Methodological Naturalism?
Journal Title: Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy - Year 2014, Vol 11, Issue 0
Abstract
The philosophical doctrine of methodological naturalism holds that, for any study of the world to qualify as “scientific”, it cannot refer to God’s creative activity (or any sort of divine activity). The methods of science, it is claimed, “give us no purchase” on theological propositions — even if the latter are true — and theology therefore cannot influence scientific explanation or theory justification. Thus, science is said to be religiously neutral, if only because science and religion are, by their very natures, epistemically distinct. However, the actual practice and content of science challenge this claim. In many areas, science is anything but religiously neutral; moreover, the standard arguments for methodological naturalism suffer from various grave shortcomings. The philosophical doctrine of methodological naturalism is flawed. Furthermore, neither claims about the definition or essential nature of science, nor theological presuppositions (e.g., “functional integrity”), can properly support methodological naturalism. However, one may find stronger support for the doctrine in what might be called “Duhemian science” — i.e., those empirical inquiries pursued by all parties on common ground, independently of whatever metaphysical assumptions may be held by only some investigators. Duhemian science is thus “maximally inclusive”. “Augustinian science”, on the other hand, may employ particular theological or philosophical assumptions. The ideal of Duhemian science should not exclude Augustinian science: both are valid forms of inquiry.
Authors and Affiliations
Alvin Plantinga
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP158560
- DOI -
- Views 101
- Downloads 0
A Delicate Balance
It is a review of Michael J. Behe’s book titled [i]Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution [/i](The Free Press, New York 1996), containing the criticism of evolutionary theory. Author, at the beginning...
O nieoczywistości metafor
Recenzja książki: Magdalena ZAWISŁAWSKA, Metafora w języku nauki. Na przykładzie nauk przyrodniczych, Wydział Polonistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa 2011, s. 253.
Geny a przyczynowość
Ukazanie powiązań między genotypem a fenotypem jest problematyczne nie tylko ze względu na ogromną złożoność interakcji między genami, białkami i funkcjami fizjologicznymi wyższych rzędów, ale również dlatego, że paradyg...
Subtelna równowaga
Jest to recenzja książki Michaela J. Behe’ego, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (The Free Press, New York 1996), zawierającej krytykę teorii ewolucji. Autor, na początku swojej kariery uniwersyt...
DNA and the Origin of Life: Information, Specification, and Explanation
This essay will evaluate competing explanations for the origin of the information necessary to build the first living cell. To do so will require determining what biologists have meant by the term information as it has b...