The KLC Junior Scholars’ Reading Group looking at Herman Dooyeweerd’s book In the Twilight of Western Thought has begun, and our first session proved fascinating and thought-provoking for me. Besides Mike’s monthly posts going through each chapter ahead of our discussing it, we’ll also have some reflections from participants. I Read more…
Christian thinkers have proposed a range of ideas about what science is, ranging from reading the book of God’s works and “thinking God’s thoughts after Him” to studying how the Universe runs itself if God doesn’t intervene. Views like these were expressed by early modern scientists (Galileo, Bacon, Newton and others) who were Read more…
Richard Russell looks at the way scientific knowledge grows out of its philosophical and religious roots. What is the relation between religion (in the sense of ultimate commitments) and the academic disciplines? Frequently any positive relationship is denied. The sciences claim to have become autonomous (a law to themselves) with respect to philosophy, Read more…
Where does science come from? Historically, the predecessor of what we now call the sciences was natural philosophy, which was, evidently enough, a branch of philosophy. But when we study science at school and university, it’s rare to hear much mention of any continuing dependence on philosophy. We seem to Read more…
‘Science’ means ‘knowledge’ according to its Latin root, and that is what the pursuit of science is popularly supposed to deliver. But a little reflection shows that scientific knowledge is of a certain kind – which is powerful but with some peculiar limitations. The diagram above attempts to illustrate from a Christian perspective what scientists are doing. It could be the Read more…
Picking up my series on Christian philosophy in diagrams, I want to share an idea that really excites me at the moment – inspired by Andree Troost’s “What is Reformational Philosophy?”, which I’ve just finished reading. Perhaps not everyone finds diagrams as wonderful as I do, but they have a great ability to present complex ideas all Read more…
For the key to the icons, see this post on the multi-faceted meaning of life. We’re beginning a series exploring the outlines of a Christian philosophy of the sciences. Not, I hasten to add, the Christian Philosophy of Science (as I know there’s a tendency for the tag “Christian” to evoke a sense of dogma!). Rather, Read more…
Reductionism is a key issue in many Christian critiques of other ideologies. Claims that the rich diversity of life as we know it can be explained by a single fundamental kind of reality often sound authoritative and sensational, but fundamental substances that are supposed to underlie what we experience are thereby attributed with a kind of Read more…
Our “Christian philosophy in diagrams” series began with an ontology: things in relation over time. After ontology (what there is), philosophy typically looks at epistemology (how we know). This week I want to share a proposal based on the following diagram: The oval represents what goes on in my mind, and it’s Read more…
Last Saturday Faith-in-Scholarship hosted a workshop about Christian philosophy with Dr Jeremy Ive. Having asked what “Christian philosophy” might be, I’m now going to share the basics of a proposal concerning the structure of our experience. For now this framework is presented in Jeremy’s thesis awaiting publication… so remember, you heard Read more…