Different in degree or kind: more Denton: (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, February 21, 2016, 15:55 (2977 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Of course theistic evolution and Darwin theory are not compatible. Evolution appears the same in both but the driving forces are totally different.
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> dhw: You still haven't latched onto the fact that there are TWO driving forces: one that set the process in motion, and one that actually drives the process itself. Darwin does not deal with the one that set the process in motion. His theory allows for this to be your God. From then on, we are dealing with the second driving force, and I gave you various scenarios in which your God's mechanism fits in with the history of evolution.-Of course I know there are two parts to this. I'm not discussing the first part when I say that evolution will look alike either with Darwin chance or theistic guidance, but those two processes are totally different in driving force. For the original 'force' here must be planning and planning demands mentation. See my other entry today.
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> dhw: Unlike you, I do not claim to be able to read God's mind, but when I look at the products that exist now, and at the higgledy-piggledy history of life on Earth, any one of the above explanations seems to me to fit in perfectly with both teleological theism and evolutionary theory. -> DAVID: They fit perfectly because on the surface they both look exactly alike.
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> Thank you. Yes, evolution will look the same whether your God planned it all or set it up to run its own free course through random mutations or an autonomous inventive mechanism.... Therefore, since Darwin did not discount the existence of God as the prime mover, teleological theism and Darwinian evolution are compatible.-No! Darwin's mechanism is chance, theological evolution is mental planning, but they look the same! That Darwin accepted the possibility of God is beside the point. I'm looking at mechanism only.