At Southern Methodist University in March 1992, scientists and philosophers gathered to examine the conceptual basis of Darwinian evolution. Titled Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference? this symposium became a landmark exchange between Phillip E. Johnson and Michael Ruse, as well as between respective supporters of intelligent design and Darwinian naturalism. Notably, it brought together for the first time Michael Behe, William Dembski, and Stephen Meyer, who in subsequent years became leading proponents of intelligent design. Matching papers and rebuttals, participants debated whether unguided material processes can explain life’s complexity and whether philosophical bias limits scientific openness to design. The proceedings, first published in 1994 as Darwinism: Science or Philosophy? marked the intellectual coalescence of what quickly would become the Intelligent Design movement. This 2026 republication restores the symposium’s original title and context, inviting readers to reconsider this pivotal moment in the modern dialogue over the nature and limits of science.
