Polkinghorny Flashcards
what are the four models on the interaction between science and religion
- Conflict (the two are irreconcilable - either science can answer all questions, or take religious fundamentalism stance)
- Independence (Steven Jay Gould’s NON OVERLAPPING MAGISTERIA)
- Dialogue (most of the time separate but sometimes overlap)
- Integration (using the findings of science to shape religion/theology)
what are the three central themes to scientific understanding of the physical world
- intelligibility
- fine-tuning
- chance and necessity
Paul Davies on science and religion
“science offers a surer road to God than religion”
give examples of order and chaos
natural selection (necessity) of genetic mutations (chaos); the hand you're dealt in cards (chance) but the rules of the game (necessity) determine how the cards are played
what can be said about chaotic systems
not indeterminate, but underdetermined - our scientific explanations of them are limited (initial conditions of system need to be known to an astonishingly high degree of accuracy)
what is the tripodal basis for theology
reason, tradition, scripture
what does science assume and why is this not justified
uniformity of nature; because only a small part of the physical world is accessible
also assumes that the world can be understood by the human brain
what is the paradox of science and our minds
science is the product of the human mind and yet it can break down the human mind to its physical origins
this reveals the possible limits of science, and doesn’t foreclose the issue of what can be real
why does god legitimise science
why can we assume regularity of physical processes? how can our minds be attuned to understand them?
without a rational god who gave us all this rationality, it is difficult to provide a legitimate source for science
what can we retort to the comment that it is amazing that the world is intelligible
if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be there to comment on it
give examples of fine tuning of the universe
1) strength of gravity compared to that of the Big Bang - if different by one part in 10^6 then universe would expand so rapidly that matter wouldn’t have been able to coalesce
2) energy levels of carbon perfect to enable it to form the long chains that are essential for life
3) Weak force - if it were smaller, universe would have no water; bigger, and supernova explosions would have been inhibited
Hoyle, having studied this, claimed the universe must be a ‘put up job’
4) anomaly of water expanding when it freezes, which prevents it from becoming solid ice from the bottom up, which would kill life in it
an argument against the claim that the world is suited to life
‘waste’ - other planets, animals
Douglas Adams: a puddle wakes up in the morning and finds that the hole it inhabits is perfectly fitted to him, and assumes the hole was made for him
explain multiverse theory
cosmos could be a mosaic of different domains, which we are unaware of because inflation has driven other domains out of sight
Simon Blackburn
criticises P for using primitive thinking and rhetorical devices instead of engaging in philosophy
argues that P’s fine tuning of universe relies on a natural preference for explanations in terms of agency
Bertrand Russel
theism may be defensible, but JC god doesn’t necessarily
