Showing papers in "Zygon in 1987"
TL;DR: The authors summarizes the current state of the debates in biblical criticism concerning the nature of Genesis, the genre and setting in life of Genesis l:l-2:4a, and the reasons for the continuing significance of creation motifs in the biblical period.
Abstract: . This paper summarizes the current state of the debates in biblical criticism concerning the nature of Genesis, the genre and setting in life of Genesis l:l–2:4a, and the reasons for the continuing significance of creation motifs in the biblical period. In identifying creation as a vital part of the traditions associated variously with the cult, with wisdom, and with prophecy (even in its later scribal and eschatological forms), Genesis 1: l–2:4a is seen to be the necessary description of how the particularity of Israel is dependent on God, of how humanity is privileged, and of how hope is tinged with judgment.
12 citations
12 citations
TL;DR: The last century has witnessed a succession of revolutionary transformations in the discipline of biology as mentioned in this paper, which has had curiously little impact on the way that questions about life and its significance have been discussed by philosophers.
Abstract: The last century has witnessed a succession of revolutionary transformations in the discipline of biology. However, the rapid expansion of our understanding of life and its nature has had curiously little impact on the way that questions about life and its significance have been discussed by philosophers. This paper explores the answers that biology .provides to central questions about our existence, and it examines why the substitution ofcausal explanations for teleological ones appears natural and satisfying in the case of physical theory but meets widespread resistance in the case of biology.
11 citations
TL;DR: The philosophy of science of Imre Lakatos suggests criteria for acceptability of work in the interdisciplinary area of theology and science: proposals must contribute to scientific (or theological) research programs that lead to prediction and discovery of novel facts.
Abstract: . The philosophy of science of Imre Lakatos suggests criteria for acceptability of work in the interdisciplinary area of theology and science: proposals must contribute to scientific (or theological) research programs that lead to prediction and discovery of novel facts. Lakatos's methodology also suggests four legitimate types of theology–and–science interaction: (1) heuristic use of theology in science; (2) incorporation of a theological assertion as an auxiliary hypothesis in a scientific research program, or (3) as the central theory of a research program; and (4) hybrid theology–and–science programs with empirical data. Three recent Zygon articles illustrate these four types.
10 citations
TL;DR: Berger as discussed by the authors argued that the belief that there exists an "other" which confronts us unconditionally forms the basis of all issues concerning value and meaning, and used empirical methods for the task of rehabilitating, rather than debunking, humanity's religious propensities.
Abstract: . Peter Berger established himself in the sociological profession in large part through his functional interpretations of religion and its ostensible demise in relation to the empirical bent of modern intellectual thought. Yet, in his ef–fort to expand the scope of empiricism such that it might address nontrivial concerns, Berger found himself attempting to understand the “substance” of religiori—that is, the conviction that there exists an “other” which confronts us unconditionally and consequently forms the basis of all issues concerning value and meaning. Berger's writings deserve critical attention in that they disclose both the problems and the promises of utilizing empirical methods for the task of rehabilitating, rather than debunking, humanity's religious propensities.
7 citations
TL;DR: The roots of social belonging spring from the primordial sentiments toward ethnicity, race, language, religion, customs and traditions, and region, which humans learn to shore up with social solidarity and with the practice of communication in religious rituals as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: . Suffering, alongside the feeling of sanctity of life, pervades human experience, generating primal anxiety, which humans learn to shore up with social solidarity and with the practice of communication in religious rituals. The roots of social belonging spring from the primordial sentiments toward ethnicity, race, language, religion, customs and traditions, and region. Self–identity, mediated by mental formations derived from social relations, is composed of thinking and values. Daily experience reveals that cultural differences produce blind spots in thinking and barriers in values—-governing areas of activity, social relations, the world, and identity of being—-that impedes cross—-cultural understanding.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a response to Bergin's antitheses, on the one hand, and to humanistic psychology from the point of view of a Christian humanism.
Abstract: . Secular and religious values of psychotherapists influence the process of psychotherapy. The psychologist Allen Bergin has pointed out several major antitheses between values of secular psychotherapists and their religiously oriented clients. The present essay is a response to Bergin's antitheses, on the one hand, and to humanistic psychology, on the other, from the point of view of a Christian humanism. Karl Rahner's theological anthropology is proposed as one possible foundation for an explicit articulation of the relationship between psychotherapy and religion, and as a means to address apparently divergent values of psychotherapists and religious believers.
4 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed criteria which have been used to distinguish science from nonscience and from pseudo-science and examined the extent to which they can usefully be applied to "creation science" and concluded that these criteria do not force a clear decision, especially as creation science resembles important eighteenth-century forms of orthodox science.
Abstract: . The paper reviews criteria which have been used to distinguish science from nonscience and from pseudo–science, and it examines the extent to which they can usefully be applied to “creation science.” These criteria do not force a clear decision, especially as creation science resembles important eighteenth–century forms of orthodox science. Nevertheless, the proponents of creation science may be accused of pious fraud in failing to concede in their political battles that their “science” is tentative and tendentious and will continue to be so while it remains archaic and poorly integrated into the rest of science.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the idea of a text is reviewed and reconstructed to facilitate the application of concepts of interpretation to the objects analyzed in the natural sciences, as well as to objects analysed in religion and literature.
Abstract: . The idea of a text is reviewed and reconstructed to facilitate the application of concepts of interpretation to the objects analyzed in the natural sciences, as well as to objects analyzed in religion and literature. Four criteria—-readability, formality, material transcendence, and retrievability—-are proposed as the basis for a generalized conception of text. Objects in both religion and science, not previously thought to be texts, are shown to be included in the new definition and therefore to be potential subjects of developing methods of interpretation.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore creation in the Confessions and explain why an autobiographical account of conversion ends speaking of creation; how creation can thus be understood as a personal language; how conversion can be recovered in a time preoccupied with conversion; and how conversion and creation are linked with incarnation, hermeneutics, and confessional rhetoric; and suggest a contemporary use of creation language that connects the scientific and the religious.
Abstract: . Michael Polanyi names Augustine as inaugurates of his “postcritical”philosophy. To understand what this means by exploring creation in the Confessions will clarify complex problems in Augustine and articulate theological implications in Polanyi. Specifically, it will show why an autobiographical account of conversion ends speaking of creation; how creation can thus be understood as “personal” language; how creation can be recovered in a time preoccupied with conversion; how conversion and creation are linked with incarnation, hermeneutics, and confessional rhetoric; and it will suggest a contemporary use of creation language that connects the scientific and the religious.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the dilemma of free will and determinism is attacked by proving that both sides are flawed with contingencies, that the notion of eternal law is a theologically tainted projection rather than a reality of the real world that is understood to be evolutionary.
Abstract: . The age–old dilemma of free will and determinism is attacked by proving that both sides are flawed with contingencies, that the notion of eternal law is a theologically tainted projection rather than a reality of the real world that is understood to be evolutionary. Determinism is dissolved into conditionalism. This excludes materialistic scientific explanation of the deterministic style. As it brings forth freedom, evolutionary reality transcends essentially the explanatory possibilities of statistically structured natural laws. The dilemma of determinism and free will based on a logic of contradiction is replaced by an ontology of polarity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that reason and emotion are inseparable founda-tional components of human nature, and that all knowledge must be characterized by both objective description and subjective, felt experience.
Abstract: . If reason and emotion are taken as inseparable founda–tional components of human nature, then all knowledge must be characterized by both objective description and subjective, felt experience. If that is the case, then it is impossible for autonomy to be described in terms of rational knowledge, independent of affective response. Accordingly, autonomy and interdependence are mutually inclusive terms. Following the assumption that reason and emotion are integrally related in human understanding, morality can be explained by reference to both rational principles and emotive, unreflected experience. Spinoza, Hume, and Vasu–bandhu provide three different but compatible views of moral development based on their views of the mutually informing effect of reason and emotion on motivation for action. In contrast to Kant, they describe the morally autonomous person as one who is directed by personal interests shaped by a consciousness of the context of emerging interrelated conditions. It is a context in which individual self–expression is a function of receptivity and responsiveness to the expression of others.
TL;DR: In particular, predictions of the predestined future development of superhumans (Omega Man) are sometimes treated by scientists as if they were an established part of the theory of evolution as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: . The idea of evolution functions today as a myth as well as a scientific theory. This use distorts it in some surprising ways. In particular, predictions of the predestined future development of superhumans (Omega Man) are sometimes treated by scientists as if they were an established part of the theory of evolution. Since they rest on the endless–escalator model of evolution, incompatible with Darwinian methods and not separately argued for, they have no standing at all. This phenomenon, and others like it, seem to indicate spiritual needs which are being ignored and thus finding illicit satisfaction. The position is dangerous and needs more attention.
TL;DR: The history of CASIRAS and of Zygon is not only anintellectual history but a personal history-a history of human encounter with hopes and disappointments, dreams and conces-sions.
Abstract: . The history of CASIRAS and of Zygon is not only anintellectual history but a personal history-a history of humanencounter with hopes and disappointments, dreams and conces-sions. Notwithstanding, it is the story of an ambitious enterprisewith significant achievements and genuine promise of continuedcontributions to this important inquiry.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of the concept of the divine developed by the leading naturalist John Dewey in A Common Faith, the misunderstanding of this book by Henry Nelson Wieman, and the discussion of this misunderstanding in the pages of Christian Century is discussed.
Abstract: . An important issue in the development of the American school of philosophy known as critical naturalism was whether the naturalistic vision implied a humanistic or a theistic interpretation of religion. Is the divine a creativity within nature but more than human effort, or is it the human vision of ideal possibilities and the effort to realize them? This issue is clarified through a study of the concept of the divine developed by the leading naturalist John Dewey in A Common Faith, the misunderstanding of this book by Henry Nelson Wieman, and the discussion of this misunderstanding in the pages of Christian Century. The essay concludes that Wieman's misunderstanding of Dewey is instructive in that it reveals unintended possibilities in Dewey's thought.
TL;DR: A brief history of scientifi-cally informed understandings of religion do enrich our apprecia-tion of and faith in it is given in this article, and an analysis of the aims and accomplishments of the two institutions as seen by the author.
Abstract: . This essay gives a brief history and presents an analysisof the aims and accomplishments of the two institutions as seen bythe author. The analysis seeks to describe and justify some of theirbasic presuppositions. Primary has been their belief that scientifi-cally informed understandings of religion do enrich our apprecia-tion of and faith in it. For instance, religion's recently discoveredroles in the evolution and development of sociocultural systemsand personalities provide new credibility and importance for reli-gious heritage. Recent translations between contemporary scien-tific and ancient religious concepts give new hope for religiousreform, revitalization, and effectiveness for human salvation in anage of science.
TL;DR: This article examined the empirical theism of Henry Nelson Wieman by relating it to Carl Hempel's critique of functionalism, Karl Popper's use of falsifiability, and the growth of post-empiricist anti-foundationalism in episodic temporalology.
Abstract: . Empirical philosophy of religion is usually appraised in light of its theological uses, rather than in terms of its relation to philosophical forms of empiricism. The present paper examines the empirical theism of Henry Nelson Wieman by relating it to Carl Hempel's critique of functionalism, Karl Popper's use of falsifiability, and the growth of post–empiricist anti–foundationalism in epis–temology. It is concluded that Wieman's argument commits the fallacy of affirming the consequent; that his theistic perspective nevertheless offers an important heuristic device in line with fal–libilism, and that his radical empiricism anticipates recent anti–foundationalist trends.
TL;DR: In this article, the presence of a basic and general form of creativity in people is investigated through experiments with music, and the results indicate that the ability to spontaneously generate a music by varying a basic set of musical elements is a basic human endowment, unlike constructive creativity, which is the result of training and the spehal development of faculties.
Abstract: . The presence of a basic and general form of creativity in people is investigated through experiments with music. The results indicate that “generative” creativity—-the ability to spontaneously generate a music by varying a basic set of musical elements—is a basic human endowment, unlike “constructive” creativity—-the type of creativity exhibited by composers and other artists—-which is the result of training and the spehal development of faculties. Generative creativity's coming to the fore in contemporary people would contribute to the development of the personality and help bring about more fulfilled, better balanced people and societies.
TL;DR: In this article, five types of psychic duality are distinguished: bipolarity, bimodality, contrariety, dualism, and the coincidentia op-positorurn.
Abstract: . Five types of psychic duality are distinguished: bipolarity, bimodality, contrariety, dualism, and the coincidentia op–positorurn. Bipolarity is the basic division of the psyche into egoic and nonegoic (physico–dynamic) poles. Bimodality is the division of egoic functioning into active and receptive modes. Contrariety is the division of the nonegoic sphere into opposing sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. Dualism is the organization imposed upon the bipolar structure by primal repression. And the coincidentia opositorum is the condition of psychic integration that would emerge were dualism to be transcended and the bipolar structure (together with the bimodal and contrarietal structures) unified into a higher whole.
TL;DR: In this article, the major contemporary arguments for free will and determinism as well as for compatibilism are analyzed, and the status of the arguments is assessed by the authors.
Abstract: . The problem of freedom of the will and determinism is one of the most intriguing and difficult in the whole area of philosophy. It constuutes a paradox. If we look at ourselves, at our ability to deliberate and make moral choices, it seems obvious that we are free. On the other hand, if we look at what we believe about causality (i.e., that every event and thing must have a cause), then it appears that we do not have free wills but are determined. Thus we seem to have inconsistent beliefs. In this paper I set forth and analyze the major contemporary arguments for free will and determinism as well as for compatibilism, the position that tries to combine insights from both theories. I end with a brief conclusion regarding my assessment of the status of the arguments.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors place the pluralism in the CASIRAS-Zygon community in a more comprehensive, evolutionary framework, in which the different approaches exert cultural selection pres-sures on each other.
Abstract: . Abstract. While the general territory mapped by the founders ofthe Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science and Zygonremains the same, how one delineates the contpurs of this territorydepends partly on personal histories and on whether one is atheologian, a scientist, a scholar of religious studies, or a philoso-pher. However, the pluralism in the CASIRAS-Zygon communitycan be placed in a more comprehensive, evolutionary framework, in which the different approaches exert cultural selection pres-sures on each other. The most important selection pressure ishaving to make scholarly work usable by nonscholars seekingmeaning for their lives in a scientific age.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reflect on the Arkansas creationist trial by a witness for the American Civil Liberties Union and stress that science is dependent upon its humanistic, moral, and religious matrix for its social and historical health.
Abstract: . These are reflections on the Arkansas creationist trial by a witness for the American Civil Liberties Union. The following points are stressed: First, religion took the lead in defending science at the trial. Second, the appearance of creation science is a function not only of Protestant fudamentalism but also of the establishment of science in our wider culture. It represents a “deviant science” in such a culture. Third, our century has manifested many such bizarre unions of ideological religion and modern science. This shows that science is dependent upon its humanistic, moral, and religious matrix for its social and historical health. Fourth, part of the cause of the rise of creation science has been the power, status, and self–assurance of science that it represents “the only form of truth.” Fifth, religion in turn tends both to increase and to become fanatical in advanced and precarious cultures; religion, therefore, needs rational and moral criticism if it would help in the creation of social health.
TL;DR: The Center for Advanced Studies in Theology and the Sciences (CASIS) as discussed by the authors was founded by the late Pierre Teil-hard de Chardin, who was a Fellow of CASIS.
Abstract: . This brief account of my year as a fellow of the Centerfor Advanced Studies in Theology and the Sciences recounts theinvaluable supports given by the center to my efforts as a theolo-gian to assess the scientific aspects of the theology of Pierre Teil-hard de Chardin, summarizes my findings, and indicates some ofthe potential for the support of interdisciplinary studies in religionand the sciences afforded by the successor organization, the Centerfor Advanced Study in Religion and Science.
TL;DR: A comparison between the two types and the two countries suggests that people may be more concerned about the credibility and consequences of belief in an alternative account of our origins than about the actual method by which we were created.
Abstract: . Creationism and evolutionism are taken to typify a fundamental opposition among the diverse beliefs about creation to be found in the United Kingdom and the United States. A comparison between the two types and the two countries suggests that people may be more concerned about the credibility and consequences of belief in an alternative account of our origins than about the actual method by which we were created. Examples of concern include interpretations of the Bible, ethical implications, and the epistemological standings of revelation and/or science that are thought to follow from acceptance of a particular belief concerning how we got here.