On Wednesday, 20 November 2024, AMI hosted an engaging and thought-provoking research seminar led by Jamie Turner from the University of Birmingham titled “A New Islamic Approach to Design-Based Theism.” The seminar explored a novel perspective on the design argument in Islamic theology, drawing on the insights of the influential medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328 CE).
Jamie began by contextualising the design argument within Islamic thought, highlighting how many formulations of the argument have historically aligned with Paleyan’s approaches. These approaches often rely on inferential reasoning to draw connections between the complexity of natural phenomena and the existence of a divine designer. However, Jamie proposed an alternative, non-Paleyan framework rooted in Ibn Taymiyya’s theological insights. He argued that this Taymiyyan model bypasses some of the key challenges faced by traditional design arguments, such as objections stemming from Darwinian evolutionary theory.
Central to his thesis was the claim that the Taymiyyan approach conceptualises design-based theistic beliefs as non-inferential, focusing on the ultimate metaphysical cause of design in nature. This perspective, he suggested, complements rather than competes with naturalistic scientific explanations, thereby avoiding potential conflicts between theology and science. Jamie also addressed three potential objections to this model, ultimately asserting its plausibility as a robust defence of design-based theism.
The seminar concluded with a vibrant and engaging question-and-answer session, during which attendees had the opportunity to delve deeper into Jamie’s arguments.
Speaker Bio:
Jamie B. Turner is a doctoral researcher at the Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion, University of Birmingham. His doctoral work and research publications have focused broadly on themes in the philosophy of religion approached from the perspective of concepts and ideas within the Islamic tradition.
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