List Price: $64.00
Save: $27.57 (43%)

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by OUR SHOPS ONLINE and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item does not ship to France. Please check other sellers who may ship internationally. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$17.48

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Bound1ess

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$36.61
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence Hardcover – December 18, 2001

by William A. Dembski (Author)

29 customer reviews

See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$36.43

$10.37

Paperback

"Please retry"

$38.00

$34.00

$14.53

There is a newer edition of this item:

No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence
$38.00
(29)
In Stock.

Darwin's greatest accomplishment was to show how life might be explained as the result of natural selection. But does Darwin's theory mean that life was unintended? William A. Dembski argues that it does not. In this book Dembski extends his theory of intelligent design. Building on his earlier work in The Design Inference (Cambridge, 1998), he defends that life must be the product of intelligent design. Critics of Dembski's work have argued that evolutionary algorithms show that life can be explained apart from intelligence. But by employing powerful recent results from the No Free Lunch Theory, Dembski addresses and decisively refutes such claims. As the leading proponent of intelligent design, Dembski reveals a designer capable of originating the complexity and specificity found throughout the cosmos. Scientists and theologians alike will find this book of interest as it brings the question of creation firmly into the realm of scientific debate.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

William A. Dembski

38

Paperback
$36.57
William A. Dembski

79

Paperback
$13.66
Michael Behe

44

Paperback
$12.66
Stephen C. Meyer

644

Paperback
$17.57
Michael Denton

58

Paperback
$24.95
Michael J. Behe

186

Paperback
$14.29

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

William A. Dembski

12

Hardcover
$45.01
Richard Weikart

27

Hardcover
$9.72

Editorial Reviews

Review

In No Free Lunch, William Dembski gives the most profound challenge to the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution since this theory was first formulated in the 1930s. I differ from Dembski on some points, mainly in ways which strengthen his conclusion. (Frank J. Tipler, professor of mathematical physics, Tulane University; coauthor of The Anthropic Cosmological Principle; and author of The Physic)

In this book, William Dembski takes his statistical work on inferring design and translates it into an information-theoretic apparatus relevant to understanding biological fitness. In doing so, he has brought his argument for intelligent design into a domain that overlaps current work in evolutionary biology. As I see it, this is a landmark for intelligent design theory because, for the first time, it makes it possible to objectively evaluate the claims of evolutionary biology and intelligent design on common ground. (Martin Poenie, associate professor of biology, University of Texas at Austin)

Dembski lays the foundations for a research project aimed at answering one of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time: What is the maximal specified complexity that can be reasonably expected to emerge (in a given time frame) with and without various design assumptions? (Moshe Koppel, professor of mathematics, Bar-llan University, Israel)

This sequel to The Design Inference further enhances the credibility of Intelligent Design as a sound research program. Through solid historical and philosophical arguments, Dembski succeeds in showing how specified complexity reliably detects design. His critique of Darwinian and other naturalistic accounts of evolution is built on a set of powerful and lucid arguments; his formulation of an alternative to these accounts is simply compelling. (Muzaffar Iqbal, author of Islam and Science and founder-president of the Center for Islam and Science (CIS))

The valid philosophical arguments and historical examples make the study really agreeable to a large audience. (Auss)

I disagree strongly with the position taken by William Dembski. But I do think that he argues strongly and that those of us who do not accept his conclusions should read his book and form our own opinions and counterarguments. He should not be ignored. (Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University)

No Free Lunch is written for scholars and is filled with equations and careful technical definitions. Much of the text, however, is accessible for a broad audience and the book should prove useful to anyone wishing to explore the degree to which intelligent design can be formulated in a mathematically rigorous way. (Research News and Opportunities In Science and Theology)

One of the best books available about ID. (Journal of Scientific Exploration)

About the Author

William A. Dembski is associate research professor in the conceptual foundations of science at Baylor University and senior fellow with Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture in Seattle.

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 1st Edition edition (December 18, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780742512979
ISBN-13: 978-0742512979
ASIN: 0742512975
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 1.4 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 29 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #475 in Books > Science & Math > Evolution > Organic
- #1104 in Books > Science & Math > Reference
- #3221 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Science & Religion

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 29 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

J. G. Lewis

W. Dembski's Lead Critique, for the layman, of Evolutionary Theory and Naturalism

January 12, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is Dr. William Dembski's main critique, at least to date (2015). His monograph of the late 1990s "The Design Inference", is quite mathematical and not for laymen really. And his late 1990's book "Intelligent Design" is a mere compilation of his essays, which though good, are not integrated into a full book length argument. This book however, "No Free Lunch", is.

The entirety of the Intelligent Design movement sees its impetus in a late 1980s with a book by the Australian Dr. Michael Denton, being, "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis". Perhaps intended as a extreme critiquing of Evolutionary Theory, a work of the spirit so to speak, that book has become very influential, and has lead to numerous followers in its wake. On the mathematical side on the argument -- which perhaps is the key challenge -- is William Dembski. I find that though he argues well, he does lack the penchant philosophers have in, if you will, clearly presenting their ideas and arguments. Dembski is too mathematically based, that is. Yes, mathematical analysis is of primary importance here, but it was unnecessary of him to get so complex: the basic ideas against Evolutionary Theory, in this arena, are relatively simple in the end.

I believe the onus is more so on the side of the Evolutionists to prove that this Conjecture of theirs, Universal Common Descent (U. C. D.) is possible. Merely because many of the naturalistic biologists/geologists/physicists have 'pulled the wool over the eyes of the world public', for 150 years, does not cancel the need for proof.

One might say that Dembski could offer counter proof: he could calculate and demonstrate that U. C. D. is impossible or very nearly so. And this is largely what he attempts to do here (and in the "Design Inference"), besides also casting the broad framework for the argument against Darwinian Theory, from a mathematical-cum-philosophical perspective. And though he may not be excellent at the latter, he is yet very good at it. But it in the arena of the former, the negative proof, this is where I found Dembski unduly complex, unclear and therefore not wholly convincing, I found his argument somewhat suspect, in this regards, therefore -- even though probable -- and is the reason I have lowered the book to four stars from five.

However, I wonder whether it is necessary to demonstrate this negative proof: Darwinian theory could be defeated by other, however related, means. Nonetheless, he tries, and this is where I disagree with Dr. Dembski on two grounds: (1) The attempt at negative proof is quite complex, perhaps overly so, and not completely convincing; and (2) It is dubiously necessary, anyway, when the burden of proof should be on the postulators of a theory, not the critics of it.

Therefore though I found Dr. Dembski to be correct on many issues, and to have generally framed his broad argument accurately, I believe this work could be improved. Additionally, Dr. Dembski overlooks other arenas and lines of argument. Be that as it may, as he was attempting to reveal the mathematical side of Intelligent Design, and he was broadly successful at this, even if his detail work is not on target. ... This is an important book for the movement, and deserves to be in the library of any follower thereof, as does his initial theoretical work in the 1990s, "The Design Inference".

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Dave Hershiser

... written book about the state and direction of the intelligent design movement

January 30, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very well written book about the state and direction of the intelligent design movement. A bit heavy going through the middle of the book on the probability and statistical aspects of the movement, but the beginning and end chapters are very enlightening.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Barry Krusch

Well Done and Detailed

February 14, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I judge the quality of a book by how many index entries I give it, in this video, I provide screen captures of my index. Anything over a page is an excellent book, this gets a page and a half of index entries. The video also discusses the Dawkins Challenge, a thought experiment related to the origin of life emerging from the discipline of intelligent design that so far has not been addressed by those of the atheist persuasion.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Allen

Unreal how well written this book is

June 7, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Whether you are for or against Intelligent Design, this author, like Steven Meyer (hope I spelled his name right) is an accomplished thinker. I am an ID proponent and I like to see what ID advocates say about this subject. I really appreciate the way this author picks apart other scientists' "evidence" and how he critiques their thoughts. He has a firm grasp on philosophy- the Art and Science of thinking- whereby he exposes the actual definitions of words and phrases his opponents use to attempt to defeat his thinking. This author, as can be inferred, is very tired of seeing so many "brights/brites" refuse to come clean and speak plainly about the truths that empirical science can actual divulge. Wrapped in so many arguments of so many "brights" is the hatred of the Judaeo/Christian God. That hatred clouds their thinking and they know it. This author exposes this hatred, this unreasonable bias against ID and challenges that underlying bias: prejudice really. He would like for all of his colleagues to fully recognize the validity of ID as a research tool to better seek and find the truth about our existence. ID, as he and others in this field explain, does not state that a God or gods must exist to explain the world, information, information's source, or existence. ID simply acknowledges the existence of design and a designing intelligence. The rest -metaphysics- is handled by another science: theology. MY definition of science: a field of knowledge. I, like the author, refuse the reductive way of thinking that so many "brights" choose. I encourage you readers to be prepared to question what you believe and to question how you think when reading this book. It is challenging for 1 simple fact: philosophy is the science of thinking and of using words correctly, which presupposes one uses the English language correctly, which presupposes one is actually Seeking the Truth!!! This author is seeking the truth! Join him or not, he will continue to pursue the truth wherever it leads. This book is an excellent critique of not only Darwinism, ID and mathematics, but also, of how to think within and about these subjects and how they can actually complement each other.

Comment

June 15, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

5stars

Comment

January 17, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Interesting concept.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence

Set up a giveaway

Buy New

$36.43

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser