Religion and science debates and their significance for philosophy of religion Flashcards
What are the three stages of the scientific method?
- Observation- seeing the apple fall from the tree. 2. Hypotheses- there might be a force which attracts the apple to earth. 3. Experimentation, testing and the formulation of a law.
How can inductive and deductive reasoning go wrong?
- Scientists once inductively concluded that all swans were white until a black swan was discovered in Australia, things cannot be inductively proven as we can’t be sure we’ve done all possible observations. 2. Deductive conclusions are only correct if the premises are correct.
What are the two religious approaches to testing if beliefs are correct?
- Fideism- drawing on personal religious experience. 2. Critical rationalism- drawing on rational arguments.
How does fideism work?
Fideists do not need proof for their beliefs, all they need is the belief itself. To look for proof is to deny the very point of faith.
What two tests must beliefs pass in order to be accepted by critical rationalist?
- They must be rational. 2. They must not go against empirical science.
How do critical rationalists use both types of proof to argue for the existence of god?
- The ontological argument tries to prove god deductively through reason alone. 2. The cosmological and teleological arguments argue inductively for the existence of god from the existence of the universe.
Give two issues with the religious method
- Its results are not repeatable, we can’t rerun a religious experience to make sure it happened as was said. 2. Some such as persinger claim it is possible to evoke religious feelings through brain lobe stimulation.
How does Hume define a miracle?
- It breaks a law of nature. 2. It is brought about by god. 3. It happens through god’s will and has a purpose.
What is a working definition of a miracle based on Hume’s argument?
- It is caused by a god. 2. It breaks a law of nature. 3. It has purpose. 4. It is verifiable
What is the biggest challenge to miracles?
A miracle would break scientific laws, so could not happen. Events regarded as miracles stem from a lack of knowledge, Jesus did not walk on water, but on submerged stones.
What is Spinoza’s argument against miracles?
- Miracles are violations of natural laws. 2. Natural laws are immutable. 3. Immutable laws can’t be violated, or there is no basis for science. C. Miracles are therefore impossible and are absurdities.
What is the god of the gaps?
In early communities, little was known of science, so god was used to fill gaps in knowledge. As our knowledge increased, god was pushed out of many of the gaps. One day he will be pushed out of all of the gaps.
Give four strengths of the scientific position on miracles
- Science can use reliable methods to test miracle claims, the Turin shroud has been debunked by carbon-14 dating. 2. If scientific laws are violated by miracles, there really is no basis for science. 3. Science works with what it general and repeatable. 4. God of the gaps is a strong argument.
What are three weaknesses of the scientific position on miracles?
- If miracles do happen it is simply a fact the science can’t investigate them. 2. How can Spinoza prove that scientific laws are immutable? 3. Science is on weak grounds when it rejects miracles on the basis for being singular and unrepeatable when much of science is based on a singularity- the Big Bang.
Explain the Big Bang theory
13.7 billion years ago all of the matter in the universe was condensed into one dense, hot point, this exploded, flinging matter in all directions. As material expanded from this point, it cooled and around 400 million years after the Big Bang the first stars started to form.