Religion and Scientific Naturalism: Overcoming the Conflicts

Religion and Scientific Naturalism......Page 1
CONTENTS......Page 7
INTRODUCTION TO SUNY SERIES IN CONSTRUCTION POSTMODERN THOUGHT*......Page 8
PREFACE......Page 13
PART I— SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND NATURALISM......Page 16
1— Science, Religion, and Worldview......Page 17
The Relation between Science and Religion: Three Views......Page 19
Whitehead's Position......Page 23
Scientific Naturalism......Page 25
Four Kinds of Conflict......Page 26
The Road to Harmony......Page 31
Preview of the Following Chapters......Page 32
2— The Modern Conflict between Religion and Scientific Naturalism......Page 36
From Dualistic Supernaturalism to Materialistic Atheism......Page 38
Ontological Dualism......Page 39
Supernaturalistic Theism......Page 40
From Supernaturalistic Theism to Deism to Atheism......Page 41
From Dualism to Epiphenomenalism to Materialism......Page 42
The Resulting Conflict between Religion and Scientific Naturalism......Page 43
The Historical Rise of Minimal Scientific Naturalism......Page 47
The Widespread Equation of Naturalism with Naturalismsam......Page 49
Historical Reasons for the Equation of Naturalism with Naturalismsam......Page 51
The Scheme of Primary, and Secondary Causation......Page 52
Modern Assumptions Excluding Constitutive Divine Influence......Page 54
A Way Beyond Conflict......Page 55
3— Harmonizing Science and Religion: Three Alternative Approaches......Page 58
The Proposal for a Theistic Science......Page 59
The Case against Naturalismsam......Page 60
The Case for Theistic Science vs. Methodological Atheism......Page 62
Problems in the Plantinga-Johnson Proposal for a Theistic Science......Page 64
The Proposal to Place Scientific Naturalism within a Supernaturalistic Framework......Page 69
Evaluation of the Proposal......Page 72
A Completely Consistent Methodological Naturalism: Rudolf Otto's Proposal......Page 75
The Proposal to Accommodate Religion to Maximal Naturalism......Page 78
Maximal Naturalism and Minimal Religion......Page 79
Why Accept Materialistic Naturalism?......Page 82
The Assumed Adequacy of Materialistic Naturalism......Page 84
The Problems of Subjectivity and Freedom......Page 90
Summary......Page 94
4— Whitehead's Scientific and Religious Naturalism......Page 96
Deweyan Naturalism......Page 97
The Naturalism of James Bissett Pratt......Page 101
Whitehead's Naturalistic Theism......Page 103
The Rejection of Creatio Ex Nihilo......Page 104
The Rejection of Extreme Voluntarism......Page 105
The Rejection of (Supernatural) Miracles......Page 106
A God-Shaped Hole without a God of the Gaps......Page 107
Divine Influence and the Metaphysical Principles......Page 110
Hard-core Common Sense......Page 112
Panexperientialism and Freedom......Page 115
Panexperientialism and Divine Influence in Nature......Page 116
Panexperientialism and Life after Death......Page 117
Scientific Developments Supportive of a More Open Naturalism......Page 118
Summary and Conclusion......Page 120
5— Religion and the Rise of the Modern Scientific Worldview......Page 121
The Three-Way Battle of Worldviews in the Seventeenth Century......Page 124
The Neoplatonic-Magical-Spiritualist Tradition......Page 125
The Legal-Mechanical Tradition......Page 128
Reasons for the Victory of the Legal-Mechanical View......Page 130
Political Stability......Page 131
The Existence and Transcendence of God......Page 132
Life after Death......Page 136
Miracles......Page 138
Witchcraft......Page 140
Summary and Conclusion......Page 145
PART II— HARMONIZING SCIENCE AND RELIGION WITHIN WHITEHEADIAN NATURALISM......Page 148
The Modern Mind-Body Problem......Page 149
Problems Created by Eliminative Materialism......Page 150
The Theological Basis for the Modern View of Matter......Page 152
The Predictability of the Present Impasse......Page 154
Dualism's Difficulties......Page 155
Popper and Eccles......Page 156
H. D. Lewis......Page 157
Geoffrey Madell......Page 161
Searle on the Scientific Impossibility of Freedom......Page 163
The Emergence of Consciousness: Searle's Position......Page 170
The Emergence of Consciousness: Nagel's Position......Page 172
McGinn on Mind-Matter Mystery......Page 173
Swinburne's Supernaturalism......Page 176
McGinn's Fideism......Page 177
The Neglected Alternative: Panexperientialism......Page 178
Temporality and Panexperientialism......Page 180
Nondualistic Interactionism......Page 185
Panexperientialist Emergence......Page 187
Two Modes of Creativity......Page 188
The Relation between Efficient and Final Causation......Page 189
The Previous Exclusion of Parapsychology......Page 191
Parapsychology and Its Data......Page 195
Anecdotal Evidence......Page 196
Evidence from Methodical Investigations of Spontaneous Cases......Page 198
Experimental Evidence......Page 202
Parapsychology: Science or Pseudoscience?......Page 206
Some Common Reasons for the Pseudoscience Charge......Page 208
The Real Reason for the Pseudoscience Charge......Page 211
The Claim That Parapsychology's Phenomena Conflict with Scientific Laws......Page 214
The Claim That Parapsychology's Phenomena Conflict with the Scientific Worldview......Page 216
Parapsychology and Basic Limiting Principles......Page 218
Parapsychology and Influence at a Distance......Page 220
Parapsychology and Repeatable Experiments......Page 222
The Elusive Nature of Psi......Page 226
Psi in the Framework of Panexperientialism......Page 231
The Possibility of Receptive Psi or Extrasensory Perception......Page 232
The Rarity of Conscious Extrasensory Perception......Page 234
The Possibility of Expressive Psi or Psychokinesis......Page 236
The Special Case of Apparent Precognition......Page 240
Negative and Positive Importance......Page 242
Religious Experience......Page 243
Normative Experience......Page 244
Divine Action......Page 246
Spiritual Discipline......Page 247
Spiritual Healing......Page 248
Life after Death......Page 249
Introduction......Page 253
Darwinian Evolutionism1......Page 256
Darwinian Evolutionism3......Page 257
Darwinian Evolutionism4......Page 258
Darwinian Evolutionism5......Page 259
Darwinian Evolutionism6......Page 260
Darwinian Evolutionism7......Page 261
Darwinian Evolutionism8......Page 262
Darwinian Evolutionism9......Page 263
Darwinian Evolutionism10......Page 266
Darwinian Evolutionism11......Page 268
Darwinian Evolutionism12......Page 270
Darwinian Evolutionism13......Page 273
Darwinian Evolutionism14......Page 274
Philosophical Problems of Darwinian Evolutionism......Page 277
Empirical Difficulties of Neo-Darwinism as a Scientific Theory......Page 283
Evidence for Need-Induced Inheritable Variations......Page 284
The Clash Between Gradualism and the Fossil Record......Page 289
A Conceptual Correlate to the Fossil Problem......Page 295
The Rise of Life Itself......Page 298
Implications for Understanding Evolution......Page 300
Real Chance......Page 302
Naturalism and Uniformitarianism......Page 303
Theistic Guidance Without Supernaturalism......Page 304
Cosmic Support for Truth, Beauty, and Morality......Page 305
Evolutionary Progress......Page 307
Radical Empiricism and Uniformitarianism......Page 308
Beyond Reductionism and Determinism......Page 309
Inheritance of Novelty......Page 310
Divinely Induced Novelty......Page 311
Evolutionary Progress and the Inner Criterion of Success......Page 312
Inner Gradualism and Outer Saltationism......Page 314
Whitehead and Punctuated Equilibria......Page 316
Whitehead on Divinely Induced Ideals......Page 317
No Supersaltations......Page 319
The Origin of Our Universe......Page 320
Summation......Page 321
9— Epilogue......Page 323
References......Page 329
NOTE ON SUPPORTING CENTER......Page 347
C......Page 348
D......Page 349
G......Page 350
L......Page 351
N......Page 352
P......Page 353
S......Page 354
U......Page 355
Y......Page 356