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An essay on ethical research
The Relations Between Religion and Science
Similarities between science and religion
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The Supremacy of Faith, The Supremacy of Reason
The history of science has long been in conflict with religion or ¡§organized ignorance¡¨ as Dr. David Starr Jordan called in his book Science and Sciosophy. In this conflict history would reveal that science always prevailed. At times this victory was won at the cost and/or suffering of the individual who earth the nerve to present their finding to the world as court. Obstructions have been raised by men who thought the little they knew of the works and ways of the Creator was all that there was to be known. However, this insensitive response to the essential Christian Concepts provides inadequate recognition of the fact that Science and Religion may work to the same end but take different routes. My holistic view of the issue of science and religion has changed over the past 6 weeks. I realize that there is a certain harmonization of science and religion that gives humanity the abundant life engineered by Jesus Christ in the Gospel. This blending of my ethnocentric religious beliefs and the reasoning of empirical thought allowed a reinventing of viewpoint allowing my position to be transformed into something new. Which I believe would be an objective to this disciplined study. The selection of this book Science and Religion Opposing viewpoints allows the reader to take a glance at this conflict from five areas. Great Historical Debates on Science and Religion, Are Science and Religion Compatible, How did the Universe Originate, How did Life Originate and Should Ethical Values Limit Scientific Research? For the sake of brevity we will cumber you with a skeletal version of the text. The author is very clever in presenting information to provide a deeper understanding of the material and come away with an appreciation of the complex nature of the issues debated. The author was careful to mention Pitfalls to Avoid:
„h Regarding one¡¦s own opinion as being common sense and the most rational stance and the viewpoint of others as being only opinion and naturally wrong.
„h To close one¡¦s mind to the opinion of others they disagree with. Seek to understand rather than to be understood.
The author emphasizes the following typology to develop basic reading and thinking skills:
„h Evaluating Sources of Information
„h Separating Fact From Opinion
„h Identifying Stereotypes
„h Recognizing Ethnocentrism
Lastly, the author presents a recognized opinion or theory and allows the prevailing points of view to speak plainly and passionately on the subject.
“The lack of conflict between science and religion arises from a lack of overlap between their respective domains of professional expertise—science in the empirical constitution of the universe, and religion in the search for proper ethical values and the spiritual meaning of our lives. The attainment of wisdom in a full life requires extensive attention to both domains—for a great book tells us that the truth can make us free and that we will live in optimal harmony with our fellows when we learn to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.”
(3) Adam, Elga (2007) “Reflection and Disagreement” Princeton University Copyright the Authors Journal compilation, Blackwell Publishing, Inc. Pg. 478 – 502.
Entering the ancient discussion about the tension between faith and reason is not an easy task. Of course, when engaging in tensions it is always important to define terms. For the sake of consistency I will refer to Oxford’s online dictionary for both the definition of faith, as well as reason. Faith is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Reason is “a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event.” These are the definitions that will be used throughout this paper. From the above definitions, the conclusion that is logically deduced is that reason precedes faith.
...ary manner which does not perfectly correlate with our beliefs and desires, but which none the less allows beliefs and desires to fulfill the same causal roles in producing behavior. [BACK UP]
to err in the direction of our own beliefs or behavior. For example, college students who
is a state of wisdom, of insight into the true nature of things. It is also a
This essay will explain both sides of the views and using critical thinking will uncover the real message the author intended to portray.
mean that everyone feels the same. Who is right depends on how open- minded the
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
asks one to follow his own convictions and thoughts rather than those of others because these are
ABSTRACT: Curiously, in the late twentieth century, even agnostic cosmologists like Stephen Hawking—who is often compared with Einstein—pose metascientific questions concerning a Creator and the cosmos, which science per se is unable to answer. Modern science of the brain, e.g. Roger Penrose's Shadows of the Mind (1994), is only beginning to explore the relationship between the brain and the mind-the physiological and the epistemic. Galileo thought that God's two books-Nature and the Word-cannot be in conflict, since both have a common author: God. This entails, inter alia, that science and faith are to two roads to the Creator-God. David Granby recalls that once upon a time, science and religion were perceived as complementary enterprises, with each scientific advance confirming the grandeur of a Superior Intelligence-God. Are we then at the threshold of a new era of fruitful dialogue between science and religion, one that is mediated by philosophy in the classical sense? In this paper I explore this question in greater detail.
the desire to be right ie we look to others - whom we believe to be
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
person’s beliefs or religion. A person is born not knowing what is right or wrong, but is
Up until the Enlightenment, mankind lived under the notion that religion, moreover intelligent design, was most likely the only explanation for the existence of life. However, people’s faith in the church’s ideals and teachings began to wither with the emergence of scientific ideas that were daringly presented to the world by great minds including Galileo and Darwin. The actuality that there was more to how and why we exist, besides just having an all-powerful creator, began to interest the curious minds in society. Thus, science began to emerge as an alternative and/or supplement to religion for some. Science provided a more analytical view of the world we see while religion was based more upon human tradition/faith and the more metaphysical world we don’t necessarily see. Today science may come across as having more solid evidence and grounding than religion because of scientific data that provides a seemingly more detailed overview of life’s complexity. “Einstein once said that the only incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible” (Polkinghorne, 62). Yet, we can still use theories and ideas from both, similar to Ian Barbour’s Dialouge and Integration models, to help us formulate an even more thorough concept of the universe using a human and religious perspective in addition to scientific data.