Philosophy of Science

TERM PAPER The Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)
Written by

Under the Guidance of

Varun Rustagi
YIF Fellow

Dr. Dhruv Raina

Professor (History and Philosophy of Science) Jawaharlal Nehru University

The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: and whoever is moved by faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience. David Hume (1711-1776)

Since ages, there has been a constant endeavour to study the relation between the religion and the science. There was a time when science, theology and philosophy existed peacefully without any mutual conflict and refutations. There was a common quest for understanding and increasing the domain of human knowledge. But now, the harmony has been converted to the greatest rivalry of times. It was in seventeenth century that a split happened between the science and religion. It is said that this schism was a necessary benchmark in the advancement of human knowledge since rigid adherence and doctrines were halting the progress. Since then, human knowledge has been fragmented with progress. This fragmentation has also given rise to the conflict in ideologies within the community also; conflict between philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. Some say that science and religion can and do support each other. Some say that science and religion are two totally different concepts that cant have a consensus at any moment of time. However with time, a refinement has been brought into the distinctions being made between Religion and Science. The relationship between religion and science falls under the scope of the demarcation problem, where, a lot is to be known about where and how the boundary lines are to be drawn between both. Where the scientific methods rely on premises of reason and empiricism to expand, religion seeks to acknowledge faith and sacredness. However, the interaction between the two has been classified into four categories. The first and foremost type of interaction that occurs is the Conflict. As per this interaction, the two disciplines are incompatible with each other and contradict. Both have different sets of objects of study and have different basis of judgements. It was in 16th and 17th century that a rift or a conflict got produced between science and religion when Galileo contradicted the Christine doctrine about universe. The second type of interaction is Independence. As per this interaction, both fields are

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57

different and discrete to be enquired. Proponents of this conflict say that religion and science are two separate realms of enquiry. Both deals with fundamentally separate aspects of human experience and knowledge and both exist peacefully when each stays in its own domain. Thomas Kuhns, the famous philosopher of science, views were in accordance with this interaction as he talks of parallelism in between religion and science. He asserted that science is made of paradigms (a set of practices/principles that define a scientific discipline at a time) and it is similar to the secular outlooks in religion. It has been claimed that both have a threefold structure of experience, theoretical interpretation and practical application. The third interaction is about a Dialogue. As per it, both the disciplines have something to say about the phenomena in which their interests overlap. The doctrine of image of god is an instance of dialogue. It talks about a belief that God created the world and therefore humans. In this way, god arranged for humans to know the world through the scientific realm. The fourth type of interaction is about Unification. It aims at integrations of both disciplines into a single discussion and to exist harmoniously. The Bahai Faith, the monotheistic religion founded in 19th century, proposes that true religion and true science can never be in conflict. Religions like Buddhism and Hinduism have also been shown to be compatible with science. In 1966, American scholar, Ian Barbour introduced the theory of Critical Realism into the dialogue between religion and science. It talks about linkages between both disciplines. Critical realism arose in German philosophy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a reaction to idealistic and phenomenalist types of philosophy. Critical Realism is a philosophical view of knowledge which incorporates the duality of subjectivity and objectivity in it. One perspective says that it is possible to gain knowledge from the external world as it really is, independent of the human mind or subjectivity. This is called Realism. On the other hand, as per the second perspective, the idea of realism is refuted and the knowledge is acquired from the external world by critical reflection on perception. Since perception is a function of mind, hence, subjectivity is brought into. According to this Critical Realism, both religion and science are part of the same spectrum showing subjectivities and objectivities. The objective features include presence of evidences for or against a theory, common data and criteria that are paradigm independent. The subjective features include the theory on data, the resistance of comprehensive theories to falsification, and the absence of rules to choose among paradigms in both disciplines. Both science and religion make cognitive

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57

claims. Just as science attempts to explain the sense-experience taking natural world as reference, similarly, theology seeks to explain the religious experiences referring to a divine reality. Science and theology, both utilize metaphors, models and paradigms as approximate descriptions of the external reality. Hence, Ian Barbour utilized the concept of Critical Realism to cover both scientific realism and theological realism. However, there are also arguments, against transferring critical realism from science to theology. Since, the language of religion has a recommending and expressive function, but not a cognitive one; theology should not be concerned with an external divine reality. Secondly, God, which is the subject matter of theology, is considered to be wholly different from the natural world which is the subject matter of science. Theology, also, cant refer to a predictive success like science. Also, God is not accessible to sense experience and experimental control, henceforth critical reasonability is found difficult to hold same rational plausibility for theology as it holds for science. The subjective/objective commonality between religion and science is highlighted in the developing and increasing plausible paradigm of Religious Naturalism that was proposed by Ian Barbour himself. A form of religious moral life consistent with the insights of the natural sciences, religious naturalism relies on mainstream science to reinforce religious and spiritual perspectives. Science is the primary interpretive tool for religious naturalism, because, scientific methods are thought to provide the most reliable understanding of nature and the world, including human nature. The relationship between science and religion, however, is frequently portrayed as hostile, where each side refutes the claims made by the other side. As per the hostility model, scientific claims are false if religious claims are true, and religious claims are false if scientific claims are true. This hostility has been produced and raised from time to time since centuries. The conflicts in hypothesis given by Copernicus and Galileo in 16th century about the universe and Heliocentrism (the astronomical model of planets revolving around stationary sun) started this hostility between the Catholic Church and the empirical scientists. Then, in the seventeenth century, the brilliant work of Sir Isaac Newton about mechanics and laws of motion gave rise to another issue that would strain the relationship between science and religion. Newtons work was perceived in two opposite senses. Newtons work was considered by some as an argument for atheism since his model didnt talk about the role of god in the planetary motion. God was not needed to explain the behaviour of the world.

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57

Some perceived Newtons discovery, which gave universe a picture of a great machine, as an argument for theism. Newton also concluded with this inference and considered that God have a vital role in setting up the initial conditions for the universe. Another prominent battle that developed between science and religion was over Charles Darwins theory of Evolution. The assumption of fixity of species that no species can mutate into a different species, created a resistance against Darwinism. To many Christian fundamentalists, Darwins biology was unacceptable, since it refuted the Genesis concept that the world was created directly by God in a six-day period a few thousand years ago, a view known as young earth creationism. All these conflicts had a central issue of the explanation of data. The lack of consensus was not because of the difference in data, but because of the difference in the interpretations of the data. It has always been the difference in the ways of interpretation that brought differences in their interaction with the data. The question of Fact versus Faith also plays a key role in perceptions of philosophers of science, scientist and theologists. Where faith is about belief without evidence, fact on the other hand is something tangible and certain. But, even if some religious claims are not complemented with evidences it doesnt put religion on a shakier ground than science, since science also at times makes claims that are unsupported by evidences. Since the inception of the conflicts, many theologists have re-evaluated their theological inferences and significant scriptural frameworks. It was a result of this that they have started complying with the importance and accuracy of the historical narratives with the perspective of an evolutionary framework. Similarly, countless thinkers and scientists started adhering to the religious commitments and authority of sacred texts while contributing to the scientific knowledge at the same time. Thinkers like Newton, Pascal, Kepler, Einstein and many more have believed in the power of harmony between science and religion. Einstein once said, There is no necessary conflict between science and religion if the nature of religion is properly understood. Well, amidst all the perspectives regarding relationship between religion and science, the perspectives religions holds for such relationship holds much prominence. One prominent example could be of Hindu religion. Hindu religion is in itself is a metaphysical system and tradition; whereas science is non-metaphysical and doesnt accept divine or outside the system source. The relationship between science and religion can be well understood by analyzing the way members of a

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57

particular religion views its scriptures. The analysis gives two classifications: religious fundamentalism (accepting whatever is mentioned in scriptures even if it refutes reason, sense perception and modern science) and religious liberalism (considering scriptures spiritual and rejecting whatever is mentioned in scriptures if it refutes reason, sense perception and modern science). In Hinduism, there was no such dividing line between objective sciences and spiritual knowledge. Hindu scholastic activities and ancient Indian scientific advancements were so interconnected that many Hindu scriptures also serves as ancient scientific manuals. As per Hinduism school of thoughts, logical argument and rational proof is the way to obtain correct knowledge. Hinduism views that though science offers only a limited view of reality, but it offers right and correct. Hindu views on evolution go in juxtaposition with regard to evolution, creationism, and the origin of life. Samkhya, the oldest school of Hindu philosophy prescribes a particular method to analyze knowledge through three means: Pratyaka (direct sense perception), Anumna (logical inference) and abda (verbal testimony) which goes in accordance with the modern science. Similarly, Buddhism also shows interlinking with the scientific school of thoughts. Despite all the differences between science and religion, there are signs that the thwarted coexistence is thawing. The proponents of the Bahai faith provide us with one of the most balanced view that religion without science is superstition and science without religion is materialism. eIts

not wrong to expect for the future, what philosophers of science call, a paradigm shift, if science and religion are integrated that can remove all the existing voids within in the discipline of science. This unification will lead to the evolution of both the science and the religion for the betterment. The processes of experimental verification/falsification, peer review and rigorous use of reason and logical deduction along with scientific paradigms would be the aspects of science that should be retained. Though there would be aspects of Science which will be abandoned and would be considered as unsupported assumption and unnecessary philosophical baggage that hinders scientific progress. The idea that existence is material and that subjective reality is derived from the objective external universe should be given up too. Scientific Materialism would then be replaced with Scientific Idealism. It is when science and religion would work together to present a better understanding of the world, then there would be a mutual enlightenment of both science and religion.

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57

REFERENCES :Barbour, Ian G. Issues in Science and Religion (1966). New York: Harper and Row, 1971 A Hindu Primer by Shukavak N. Dasa Conflicts between Science and Religion by Bradley Sickler www.experiment-resources.com www.wikipedia.com

Dichotomy of Science and Religion (Facts v/s Faith)

Varun Rustagi_Y11M57