Author: Josh Reeves
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135110375X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
Since its development as a field over the last part of the twentieth century, scholars in science and religion have been heavily concerned with methodological issues. Following the lead of Thomas Kuhn, many scholars in this interdisciplinary field have offered proposals that purport to show how theology and science are compatible by appropriating theories of scientific methodology or rationality. Arguing against this strategy, this book shows why much of this methodological work is at odds with recent developments in the history and philosophy of science and should be reconsidered. Firstly, three influential methodological proposals are critiqued: Lakatosian research programs, Alister McGrath’s "Scientific Theology" and the Postfoundationalist project of Wentzel van Huyssteen. Each of these approaches is shown to have a common failing: the idea that science has an essential nature, with features that unite "scientific" or even "rational" inquiry across time or disciplines. After outlining the issues this failing could have on the viability of the field, the book concludes by arguing that there are several ways scholarship in science and religion can move forward, even if the terms "science" and "religion" do not refer to something universally valid or philosophically useful. This is a bold study of the methodology of science and religion that pushes both subjects to consider the other more carefully. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies, theology and the philosophy of science.
Author: Donald Wiebe
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004385061
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
The Science of Religion: A Defence offers a brilliant overview of Donald Wiebe’s contributions on methodology in the academic study of religion, of the development of his thinking over time, and of his intellectual commitment to 'a science of religion'.
Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615921710
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 366
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Book Description
In recent years a noticeable trend toward harmonizing the distinct worldviews of science and religion has become increasingly popular. Despite marked public interest, many leading scientists remain skeptical that there is much common ground between scientific knowledge and religious belief. Indeed, they are often antagonistic. Can an accommodation be reached after centuries of conflict? In this stimulating collection of articles on the subject, Paul Kurtz, with the assistance of Barry Karr and Ranjit Sandhu, have assembled the thoughts of scientists from various disciplines. Among the distinguished contributors are Sir Arthur C. Clarke (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and numerous other works of science fiction); Nobel Prize Laureate Steven Weinberg (professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin); Neil deGrasse Tyson (Princeton University astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium); James Lovelock (creator of the Gaia hypothesis); Kendrick Frazier (editor of the Skeptical Inquirer); Steven Pinker (professor of psychology at MIT); Richard Dawkins (zoologist at Oxford University); Eugenie Scott (physical anthropologist and executive director of the National Center for Science Education); Owen Gingerich (professor of astronomy at Harvard University); Martin Gardner (prolific popular science writer); the late Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize-winning physicist) and Stephen Jay Gould (professor of geology at Harvard University); and many other eminent scientists and scholars. Among the topics discussed are the Big Bang and the origin of the universe, intelligent design and creationism versus evolution, the nature of the "soul," near-death experiences, communication with the dead, why people do or do not believe in God, and the relationship between religion and ethics.
Author: Philip Clayton
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
ISBN: 0199279276
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 1041
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Book Description
The field of `science and religion' is exploding in popularity among both academics and the reading public. This is a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to the debate, written by the leading experts yet accessible to the general reader.
Author: Ninian Smart
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400868882
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 174
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Book Description
Ambitiously undertaking to develop a strategy for making the study of religion "scientific," Ninian Smart tackles a set of interrelated issues that bear importantly on the status of religion as an academic discipline. He draws a clear distinction between studying religion and "doing theology," and considers how phenomenological method may be used in investigating objects of religious attitudes without presupposing the existence of God or gods. He goes on to criticize projectionist theories of religion (notably Berger's) and theories of rationality in both religion and anthropology. On this basis he builds a theory of religious dynamics which gives religious ideas and entities an autonomous place in the sociology of knowledge. His overall purpose is thus "to indicate ways forward in the study of religion which free it from being crypto-apologetics or elevating poetry." Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Author: Tiddy Smith
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498582397
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237
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Book Description
Tiddy Smith argues that the conflict between science and religion is ultimately a disagreement about what kinds of methods we should use for investigating the world. Specifically, scientists and religious folk disagree over which belief-forming methods are reliable. In the course of justifying any scientific claim, scientists typically appeal to methods which generate agreement between independent investigators, and which converge on the same answers to the same questions. In contrast, religious claims are typically justified by methods which neither generate agreement nor converge in their results (for example, dreams, visions, mystical experiences etc.). This fundamental difference in methodologies can neatly account for the conflict between science and religion.
Author: Jerry A. Coyne
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143108263
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338
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Book Description
“A superbly argued book.” —Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion The New York Times bestselling author of Why Evolution is True explains why any attempt to make religion compatible with science is doomed to fail In this provocative book, evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne lays out in clear, dispassionate detail why the toolkit of science, based on reason and empirical study, is reliable, while that of religion—including faith, dogma, and revelation—leads to incorrect, untestable, or conflicting conclusions. Coyne is responding to a national climate in which more than half of Americans don’t believe in evolution, members of Congress deny global warming, and long-conquered childhood diseases are reappearing because of religious objections to inoculation, and he warns that religious prejudices in politics, education, medicine, and social policy are on the rise. Extending the bestselling works of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, he demolishes the claims of religion to provide verifiable “truth” by subjecting those claims to the same tests we use to establish truth in science. Coyne irrefutably demonstrates the grave harm—to individuals and to our planet—in mistaking faith for fact in making the most important decisions about the world we live in. Praise for Faith Versus Fact: “A profound and lovely book . . . showing that the honest doubts of science are better . . . than the false certainties of religion.” —Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith
Author: Elaine Howard Ecklund
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190650621
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
Beyond stereotypes and myths -- Religious people do not like science -- Religious people do not like scientists -- Religious people are not scientists -- Religious people are all young-earth creationists -- Religious people are climate change deniers -- Religious people are against scientific technology -- Beyond myths, toward realities
Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1616145994
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412
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Book Description
Looking at both historical and contemporary contexts, the author argues that religion has played a major role in suppressing scientific pursuit.
Author: Karl Dietrich Fezer
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465323732
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460
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Book Description
BLUE INK Review STARRED REVIEW Scholarly World, Private Worlds: Thinking Critically About Science, Religion, and Your Private Beliefs Karl D. Fezer Xlibris, 434 pages, (paperback) $24.99, 9781401034146 (Reviewed: March 2014) Informal logic is a discipline that examines the validity of the arguments we encounter in everyday discourse, from political speeches, to editorials, to posts on social media. Karl D. Fezer's work is nothing less than a tour de force of informal logic. This important book investigates under what conditions our beliefs are warranted and the limits of the methods by which we derive them. The author is not concerned with validating or debunking any particular worldview, religious or scientific, but with examining the grounds on which we form the views that we do, in fact, hold. The book's first part discusses the distinction between the views we harbor in our inmost hearts and their extension into the social realm, where we encounter a multiplicity of views different from our own. In the second part, Fezer presents good reasons why we might doubt the beliefs we hold. In his third section, he discusses methods by which we might form views that are worthy of being called rational. The final section covers the differences between science and religion and the limitations inherent in attempts to reconcile competing worldviews. Fezer also contributes to the debate around teaching Creationism in schools. He makes an argument for limiting the curriculum to accounts of the natural world that do not introduce supernatural principles. However, Fezer is not anti-religion, and he discusses both religious and humanistic viewpoints neutrally. The author notes that he is attempting to fill a void in university liberal arts curricula. As such, the book has the structure of a textbook, complete with questions for further study in an appendix. However, it is written in crisp, readable prose. Readers who aren't intimidated by the textbook style will find a cogent, forceful presentation that is likely to challenge his or her convictions in a non-threatening and highly impressive manner.
