Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
behaviour. NOMA also implies that religious people should not try to reinterpret
their beliefs in the light of scientific discoveries, which is unfair to them. It is
very clear that religion cannot, and does not, refrain from making claims that have
observable consequences in the physical world, such as the occurrence of miracles
and the answering of prayers, so it is untrue that religion and science do not overlap.
The fact that many sick people visit Lourdes every year in the hope of miraculous
cures is convincing evidence of that untruth. Nevertheless, some scientists accept the
NOMA principle. When doing their science, they accept the naturalistic assumption
that the supernatural does not exist - if they did not, they could not practise science,
as I explain above. When practising their religion, they abandon the naturalistic
assumption. In this way, they enjoy having their cake and eating it. Robert Old has
suggested that this practice by religious scientists be termed
occasional theism.
Historically, methodological naturalism has been found to be the best way we
have so far discovered to make any progress in understanding the world - it is natu-
ralism, and not supernaturalism, that has made the modern developed world. In this
world we find ourselves in the paradoxical situation that our advanced lifestyles have
been created by the application of scientific discoveries, but despite this, the vast
majority of people enjoying those lifestyles still interpret the world in a supernatural
fashion.
There are several possible reasons for this. One is that the evolutionary process
that determined how the human mind works predisposes us to interpret the world in
a supernatural fashion; I discuss this possibility later in this topic. Another reason is
that most people, including some scientists, have not been educated to understand
the basic principles by which science operates, so in Chapter 2, I describe these
principles.
Further Reading
1. Wikipedia articles provide useful, but non-peer reviewed, introductory Discussions of:
Naturalism (Philosophy)/Scientific Method/History of Science/ Origin of Religion/Evolutio-
nary Psychology of Religion.
2.
Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection
:Barbara
Forrest.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/barbara_forrest/naturalism.html
. This article
discusses the philosophical basis of naturalism.
3.
Expert Report at the Kitzmiller Dover Trial:
Robert T. Pennock.
http://www.msu.edu/˜
pennock5
/ Scroll down to 'expert report'. A philosopher of science explains how science works
and differs from religion, and why intelligent design is not a scientific concept.
