William A. Dembski

William A. Dembski
Lahir	18 Juli 1960 Chicago, Illinois
Pendidikan	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Postdoctoral work in mathematics), University of Illinois at Chicago (B.A., M.S., PhD), Princeton University (postdoctoral work in computer science), University of Chicago (M.S., PhD, postdoctoral work in physics), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.)
Pekerjaan	full-time Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture
Tempat kerja	Discovery Institute
Organisasi	Discovery Institute
Dikenal atas	Intelligent design, specified complexity
Karya terkenal	The Design Inference
Suami/istri	Jana L. Dembski
Orang tua	William J. Dembski and Ursula Dembski
Situs web	DesignInference.com

William Albert "Bill" Dembski (lahir 18 Juli 1960) adalah seorang ahli matematika, filsuf dan teolog yang berasal dari Amerika Serikat. Ia adalah pendukung intelligent design (ID; "Perancangan cerdas"), khususnya konsep mengenai specified complexity. Sejak tahun 2003 ia menjabat sebagai "senior fellow" pada Discovery Institute divisi Center for Science and Culture (CSC). In 2012, he taught as the Phillip E. Johnson Research Professor of Science and Culture at the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Matthews, North Carolina near Charlotte.

Dembski telah menulis buku-buku mengenai intelligent design, termasuk The Design Inference (1998), Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology (1999), The Design Revolution (2004), The End of Christianity (2009), and Intelligent Design Uncensored (2010).

Biografi

Dembski dilahirkan di Chicago, Illinois, anak tunggal dari keluarga Katolik, ibunya seorang art dealer dan ayahnya adalah profesor kolese. Ayahnya menyandang gelar D.Sc. dalam bidang biologi dari University of Erlangen-Nuremberg dan mengajarkan biologi evolusionari; ketika bertumbuh Dembski tidaklah sangat beragama maupun mempertanyakan teori evolusi. Ia masuk sekolah persiapan Katolik yang semua muridnya laki-laki di Chicago. Dembski lulus sekolah menengah satu tahun lebih awal, dengan nilai tinggi pada matematika dan menyelesaikan pelajaran kalkulus dalam satu musim panas saja. Setelah itu ia masuk University of Chicago. Pada Princeton Theological Seminary, Dembski bertemu calon istrinya, Jana. Tidak puas dengan apa yang disebutnya "free-swinging academic style" sekolah itu, Dembski juga terlibat dalam suatu kelompok yang dikenal sebagai "Charles Hodge Society". Berdasarkan karya pemikir abad ke-19 Charles Hodge, kelompok ini memusatkan diri untuk menguatkan iman para murid yang menurut kelompok ini menghadapi "theological disarray" zaman ini, dan untuk memberi teladan bagaimana melawan "ide-ide yang salah dan merusak." Kelompok ini menerbitkan sebuah jurnal (suatu rekreasi dari Princeton Theological Review (1903–1929)) dan mendapat oposisi berat di kampus, menghadapi dua tuntutan hukum, ancaman kekerasan, tuduhan rasial dan seksis' ditolak pendanaannya; dan mendapat kabar bahwa keanggotaan kelompok "mengorbankan kemajuan akademik mereka."

Dembski dan Jana mempunyai seorang putri dan dua putra. Salah seorang putranya menderita Autisme dan Dembski berpendapat sebagian masalah putranya itu diakibatkan oleh vaksin.

Kode Alkitab

Dembski mengindikasikan ketertarikan pada kode Alkitab. Dalam tinjauannya yang mendukung buku karya Jeffrey Satinover Cracking the Bible Code (1997), Dembski menulis bahwa "Filsuf Bertrand Russell pernah suatu kali ditanya mengapa ia tidak percaya kepada Allah. Ia menjawab, 'Tidak cukup bukti.' Ketertarikan Satinover dengan kode Alkitab adalah supaya mendapatkan bukti keberadaan Allah yang bahkan akan meyakinkan seorang Bertrand Russell."

Tanggapan terhadap kritik

Dembski menayangkan materi pada Internet untuk open peer review. Ini membantu mengidentifikasi kesalahan dan menjawab keberatan-keberatan sebelum diterbitkan, membuatnya memiliki "kata terakhir dalam pertukaran pendapat." Dembski's style in response to his critics (particularly of his mathematical papers) is polemical.

Publikasi

Buku

Pengarang tunggal

• Dembski, William A. (1988). Chaos, Uniform Probability, and Weak Convergence (Thesis (PhD)). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, Department of Mathematics. LCCN 94629367. OCLC 31515673. 
• —— (1998). The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62387-1. LCCN 98003020. OCLC 38551103. 
• —— (1999). Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1581-3. LCCN 99037141. OCLC 41628252. 
• —— (2002). No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-1297-5. LCCN 2001031791. OCLC 46858256. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• —— (2004). The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design. Foreword by Charles W. Colson. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-3216-5. LCCN 2003020589. OCLC 53058980. 
• —— (2009). The End of Christianity: Finding a Good God in an Evil World. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8054-2743-1. LCCN 2010280674. OCLC 311762223. 

Co-author

• Dembski, William A.; Wells, Jonathan (2008). How to be an Intellectually Fulfilled Atheist (or not) (edisi ke-1st). Wilmington, DE: ISI Books. ISBN 978-1-933-85984-2. LCCN 2008934995. OCLC 232128215. 
• ——; —— (2008). Dembski, William A., ed. The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems. Dallas: Foundation for Thought and Ethics. ISBN 978-0-9800213-0-1. LCCN 2009281462. OCLC 183624199. 
• ——; McDowell, Sean (2008). Understanding Intelligent Design: Everything You Need to Know in Plain Language. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7369-2442-9. LCCN 2008014216. OCLC 222249640. 
• ——; Witt, Jonathan (2010). Intelligent Design Uncensored: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to the Controversy. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. ISBN 978-0-8308-3742-7. LCCN 2010000917. OCLC 460060932. 

Sebagai editor atau kontributor

• Dembski, William A., ed. (1998). Mere Creation: Science, Faith & Intelligent Design. Foreword by Henry F. Schaefer, III. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1515-5. LCCN 98020999. OCLC 38959771. 
• Amos, Gary; Gardiner, Richard (1998). Dembski, William A., ed. Never Before in History: America's Inspired Birth. Pandas Publications. Foreword by Thomas G. West. Dallas, TX: Haughton Publishing Company. ISBN 0-914513-51-6. LCCN 98072936. OCLC 41105490. 
• Cole, Deborah D.; Duran, Maureen Gallagher (1998). Dembski, William A., ed. Sex and Character. Pandas Publications. Foreword by Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., MD. Dallas, TX: Haughton Publishing Company. ISBN 0-914513-50-8. LCCN 98072932. OCLC 41068752. 
• Behe, Michael J.; Dembski, William A.; Meyer, Stephen C. (2000). Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe: Papers Presented at a Conference Sponsored by the Wethersfield Institute, New York City, September 25, 1999. Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute. 9. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press. ISBN 0-89870-809-5. LCCN 00102374. OCLC 45720008. 
• Dembski, William A.; Kushiner, James M., ed. (2001). Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press. ISBN 1-58743-004-5. LCCN 00067612. OCLC 45499842. 
• ——; Richards, Jay Wesley, ed. (2001). Unapologetic Apologetics: Meeting the Challenges of Theological Studies. Foreword by Phillip E. Johnson. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1563-5. LCCN 00047173. OCLC 45136696. 
• Richards, Jay W., ed. (2002). Are We Spiritual Machines?: Ray Kurzweil vs. the Critics of Strong A.I. Contributions by George Gilder, Ray Kurzweil, John Searle, William Dembski, Michael Denton, and Thomas S. Ray (edisi ke-1st). Seattle, WA: Discovery Institute Press. ISBN 0-9638654-3-9. LCCN 2002101330. OCLC 59273082. 
• Wiker, Benjamin (2002). Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists. Foreword by William A. Dembski. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-2666-1. LCCN 2002004052. OCLC 49383607. 
• Dembski, William A.; Ruse, Michael, ed. (2004). Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82949-6. LCCN 2004047363. OCLC 54826160.  "Papers from a conference, entitled Design and its Critics, held at Concordia University, Mequon, Wis., June 22–24, 2000."
• Dembski, William A., ed. (2004). Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing. Foreword by John Wilson. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books. ISBN 1-9322-3631-7. LCCN 2004102726. OCLC 55653649. 
• Simmons, Geoffrey (2004). What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution. Foreword by William Dembski. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers. ISBN 0-7369-1313-0. LCCN 2003015099. OCLC 52621437. 
• Dembski, William A., ed. (2006). Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement. Foreword by Rick Santorum. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. ISBN 978-0-8308-2836-4. LCCN 2005033144. OCLC 62330745. 
• Flannery, Michael A. (2008). Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Intelligent Evolution: How Wallace's World of Life Challenged Darwinism: With an Abridged Version of The World of Life. Edited, with an introduction by Michael A. Flannery; foreword by William A. Dembski. Riesel, TX: Erasmus Press. ISBN 978-0-9815204-1-4. LCCN 2009921870. OCLC 340792516. 
• Dembski, William A.; Downs, Wayne J.; Frederick, Justin B. A., ed. (2008). The Patristic Understanding of Creation: An Anthology of Writings from the Church Fathers on Creation and Design. Riesel, TX: Erasmus Press. ISBN 978-0-981-52040-7. LCCN 2008930284. OCLC 233055054. 
• ——; Schirrmacher, Thomas, ed. (2008). Tough-minded Christianity: Honoring the Legacy of John Warwick Montgomery. Foreword by Paige Patterson. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8054-4783-5. LCCN 2009282507. OCLC 233935324. 
• ——; Licona, Michael R., ed. (2010). Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Science. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. ISBN 978-0-8010-7260-4. LCCN 2010005990. 
• Gordon, Bruce L.; Dembski, William A., ed. (2011). The Nature of Nature: Examining the Role of Naturalism in Science. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books. ISBN 978-1-935-19128-5. LCCN 2010031418. OCLC 326569291. 

Pustaka

• Allen, David L. (February 2010). A Reply to Tom Nettles' Review of William A. Dembski's The End of Christianity: Finding a Good God in an Evil World (PDF) (White paper). Preamble by Paige Patterson. Fort Worth, TX: The Center for Theological Research; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. OCLC 525171820. 
• Coulter, Ann H. (2007) [Originally published 2006; New York: Crown Forum]. Godless: The Church of Liberalism (edisi ke-1st pbk.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-1-4000-5421-3. LCCN 2007280683. OCLC 148652646. 
• Dembski, William A. (1991). "Randomness by Design" (PDF). Noûs. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. 25 (1): 75–106. ISSN 0029-4624. Diakses tanggal August 11, 2010. 
• Dembski, William A. (1995). "What Every Theologian Should Know about Creation, Evolution and Design". The Princeton Theological Review. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2 (3): 15–21. ISSN 1945-4813. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Dembski, William A.; Marks II, Robert J. (September 2009). "Conservation of Information in Search: Measuring the Cost of Success" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics—Part A: Systems and Humans. New York: IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. 39 (5): 1051–1061. doi:10.1109/TSMCA.2009.2025027. ISSN 1083-4427. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Dembski, William A.; Marks II, Robert J. (October 11–14, 2009). Bernoulli's Principle of Insufficient Reason and Conservation of Information in Computer Search (PDF). Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. San Antonio, TX: IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. hlm. 2647–2652. doi:10.1109/ICSMC.2009.5346119. ISBN 978-1-4244-2794-9. ISSN 1062-922X. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Ewert, Winston; Dembski, William A.; Marks II, Robert J. (October 11–14, 2009). Evolutionary Synthesis of Nand Logic: Dissecting a Digital Organism (PDF). Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. San Antonio, TX: IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. hlm. 3047–3053. doi:10.1109/ICSMC.2009.5345941. ISBN 978-1-4244-2794-9. ISSN 1062-922X. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Ewert, Winston; Montañez, George; Dembski, William A.; Marks II, Robert J. (March 7–9, 2010). Efficient Per Query Information Extraction from a Hamming Oracle (PDF). 2010 42nd Southeastern Symposium on System Theory. University of Texas at Tyler: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. hlm. 290–297. doi:10.1109/SSST.2010.5442816. ISBN 978-1-4244-5690-1. ISSN 0094-2898. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Forrest, Barbara (2001). "The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream". Dalam Pennock, Robert T. Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-66124-1. LCCN 2001031276. OCLC 46729201. Diakses tanggal January 10, 2014. 
• Forrest, Barbara; Gross, Paul R. (2004). Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515742-7. LCCN 2002192677. OCLC 50913078. 
• Young, Matt; Edis, Taner, ed. (2004). Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3433-X. LCCN 2003020100. OCLC 59717533. 

Pustaka tambahan

Stewart, Robert B., ed. (2007). Intelligent Design: William A. Dembski & Michael Ruse in Dialogue. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-800-66218-9. LCCN 2007027505. OCLC 148895223. 

Pranala luar

Official

• DesignInference.com – Dembski's website (with articles)
• William A. Dembski biography from the Discovery Institute
• Uncommon Descent – Dembski cofounded this blog
• The Evolutionary Informatics Lab – Dembski cofounded this lab with Robert J. Marks II

Reviews/Analysis of Dembski

• "The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities" – a book review by William Lane Craig
• "How Not to Detect Design--- A Review of William Dembski's The Design Inference" (PDF) – a book review by Branden Fitelson, Christopher Stephens, and Elliott Sober in Philosophy of Science (1999) 66: 472–488
• "Intelligent Design and Mathematical Statistics: A Troubled Alliance" (PDF) by Peter Olofsson in Biology and Philosophy (2008) 23 (4): 545–553
• "Probability, Statistics, Evolution, and Intelligent Design" (PDF) by Peter Olofsson in Chance (2008) 21 (3): 42–45
• "William A. Dembski: No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence" di www.bostonreview.net (diarsipkan tanggal 20031229033705) – a book review by H. Allen Orr in Boston Review (Summer 2002) 27 (3–4)
• "A Free Lunch in a Mousetrap" by Mark Perakh
• "Dembski's mathematical achievements" by Jeffrey Shallit posted at The Panda's Thumb blog, May 12, 2004
• "No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot be Purchased Without Intelligence, William Dembski, Rowman and Littlefield, 2002" (PDF) – a book review by Jeffrey Shallit in BioSystems (June–July 2002) 66 (1–2): 93–99
• "An 'introduction', in-depth" – a book review by Lael Weinberger in Journal of Creation (April 2009) 23 (1): 25–29
• "The advantages of theft over toil: the design inference and arguing from ignorance" by John S. Wilkins and Wesley R. Elsberry. An unedited version of a paper published in Biology and Philosophy 16 (November 2001):711–724
• "The Design Inference from Specified Complexity Defended by Scholars Outside the Intelligent Design Movement" by Peter S. Williams at the Evangelical Philosophical Society

Biographical Information

• William A. Dembski di Mathematics Genealogy Project: Chaos, Uniform Probability, and Weak Convergence (1988), PhD dissertation, University of Chicago