Is Nature Enough?: Meaning and Truth in the Age of ScienceIs nature all there is? John Haught examines this question and in doing so addresses a fundamental issue in the dialogue of science with religion. The belief that nature is all there is and that no overall purpose exists in the universe is known broadly as 'naturalism'. Naturalism, in this context, denies the existence of any realities distinct from the natural world and human culture. Since the rise of science in the modern world has had so much influence on naturalism's intellectual acceptance, the author focuses on 'scientific' naturalism and the way in which its defenders are now attempting to put a distance between contemporary thought and humanity's religious traditions. Haught seeks to provide a reasonable, scientifically informed alternative to naturalism. His approach will provide the basis for lively discussion among students, scholars, scientists, theologians and intellectually curious people in general. |
Contents
Section 1 | 21 |
Section 2 | 32 |
Section 3 | 55 |
Section 4 | 76 |
Section 5 | 77 |
Section 6 | 98 |
Section 7 | 117 |
Section 8 | 130 |
Section 9 | 143 |
Section 10 | 167 |
Section 11 | 191 |
Section 12 | 209 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actual adaptive Alfred North Whitehead anticipation anticipatory ation Bernard Lonergan Books chapter claim cognitional completely consciousness cosmic cosmos creativity critical intelligence cultural Darwin Darwinian Dawkins death desire to know divine action earlier and simpler emergence empiricism essential ethic of knowledge everything evolution evolutionary accounts evolutionary biology evolutionary naturalist example existence experience explanatory fact fully function fundamental gence genes hope human idea intelligent and critical intelligent design intelligent subjects kind layered explanation least life’s lifeless lives logically look Martin Rees Matt Ridley Michael Polanyi mind mind’s imperatives mindless multiverse natural selection natural world nature’s numbers organisms origin Owen Flanagan Paul Tillich phenomena philosopher physical proposal purely natural purpose question real world reality reason religion religious responsible Richard Dawkins richer empiricism scientific method scientific naturalism scientific naturalists scientists sense sentient striving suffering Teilhard theodicy theology tion transcendent trust truth truth-telling ultimate explanation understanding unintelligent worldview York
Popular passages
Page 12 - It would be wonderful to find in the laws of nature a plan prepared by a concerned creator in which human beings played some special role. I find sadness in doubting that we will.