and then to a research scientist position, both at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be extracting some notes from his book Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed<\/em> (New York: HarperCollins, 2016):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, he cites a Wall Street Journal<\/em> article by the Berkeley psychology professor Alison Gopnik:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy elementary-school age,\u201d she wrote, \u201cchildren start to invoke an ultimate God-like designer to explain the complexity of the world around them \u2014 even children brought up as atheists.\u201d \u00a0In fact, Deborah Kelemen, a psychology professor at Boston University, found that even highly trained scientists are unable to fully rid themselves of the innate impression that there is purpose underlying the living world. \u00a0According to her, \u201cEven though advanced scientific training can reduce acceptance of scientifically inaccurate teleological explanations, it cannot erase a tenacious early-emerging human tendency to find purpose in nature.\u201d \u00a0(19)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

How horrible!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of the anthropologist Stewart Elliott Guthrie\u2019s 1993 book\u00a0Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion<\/span><\/em>, in which he argued that religion is a \u201csystematic anthropomorphism\u201d because our evolutionary development encouraged us to be quick at detecting \u201cagents\u201d \u2014 e.g., predators \u2014\u00a0for the sake of survival and avoiding danger. \u00a0That\u2019s why we can so easily see \u201cfaces\u201d in clouds and other random patterns. \u00a0If a tiger was lurking in the grass, those who could pick its face out quickly had better chances of living through the day. \u00a0So we impute agency, personality, and purpose to nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are, of course, at least two diametrically opposed ways of viewing this sort of thing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One way is to regard religion as reflecting the hypertrophy of what was once, but presumably is no longer, an evolved attribute that conferred survival advantage (and, thus, reproductive advantage). \u00a0It\u2019s something that, since we\u2019re no longer primitive hunters and gatherers, we should now try to outgrow. \u00a0(One advocate of that view regularly comments here on this blog.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another way is to regard theism as the natural tendency of a normally functioning human intelligence \u2014 and to see this as a good thing, perhaps even divinely bestowed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One loser in this regard, as in others, is poor Sigmund Freud, who insisted that religion is not only an \u201cillusion\u201d but a disease, a \u201ccollective neurosis.\u201d \u00a0(Evidence that religious belief and affiliation are actually, literally, healthy has been accumulating for years, and Freud\u2019s notions haven\u2019t stood the test of time very well.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But back to Douglas Axe, who quotes the first-century Greek historian Plutarch (from an essay titled Fortune<\/em> [aka \u201cChance\u201d] as expressing an intuitive sense of design in nature:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But can it be that those things which are most important and most essential for happiness do not call for intelligence, nor have any part in the processes of reason and forethought? \u00a0Nobody wets clay with water and leaves it, assuming that by chance and accidentally there will be bricks, nor after providing himself with wool and leather does he sit down with a prayer to Chance that they turn into a cloak and shoes for him. \u00a0(22)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A passage from Keith Ward<\/span><\/a>, Why There Almost Certainly Is a God: Doubting Dawkins<\/i> (Oxford: Lion, 2008), 22-23:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[T]he existence of conscious minds introduces a new form of non-scientific explanations for why things happen as they do. \u00a0Scientific explanation, in general, works by referring to some initial state (a \u2019cause\u2019) and a general mathematically describable law. \u00a0That law predicts what regularly follows from the initial state, and it does so without any reference to purpose, value or consciousness.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But there is another sort of explanation. \u00a0The Oxford philosopher Richard Swinburne (Dawkins wrongly calls him a theologian, probably because he disagrees with him so much) calls it \u2018personal explanation\u2019. \u00a0It only comes into effect when persons, or conscious minds, exist. \u00a0Then it explains some of the things that persons do in terms of knowledge, desire, intention and enjoyment.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to explain how it is that I am writing these words, you could do so by showing that I am aware of some possible future states (I can stay in bed, have a coffee, or write these words), I evaluate one of them as desirable (I want to finish this book), I set in motion a causal process to bring about what I desire (I get out of bed), and finally I enjoy what I am doing, because it is what I wanted and desired to do.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is personal explanation. \u00a0It is a perfectly satisfactory form of explanation, and it does not seem to be reducible to scientific explanation. \u00a0If it is, no one has yet plausibly suggested any idea of how to reduce it. \u00a0How can my talk of knowledge, desires, intentions and awareness translate into statements of physics that only refer to physical states and general laws of their behaviour?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I conclude, like most philosophers, that if conscious knowledge, desire, intention and enjoyment exist, then personal explanation is a sort of explanation that we need, one that is truly explanatory, that is quite different from scientific (purely physical) explanation, and that is not reducible to or translatable into scientific explanation.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not think Dawkins agrees with this. \u00a0I was flattered to find myself mentioned in his book, but puzzled when he said, \u2018Like Swinburne, Ward mistakes what it means to explain something.\u2019 \u00a0However, Swinburne and I are not making a mistake. \u00a0We are claiming that there is more than one sort of explanation for why things happen as they do. \u00a0Scientific explanation in terms of physical causes and general laws is one sort of explanation. \u00a0Personal explanation in terms of desires and intentions is another.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Huston Smith,\u00a0Beyond the Post-Modern Mind<\/em>, rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1989), 118:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To set out to reverse the metaphysical momentum of the last four hundred years might seem a task so difficult as to be daunting, but there is another way to look at the matter. \u00a0Here, surely, is something worth doing, a project to elicit the best that is within us, including resources we might not know we possess; so even if we fail in the attempt we shall do so knowing the joy that comes from noble doings. \u00a0To get the project underway we must advance into enemy territory \u2014 we shall find it to be a contemporary form of what Plato called \u201cupside down existence\u201d \u2014 and to do this we must cross a no-man\u2019s-land of methodology, \u201cno-man\u2019s\u201d being precise here because if either side were to capture it the victory would be theirs. . . .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a university setting, any move to reinstate the enchanted garden can expect to be met by the question, \u201cHow do you know it is enchanted?\u201d \u00a0If we answer that we experience it so, that we find ourselves ravished by its mystery and washed by its beauty and presences \u2014 not always, of course, but enough to sustain conviction \u2014 we shall be told that this is not to know, it is merely to feel. . . .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This positivistic definition of knowledge, Smith writes, shows a<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

willingness to dignify as knowledge only such kinds as hold the promise of augmenting our power to control, [and thus] rules out the very possibility of knowing things that might be superior to us, it being possible to control only subordinates or at most equals; in a word, it rules out the possibility of knowing transcendence.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith quotes the late great Caltech theoretical physicist Richard Feynman as saying in his 1965 Nobel Prize lecture that \u201ca very great deal more truth can become known than can be proven.\u201d \u00a0(119)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith suggests that the watchword of the humanities ought to be \u201cNot to prove, but to discover.\u201d \u00a0(119)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from St. George, Utah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 *** \u00a0 Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley and earning his doctorate at Caltech (the California Institute of Technology), he went on to post-doctoral work and then to a research scientist position, both at the University of Cambridge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9409,551,28562,1053,6234,120,572,16193,16403,18125,16406,8705,2601,240,123,180,18532,16205,27938,16424,28559],"class_list":["post-94554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-appearance-of-design","tag-argument-from-design","tag-beyond-the-postmodern-mind","tag-biology","tag-cosmic-design","tag-design","tag-design-argument","tag-design-inference","tag-designed","tag-designer","tag-douglas-axe","tag-feynman","tag-god","tag-huston-smith","tag-intelligent-design","tag-keith-ward","tag-richard-feynman","tag-richard-swinburne","tag-undeniable","tag-universal-design-intuition","tag-why-there-almost-certainly-is-a-god"],"yoast_head":"\nSome thoughts on "explanations"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Some thoughts on "explanations"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-18T15:59:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-20T03:16:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/08\/Fiery_Sandstone-2.jpg_11226288466.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html\",\"name\":\"Some thoughts on \\\"explanations\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-18T15:59:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-20T03:16:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Some thoughts on “explanations”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Some thoughts on \"explanations\"","description":"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Some thoughts on \"explanations\"","og_description":"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2022-03-18T15:59:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-20T03:16:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/08\/Fiery_Sandstone-2.jpg_11226288466.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html","name":"Some thoughts on \"explanations\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-03-18T15:59:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-20T03:16:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    ***   Douglas Axe received superb training in engineering and molecular biology. \u00a0After completing undergraduate work at the University","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/03\/some-thoughts-on-explanations.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Some thoughts on “explanations”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}