God the Geometer — France, mid-13th century
Two of my last three posts have featured interviews with philosophers regarding the relationship between science and religion. That relationship has traditionally been characterized in one of four basic ways. They a) are in conflict b) are independent, c) can be in dialogue, and d) can be integrated.
The conflict model means they are incompatible, contradict each other, or are at war with each other. The independent model considers the two to operate in separate domains (faith/reason, values/facts) with no overlap between them. The dialogue model maintains areas of overlap between the two exist (concerns about origins, consciousness, ethics) and thus the possibility of dialogue makes sense. Finally, the integration model posits that a unified worldview may result from combining insights from both domains.
I hesitate to enter into this area as I lack expertise in the science-religion relationship question. But as my readers expect something here, I’ll hazard some “off the top of my head” thoughts. Clearly, the two conflict in some major areas. The two compete, for example, over the origin of the universe, the nature of human beings, and the possibility of miracles. These are no small matters. They also don’t overlap in some sense, as one considers/investigates the natural world while the other focuses on the supernatural. The problem for me here is that I don’t believe in a supernatural realm. There is nothing wrong with dialogue, since they do consider some similar issues, but the problem for me here is that the scientific explanations are always the better ones. Finally, religious ideas can occasionally be insightful as long as we remember that religion is itself a scientific phenomenon. What this means is that science can explain religion, but not the reverse.
Perhaps it is just personal preference. When I try to understand the world, including metaphysics and ethics, I start from the best scientific ideas we have. For me, this is required by intellectual integrity. My search is now and will always be informed by the best scientific ideas we have, as science is the only cognitive authority I respect. I will live and die as a rationalist. I believe that reason and evidence are our only tools for teazing a little bit of truth from a complex reality
