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Intelligent Design and Human Exceptionalism

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Does an understanding of humankind’s unique dignity and worth depend on religious arguments and religious faith? Our friend and colleague Wesley Smith forcefully argues no — and I agree with him. He makes the secular case for human exceptionalism in a concise podcast, “More Than in God’s Image,” based on a rational surveying of mankind’s gifts that distinguish us from all other known life.

Wesley, however, if I understand correctly, says mankind’s unique endowments argue for human exceptionalism whether they are the product of “blind evolution” or intelligent design. I’m not sure I agree with that. The question is always: What should we do with our gifts? What inference should we draw from them?

Here’s an analogy. Let’s say you know two very wealthy people. One came by his wealth via a lottery, a blind process, and he sees no purpose or intention behind it. It was the luck of the draw. The other, whether he inherited his wealth or came by it through enterprise, perceives it as a gift motivated by an underlying design. His fortune is not by the luck of the draw. It was given to him on purpose.

Both individuals are exceptionally wealthy. Which is likelier to use his money to advance good causes, to share it with others, to see himself as, in some sense, deputized to put his fortune to noble uses?

Another point: All of mankind’s unique gifts are functions of consciousness. They aren’t as evident when a person is unconscious or cognitively impaired. In an evolutionary scenario, perhaps human dignity is partially or wholly surrendered when the condition (consciousness) that makes us exceptional isn’t there.

On the other hand, against a backdrop of intelligent design, which is a scientific not religious argument for purpose behind nature, impaired cognition would not rob an individual of his profound significance. Even in the absence of religious understanding, the observation of design — that the universe was somehow prepared with our privileged species in mind — endows human life with a glow of intention that can’t be denied.

That would seem to be true whether we are conscious and in possession of all our faculties, or not. In short, I would say, design helps make the case for human dignity. Evolution doesn’t.

Image credit: Spacewalk Selfie, via NASA.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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