Before design can be justifiably inferred, Josh argues, one must eliminate everything in (4), (5) and (6), below:
Thought experiment.
Question: what is the best explanation for the cause of this text? – i.e., the sentences you are reading right now.
Hypothesis: there exists an unknown natural cause, somewhere in (4), (5) and (6), other than the agent “Paul Nelson,” which produces English text about the epistemology of design inferences.
Dilemma: we cannot infer that the agent “Paul Nelson” wrote this text until we refute that unknown natural cause.
Therefore, the inference “Paul Nelson wrote this message” is invalid.
Hm. Something seems amiss.
Timely worry, Josh – I am writing a four-part series for ENV, “Trapped in the Naturalistic Parabola,” dealing with this very issue. First part should be up later today.