Michael John Denton
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| Born | (1943-08-25) August 25, 1943 (age 80) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | King's College London |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine, biochemistry |
Michael John Denton (born 25 August 1943) is a British proponent of intelligent design and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He holds a PhD degree in biochemistry. Denton's book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, inspired intelligent design proponents Phillip Johnson and Michael Behe.[1]
Denton gained a medical degree from Bristol University in 1969 and a PhD in biochemistry from King's College London in 1974. He was a senior research fellow in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand from 1990 to 2005. He later became a scientific researcher in the field of genetic eye diseases. He has spoken worldwide on genetics, evolution and the anthropic argument for design. Denton's current interests include defending the "anti-Darwinian evolutionary position" and the design hypothesis formulated in his book Nature’s Destiny.[2] Denton described himself as an agnostic.[3][4][5] He is currently a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture.
In 1985 Denton wrote the book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, presenting a systematic critique of neo-Darwinism ranging from paleontology, fossils, homology, molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry, and argued that evidence of design exists in nature. Some book reviews criticized his arguments.[6] He describes himself as an evolutionist and he has rejected biblical creationism.[7] The book influenced Phillip E. Johnson, the father of intelligent design, Michael Behe, a proponent of irreducible complexity,[8] and George Gilder, co-founder of the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement.[9] Since writing the book Denton has changed many of his views on evolution; however, he still believes that the existence of life is a matter of design.[10]
Denton still accepts design and embraces a non-Darwinian evolutionary theory. He denies that randomness accounts for the biologyoforganisms; he has proposed an evolutionary theory which is a "directed evolution" in his book Nature's Destiny (1998). Life, according to Denton, did not exist until the initial conditions of the universe were fine-tuned (see Fine-tuned universe).[11] Denton was influenced by Lawrence Joseph Henderson (1878-1942), Paul Davies and John D. Barrow who argued for an anthropic principle in the cosmos (Denton 1998, v, Denton 2005). His second book Nature's Destiny (1998)[12] is his biological contribution to the anthropic principle debate, dominated by physicists. He argues for a law-like evolutionary unfolding of life.[13]
Michael Denton, an agnostic, argues for intelligent design in Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, 326–43.
Michael Denton, Darwin and Intelligent Design In contrast to the other would-be pioneers of intelligent design, Denton describes himself as an agnostic, and his book was released by a secular publishing house.
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