Science and Its Limits

I've been reading "Science & Its Limits" by Del Ratzsch and I've finally gotten to the chapter on Intelligent Design. So far it has been quite a page turner and has pushed my understanding of philosophy and science to its limits. I'm no philosopher, so I admit that my eyes glazed over at times but Ratzsch has a knack for bringing me back into the conversation using good summaries and explanations.

While I'm not a strict believer in Intelligent Design per se, i.e. I believe in a specific Creator who makes moral and personal demands of His creation, I find the discussion very stimulating. If it is possible for us to recognize something as designed but cannot identify the designer, why could that designer not be supernatural? Science is willing to accept possible alien agency while at the same time barring the possiblity of supernatural agency. It seems to me to be a problem of fear and pride - fear that once opened, the supernatural pandora's box would wipe science clean because science would be admitting that at any moment the laws of nature could be set aside by supernatural beings - and pride because all of the knowledge science claims as her own to possess and discover would in fact belong to someone else.

What do you think? Is Intelligent Design a viable philosophy? Leave your comments below. (This article is reposted from Theology Monger - mainly because I'm too busy to write new stuff.)