Truth, Beauty, and the Limits of Knowledge: A Path from Science to Religion (First Edition)
Truth, Beauty, and the Limits of Knowledge: A Path from Science to Religion (First Edition)

Author: Aleksandar Zecevic

Publisher: Cognella Academic Publishing

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781516593354

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Is it rational for scientifically trained individuals to believe in God, and accept controversial theological claims such as the existence of miracles? Are science and theology essentially incompatible, or can their positions be reconciled on some level? Truth, Beauty, and the Limits of Knowledge: A Path from Science to Religion addresses such questions by recasting certain key religious teachings in a language that is familiar to scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. It does so with the help of various science-based metaphors and analogies, whose primary purpose is to interpret theological claims in a way that is attuned to the spirit of our age. A crucial step in developing such "analogical bridges" between science and religion involves challenging the traditional Newtonian paradigm, which maintains that physical processes are generally deterministic and predictable (i.e., "well behaved"). A closer examination of recent scientific developments will show that this assumption is incorrect, and that certain aspects of nature will remain unknowable to us regardless of future technological advances. This realization opens the door to a meaningful conversation between science and theology, since both disciplines implicitly accept the premise that the true nature of "reality" can never be fully grasped by the human mind.

Agnostic-Ish
Agnostic-Ish

Author: Josh Buoy

Publisher:

Published: 2016-04-09

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780692710517

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This is a book about science, religion, and the world in between. I was born into a Christian family, but fell out of religion and in love with the scientific method. I had little need of faith, I thought, when science could tell me so much more about the world, and ask so little of me in return. But as I aged into young adulthood, a new chapter of my story began. Did I really know why I believed what I believed? How could I be so certain of my convictions when I hadn't even honestly considered the evidence? This book traces my journey through the furthest reaches of thought, a journey that took me through the realms of psychology, biology, physics, and belief. Could I find a place for faith in the modern world? Or was I right to cast it off as I did?

The Unknowable and the Counterintuitive
The Unknowable and the Counterintuitive

Author: Aleksandar Zecevic

Publisher:

Published: 2018-12-31

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9781516593323

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The Unknowable and the Counterintuitive: The Surprising Insights of Modern Science explores four diverse topics--chaos theory, metamathematics, quantum mechanics, and the theory of relativity--that each challenge the traditional Newtonian paradigm. In doing so, the text encourages students to question deeply ingrained beliefs regarding nature, physical reality, and human knowledge. The book is divided into four chapters, with each focusing on a different area of modern science and mathematics. In Chapter 1, students explore chaos theory through discussions of linear systems, characteristic features of chaos, mechanisms that can lead to chaotic dynamics, and more. Chapter 2 introduces the field of metamathematics and provides a brief description of formal systems. Chapter 3 is devoted to quantum mechanics, speaking to the basic mathematical formalism used within the discipline, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, Bell's inequality, and basic concepts from group theory. The final chapter explores special relativity and general relativity. Designed to inspire students to develop a more sophisticated view of physical reality, The Unknowable and the Counterintuitive is an interdisciplinary text that is well suited for courses in science and engineering, as well as courses that address the relationship between science, religion, and the humanities. Aleksandar Zecevic is a professor of electrical engineering and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at Santa Clara University. His technical research interests include graph theoretic decomposition algorithms, electric power systems, Boolean networks, and the control of complex dynamic systems. He has published more than 40 papers in leading journals in these fields, and some of his most important results are summarized in his book, Control of Complex Systems: Structural Constraints and Uncertainty.

Biology, Religion, and Philosophy
Biology, Religion, and Philosophy

Author: Michael Peterson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-04-08

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1107031486

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A comprehensive and accessible survey of the major issues at the biology-religion interface.

Divine Teaching and the Way of the World
Divine Teaching and the Way of the World

Author: Samuel Fleischacker

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-04-21

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0191617253

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Samuel Fleischacker defends what the Enlightenment called 'revealed religion': religions that regard a certain text or oral teaching as sacred, as wholly authoritative over one's life. At the same time, he maintains that revealed religions stand in danger of corruption or fanaticism unless they are combined with secular scientific practices and a secular morality. The first two parts of Divine Teaching and the Way of the World argue that the cognitive and moral practices of a society should prescind from religious commitments — they constitute a secular 'way of the world', to adapt a phrase from the Jewish tradition, allowing human beings to work together regardless of their religious differences. But the way of the world breaks down when it comes to the question of what we live for, and it is this that revealed religions can illumine. Fleischacker first suggests that secular conceptions of why life is worth living are often poorly grounded, before going on to explore what revelation is, how it can answer the question of worth better than secular worldviews do, and how the revealed and way-of-the-world elements of a religious tradition can be brought together.

Science Set Free
Science Set Free

Author: Rupert Sheldrake

Publisher: Deepak Chopra

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0770436714

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The bestselling author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home offers an intriguing new assessment of modern day science that will radically change the way we view what is possible. In Science Set Free (originally published to acclaim in the UK as The Science Delusion), Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows the ways in which science is being constricted by assumptions that have, over the years, hardened into dogmas. Such dogmas are not only limiting, but dangerous for the future of humanity. According to these principles, all of reality is material or physical; the world is a machine, made up of inanimate matter; nature is purposeless; consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain; free will is an illusion; God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls. But should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? Sheldrake shows that the materialist ideology is moribund; under its sway, increasingly expensive research is reaping diminishing returns while societies around the world are paying the price. In the skeptical spirit of true science, Sheldrake turns the ten fundamental dogmas of materialism into exciting questions, and shows how all of them open up startling new possibilities for discovery. Science Set Free will radically change your view of what is real and what is possible.

Monopolizing Knowledge
Monopolizing Knowledge

Author: Ian Hutchinson

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2011-07-01

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0983702306

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Can real knowledge be found other than by science? In this unique approach to understanding today's culture wars, an MIT physicist answers emphatically yes. He shows how scientism --- the view that science is all the knowledge there is --- suffocates reason as well as religion. Tracing the history of scientism and its frequent confusion with science, Hutchinson explains what makes modern science so persuasive and powerful, but restricts its scope. Recognizing science's limitations, and properly identifying what we call nature, liberates both science and non-scientific knowledge.