1st Edition

The Routledge Companion to Religion and Science

Edited By James W. Haag, Gregory R. Peterson, Michael Spezio Copyright 2012
    672 Pages
    by Routledge

    672 Pages
    by Routledge

    The field of religion and science is one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of research today. This Companion brings together an outstanding team of scholars to explore the ways in which science intersects with the major religions of the world and religious naturalism. The collection provides an overview of the field and also indicates ways in which it is developing. Its multicultural breadth and scientific rigor on topics that are and will be compelling issues in the first part of the twenty-first century and beyond will be welcomed by students and scholars alike.

    Introduction  

    PART I: Epistemology and History  A. Frameworks and Methods  1. Religion and Science in Christian Theology (F. LERON SHULTS)  2. Empiricism, Conceptual Cleavers and the Discourse on Religion and Science (FRANCISCA CHO)  3. Science and Religion: From the Historian’s Perspective (GEOFFREY CANTOR)  4. The Physics of Spirit: The Indigenous Continuity of Science and Religion (BRIAN YAZZIE BURKHART)  B. Historical Overviews  5. Islam and Science (AHMED RAGAB)  6. Christianity and Science (GARY FERNGREN)  7. Feminism, Religion and Science (J. Jeanine Thweatt-Bates)  8. Jews and the Study of Nature (NOAH EFRON)

    PART II: Scientific and Religious Models of the World  A. Cosmologies and Cosmogonies  9. Cosmology (JOEL PRIMACK AND NANCY ABRAMS)  10. Astronomy: From Star Gazing to Astrobiology (GRACE WOLF-CHASE)  11. Hindu Cosmogony/Cosmology (GERALD JAMES LARSON)  12. Modern Cosmology and Religious Naturalism (DONALD M. BRAXTON)  13. Cosmology and Theology (ANTJE JACKELEN)  B. Quantum Theoretical Approaches and Causality  14. Quantum Theoretical Approaches and CausalityGREGG JAEGER15 Quantum Mechanics and Some Hindu Perspectives (V.V. RAMAN)  16. Quantum Theory, Philosophy and Theology: Is There a Distinct Roman Catholic Perspective? (WILLIAM STOEGER, S.J.)  17. Quantum Theory, Causality, and Islamic Thought (MEHDI GOLSHANI)  C. Complexity, Emergence, and Eliminativism  18. Eliminativism, Complexity and Emergence (TERRENCE DEACON AND TYRONE CASHMAN)  19. Philosophical Implications of Emergence (TIMOTHY O’CONNOR)  20. Emergence and Christian Theology (JAMES W. HAAG)  21. Buddhism, Emergence, and Anti-Substantialism (CHARLES GOODMAN)  D. Evolutionary Biology and Suffering  22. The Biological Antecedents of Human SufferingURSULA GOODENOUGH23 Suffering through to Something Higher (HOLMES ROLSTON)  24. Magic and Monotheism and Natural Evil: Classical and Modern Jewish Responses to Suffering (LAWRENCE TROSTER)  25. The Problem of Suffering in Theistic Evolution (TED PETERS)  E. The Cognitive Sciences and Religious Experience  26. The Cognitive Sciences: A Brief Introduction for Science and Religion (MICHAEL SPEZIO)  27. Cognitive Science and Classical Buddhist Philosophy of Mind (RICHARD PAYNE)  28. Christianity and the Cognitive Sciences (CHARLENE P.E. BURNS)  29. Hinduism and the Cognitive Sciences: Challenges, Contrasts, and Confluences (STEPHEN KAPLAN)  F. Ecology and the Integrity of Nature  30. Frontiers in Religion and Ecology: Notes on the New Ecology and the Creation of Value (NATHANIEL F. BARRETT AND WILLIAM R. JORDAN III)  31. Judaism and the Science of Ecology (HAVA TIROSH-SAMUELSON)  32. Asian Religions and Ecology and the Integrity of Nature (CHRISTOPHER CHAPPLE)  33. Meaning-Making Practices and Environmental History: Toward and Ecotonal Theology (WHITNEY BAUMAN)

    PART III: Religion and Science, Values, and Public Policy  A. Origins  34. Origins (MICHAEL RUSE)  35. Creation and Liberation: The Ontology of American Indian Origins (SCOTT PRATT)  36. Origins: The Hindu Case (C. MACKENZIE BROWN)  37. Christian Responses to Evolution (CHRIS DORAN)  38 Jewish Origins: Cosmos, Humanity & Judaism (SHAI CHERRY)  B. Biotechnology and Justice  39. Biotechnology and JusticeRONALD COLE-TURNER40 Justice and Biotechnology: Protestant Views (KAREN LEBACQZ)  41. Muslim Ethics and Biotechnology (EBRAHIM MOOSA)  42. Biotechnology and Justice: Roman Catholic Perspectives (ANDREW LUSTIG)  43. Justice in the Margins of the Land: Jewish Responses to the Challenges of Biotechnology (LAURIE ZOLOTH)  C. Non-human Cognition: Animal Cognition and Artificial Intelligence   44. Ecce Pan: Primate Theory of Mind and the Notion of Awe (DAVID HARNDEN-WARWICK and JESSE M. BERING)  45. Animals as Religious and Soteriological Beings: A Hindu Perspective (ELISON BANKS FINDLY)  46. Animals and Christianity (GREGORY PETERSON)  47. Does the Buddha Have a Theory of Mind?: Animal Cognition and Human Distinctiveness in Buddhism (JONATHAN C. GOLD)  D. Aging and Life Extension  48. Prospects for the Biomedical Postponement of Aging: Technical Context for a Theological Debate (AUBREY D.N.J. DE GREY)  49. Response to Aubrey de Grey from the Perspective of Buddhism (DEREK MAHER)  50. Cosmic Aliveness: Nurturing Life in the Daoist Tradition (LIVIA KOHN)  51. A Christian Theological Response to de Grey’s Prospects for the Biomedical Postponement of Aging or What does it Mean to Live Long and Prosper? (ANN PEDERSON)  E. Transhumanism and Artificial Intelligence  52. Transhumanism and Cognitive Enhancement (DAN RIZZUTO and JOSHUA FOST)  53. Cyborgs, Robots, and Eternal Avatars: Transhumanist Salvation at the Interface of Brains and Machines (ROBERT GERACI)  54. Human Directed Evolution: A Christian Perspective (NOREEN HERZFELD)  55. American Indians, Transhumanism and Cognitive Enhancement (LEE HESTER)

    Biography

    James W. Haag is a Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Suffolk University, USA.

    Gregory R. Peterson is a Professor in the Philosophy and Religion Department at South Dakota State University, USA.

    Michael L. Spezio is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Scripps College and Visiting Faculty at the California Institute of Technology, USA.

    "For this exceptional collection, Haag, Peterson, and Spezio have brought together 55 articles authored by 60 scholars to create what is probably the best single volume anthology on science and religion currently available. These essays, and the editors' approach, represent the next generation of studies in science and religion. ...A paperback edition, when issued, would make an excellent textbook. Summing Up: Essential."   C. D. Kay, Wofford College in Choice

    "This volume is carefully designed and the articles have been imaginatively selected and commissioned. It is especially appealing for people interested in moving beyond the (perhaps tired) categories and debates that dominate extant reference works. Each group of essays contains several that move beyond the dominant framework and push into non-western traditions and even non-religious movements. This is a genuinely useful reference work that could easily serve as a key text in a class on science-religion at the advanced undergraduate college level and even in graduate schools." - Wesley J. Wildman, Boston University, USA

    "This book is an essential resource for those hesitant about engaging in the field of science and religion. It covers a variety of religious perspectives on different topics and ranges across difficult areas of theoretical or practical public and policy debate. It will challenge and inform the reader." - Celia Deane-Drummond, University of Notre Dame, USA