ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the issues raised in the intelligent design (ID) debate and briefly discusses a few problems that arise for both those who defend and those who challenge ID. It suggests that both sides share certain presuppositions about the character of religious and scientific propositions – and that it is the failure to understand how these propositions differ from one another that has hindered arriving at a resolution of the ID debate. The chapter explains what religious belief is, what makes a proposition or hypothesis a scientific hypothesis, and in what ways religious beliefs might be related to propositions expressing scientific hypotheses. It argues that an analysis of the presuppositions of the evolution versus intelligent Design debate reveals that to object to ID on the ground that it provides a religious hypothesis, or is religion disguised as science, or on similar grounds, is mistaken – that such accusations are a red herring.
