God and Science James Fodor March 2017 Incompatibility
God and Science James Fodor, March 2017
Incompatibility
Independence (NOMA) “Science tries to document the factual character of the natural world, and to develop theories that coordinate and explain these facts. Religion, on the other hand, operates in the equally important, but utterly different, realm of human purposes, meanings, and values—subjects that the factual domain of science might illuminate, but can never resolve. . These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry (consider, for example, the magisterium of art and the meaning of beauty)” – Stephen Jay Gould
Concordance
The Conflict Thesis 1874
The Conflict Thesis “The history of Science is not a mere record of isolated discoveries; it is a narrative of the conflict of two contending powers, the expansive force of the human intellect on one side, and the compression arising from traditionary faith and human interests on the other. ” – John Draper
The Conflict Thesis 1896
The Conflict Thesis “In all modern history, interference with science in the supposed interest of religion, no matter how conscientious such interference may have been, has resulted in the direst evils both to religion and to science—and invariably. And, on the other hand, all untrammeled scientific investigation, no matter how dangerous to religion some of its stages may have seemed, for the time, to be, has invariably resulted in the highest good of religion and of science. ” - Andrew White
The Conflict Thesis “The vast majority of authors in the science and religion field is critical of the conflict model and believes it is based on a shallow and partisan reading of the historical record. ” https: //plato. stanford. edu/entries/religion-science/#Scie. Reli. Chri
The Conflict Thesis
Summary Table Conflict NOMA Concord Evolution Religious scientists Active dialogue Origin of life Oversimplified history Fact/value distinction Old Earth Genetic information Origin of the universe Consciousness Faith vs reason Laws of nature Galileo Gene technologies Big Bang Theory Fine tuning
1. Cosmological Argument P 1. The universe began to exist P 2. Everything that begins to exist has a cause P 3. If the universe had a cause, that cause was a personal creator C. A personal creator exists
2. Teleological Argument P 1. The universe is fine-tuned for the existence of embodied, intelligent life P 2. The only explanations for this fine-tuning are chance, physical necessity, or design P 3. Chance and physical necessity are not plausible explanations C. Fine-tuning can only be explained by design
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