Overview

Can scientific explanation ever make reference to God or the supernatural? The present consensus is no; indeed, a naturalistic stance is usually taken to be a distinguishing feature of modern science. Some would go further still, maintaining that the success of scientific explanation actually provides compelling evidence that there are no supernatural entities, and that true science, from the very beginning, was opposed to religious thinking. Science without God? Rethinking the History of Scientific Naturalism shows that the history of Western science presents us with a more nuanced picture. Beginning with the naturalists of ancient Greece, and proceeding through the middle ages, the scientific revolution, and into the nineteenth century, the contributors examine past ideas about 'nature' and 'the supernatural'. Ranging over different scientific disciplines and historical periods, they show how past thinkers often relied upon theological ideas and presuppositions in their systematic investigations of the world. In addition to providing material that contributes to a history of 'nature' and naturalism, this collection challenges a number of widely held misconceptions about the history of scientific naturalism.

Full Product Details

9780191872679

Table of Contents

Reviews

""This is a book for scholars with a serious interest in the relationship between religion and science."" -- C.G. Wood, CHOICE ""this anthology provides a highly informative historical survey of the complicated tri-relation between science, naturalism, and theology. It can be recommended to anyone who is considering the emergence of scientific naturalism, its implications for theology, and the place of God in science."" -- Mikael Leidenhag, Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences ""The book is an excellent source if one wishes to know anything about the religious and supernatural commitments and motivations of scientists over the course of the last 2,500 years. It deserves also to be noted that there is an impressive consistency in style throughout, with some of the authors even drawing parallels between their own arguments and those found in other chapters."" -- Tiddy Smith, Journal of the American Academy of Religion ""Peter Harrison and Jon H. Roberts provide a highly compelling alternative history of the sciences and their relation to naturalism that will be of direct relevance to contemporary philosophical arguments about the nature of scientific explanation and the enduring importance of religious belief."" -- Jamie Boulding, University of Leeds, Religious Studies

This is a book for scholars with a serious interest in the relationship between religion and science. -- C.G. Wood, CHOICE this anthology provides a highly informative historical survey of the complicated tri-relation between science, naturalism, and theology. It can be recommended to anyone who is considering the emergence of scientific naturalism, its implications for theology, and the place of God in science. -- Mikael Leidenhag, Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences The book is an excellent source if one wishes to know anything about the religious and supernatural commitments and motivations of scientists over the course of the last 2,500 years. It deserves also to be noted that there is an impressive consistency in style throughout, with some of the authors even drawing parallels between their own arguments and those found in other chapters. -- Tiddy Smith, Journal of the American Academy of Religion Peter Harrison and Jon H. Roberts provide a highly compelling alternative history of the sciences and their relation to naturalism that will be of direct relevance to contemporary philosophical arguments about the nature of scientific explanation and the enduring importance of religious belief. -- Jamie Boulding, University of Leeds, Religious Studies

Author Information

Peter Harrison, Australian Laureate Fellow; Director, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland, Jon H. Roberts, Tomorrow Professor of History, Boston University Peter Harrison is an Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland. He is the former Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He has published extensively in the field of intellectual history with a focus on the relations between science and religion. His publications include The Bible, Protestantism and the Rise of Natural Science (1998) and The Territories of Science and Religion (2015). Jon H. Roberts is the Tomorrow Foundation Professor of History at Boston University. He has written a number of articles dealing primarily with the history of the relationship between science and religion, as well as the book Darwinism and the Divine in America: Protestant Intellectuals and Organic Evolution, 1859-1900, which received the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from the American Society of Church History. He has also co-authored with James Turner The Sacred and the Secular University (2001).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available