[js1138]

What non-circular reason is there to disqualify theories that invoke instances of agency or intelligent design?

There is no catigorical disqualification of intelligent agencies. There is a disqualification of hypotheses that have no predictive power and which do not suggest research.

If your intelligent agent has attributes that would predict some kind of data that is different from what would be predicted by natural selection, then bring it on.

Darwin anticipated this kind of argument and cited a number of things that would be reasonable for a designer to include in living things, but so far, none of these things has been found.

the problem with ID is not that it is wrong but that it can't be wrong.

[Diamond]

Darwin anticipated this kind of argument and cited a number of things that would be reasonable for a designer to include in living things

A lot of his argumentation in this regard was theological in nature, not scientific.

Cordially,

[cornelis]

There is a disqualification of hypotheses that have no predictive power and which do not suggest research.

In a restricted sense this is true. In a case where the behavior of nature involves original causes, or nonpredictive causes, disqualification is detrimental to an integral understanding of nature.