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“Ockham’s Razor”
(A) It is futile to do with more what can be done with fewer.
(B) When a proposition comes out true for things, if two
things suffice for its truth, it is superfluous to assume a
third
(C) Plurality should not be assumed without necessity.
(D) No plurality should be assumed unless it can be proved
(a) by reason, or (b) by experience, or (c) by some
infallible authority.
Ockham’s Razor Cuts Both
Ways:
thoughts on the faith-science
interaction
Making
CONTACT with Sagan’s Vision of
Science/Religion
• Dr. Eleanor Arroway
Science portrayed as
open, intellectually
courageous, objective,
honest
• Palmer Joss (and others)
Religion portrayed as
inward, closed, subjective,
intellectually weak and
dangerous
Backgrounding Science
• it is historically and culturally delimited
• it makes - a priori metaphysical and
epistemological assertions about the natural
world
• it is socially situated
Some Metaphysical and Epistemological
Assumptions about the Natural World
• Simplicity
• Mathematical Nature of Reality - Beauty and
Elegance
• Foundationalism
• Materialism
– “The Cosmos, all that is or ever was or ever will be”.
Cosmos, 1980
Worldviews in Collision
“Science and Religion are diameterically opposed at
their deepest philosophical levels. And because
the two worldviews make claims to the same
intellectual territory - that of the origin of the
universe and humankind’s relationship to it conflict is inevitable”
The Humanist, (May-June, 1986),. 26.
Scientific Materialism
• science is the only reliable path to
knowledge
• matter and energy are the fundamental
entities of the universe.
Quotables ...
“We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to
preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.”
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
“Man knows at last that he is alone in the universe’s unfeeling immensity,
out of which he emerged only by chance”
Jaques Monod, Chance and Necessity
In the end, science as we know it has two basic types of practitioners. One
is the educated man who still has a controlled sense of wonder before
the universal mystery, whether it hides in a snail's eye or within the
light that impinges on that delicate organ. The second kind of observer
is the extreme reductionist who is so busy stripping things apart that
the tremendous mystery has been reduced to a trifle, to intangibles not
worth troubling one's head about. The world of secondary qualities color, sound, thought is reduced to illusion. The only true reality
becomes the chill void of ever streaming particles.
Loren Eiseley, "Science and the Sense of the Holy"
Ways of Relating Science and Religion
•
•
•
•
Conflict
Independence
Dialogue
Integration
the struggle between scientific materialism
and biblical literalism is like a fight between
a Boa Constrictor and a Wart Hog. Each
tries to swallow the other whole. The fight
can be avoided if they occupy different
territories or if they pursue more appropriate
diets!
Ian Barbour, Religion in an Age of Science
Ockham’s Razor and the Durability of
Religious Belief
· many scientists maintain a belief in a personal God and
participation in a religious community
· religion exists and is practised in all cultures
· religion is a “real” phenomenon in as much as it can be
studied historically, anthropolgically, sociologically ....
· religion contains objective practices and ideas
How Science Informs Religion
· lessons of physics and the shift from naive realist to critical
realist positions has led to the realization that reality is
“seen through a glass darkly”. This challenges us to begin
to understand the extent to which a particular religion
(Christianity, Islam, etc) is a model about God and our
relationship to God.
· The laws of nature challenge our understanding of how God
acts within the universe (the problem of divine action and
primary and secondary causes)
How Religion Informs/Transforms Modern
Science
· Religion provides a the corrective lens to re-focus scientific
questions and concerns to human ends.
· Religion challenges science to be aware of its metaphysical
underpinnings and structural limitations
Ideas for the classroom...
• Sagan’s series COSMOS provides fertile ground for
teasing out implicit assumptions and metaphysical
positions
• THE QUESTION IS? - a BBC-Open University production
designed for highschool students
• The newsletter Science & Spirit
• avoid materials that entrench a conflict position
How to contact me ...
• e-mail: [email protected]
• homepage:
http://www.kingsu.ab.ca/~brian/brian.htm