Is evolution defied because life is an "idea"?

Eric Hedin had a post at Science & Culture Today (The Discovery Institute’s former Evolution News) that seems to fully commit to Platonic idealism and to teleology. Which is surprising since he is a Ph.D. in particle physics, from my own University. It will be found here.

Its final two paragraphs will give you the general drift, but you should read Hedin’s post, which is short:

To imagine that each of the millions of species of living creatures on Earth “evolved” by a weeding-out process, undirected by any idea of the wholeness they would ultimately manifest, runs counter to our experience with functional design and the known limitations of the laws of nature. If prolific reproductivity is the “goal” of natural selection, why should life have ever evolved to anything beyond bacteria? Cancer cells, as a mutation from original design, would seem to be evolution’s crowning achievement.

The wholeness of living organisms testifies to their metaphysical origin as an “idea,” originating in the mind of their Maker. The evidence suggests that creatures exceed the boundaries of what is possible by undirected natural forces. Even information, as we understand it, appears to fall short as the groundwork for life. Apparently, life comes from life, and nothing else will suffice. Life is a brilliant idea!

Is there some way we can counter this argument? The title of his article is “In Defiance of Evolution, Life is an Idea”. Is evolutionary biology finally totally defied?

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