(A) Explain the Concept of Irreducible Complexity.

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  • Explain the concept of Irreducible Complexity. (25)
    • Intelligent Design (Thomas Aquinas)
      • Claims that a supernatural power was responsible for the creation of the earth.
        • This was not necessarily God.
      • Differs from creationism, as it divorces these theories from the bible.
      • Life on earth is so complex that it could not have happened by chance, it must have had a designer.
      • Avoids any connection to scriptures in order to eliminate any chance that the theory has come from religious belief
    • Intelligent Design challenges Darwinism.
      • Regardless of Natural Selection, it is not enough to bring about such complex components of design.
      • Considers the idea of design outside of reproduction, Natural Selection cannot describe the complexity of all natural occurrences.
    • Behe's Irreducable Complexity
      • Challenges biological view of Evolution.
      • Everything is dependent on multiple complex factors - this couldn't happen by chance
        • Example of Flagella: 40 individual parts, each of which = unique. Unless they all evolved at the same time, system would be useless.
      • Doesn't exclusively prove designer.
    • Behe Mousetrap Theory
      • Standard mousetrap is made of five parts, if  any of these parts are taken away without sufficient replacement, the mousetrap will no longer work.
    • Introduction
      • Definition of Irreducible Complexity: a single system composed of several, well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function of the system, wherein the removal of any of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.
    • Conclusion
      • Sets out to explain design beyond Evolutionary processes e.g Natural Selection.
      • Arguable more convincing than other theories that oppose Evolution because of Behe's somewhat empirical evidence.

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