The Routledge Companion to Religion and Science

652 Pages·2011·5.574 MB·English

by  James W. Haag (editor), Gregory R. Peterson (editor), Michael L. Spezio (editor)

THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO RELIGION AND
SCIENCE
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. Each topic is presented in a clear, readable
fashion, ideal for scholars but also useful for upper-level undergraduates.
JamesW.HaagisaLecturerinthePhilosophyDepartmentatSuffolkUniversity,USA.
Gregory R. Peterson is a Professor in the Philosophy and Religion Department at
South Dakota State University, USA.
MichaelL.Speziois AssistantProfessorofPsychology and Neuroscience atScripps
College and Visiting Faculty at the California Institute of Technology, USA.
THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION
TO RELIGION AND SCIENCE
Edited by
James. W. Haag, Gregory R. Peterson,
and Michael L. Spezio
Firstpublishedin2012
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
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©2012JamesW.Haag,GregoryR.PetersonandMichaelL.Spezioforselectionand
editorialmatter;individualcontributors,theircontributions
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TheRoutledgecompaniontoreligionandscience/editedbyJames.W.Haag,
GregoryR.Peterson,andMichaelL.Spezio.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
1.Religionandscience.I.Haag,James.W.II.Peterson,GregoryR.,1966-III.
Spezio,MichaelL.
BL240.3.R6852011
2010.65–dc22
2011011491
ISBN:978-0-415-49244-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-80351-6(ebk)
TypesetinGoudyOldStyle
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
CONTENTS
Notes on contributors x
Introduction xxi
PART I
Epistemology and history
(i) Frameworks and methods 1
1 Religion and science in Christian theology 3
F. LERON SHULTS
2 Empiricism, conceptual cleavers, and the discourse on religion
and science 13
FRANCISCA CHO
3 Science and religion: From the historian’s perspective 24
GEOFFREY CANTOR
4 The physics of spirit: The indigenous continuity of science
and religion 34
BRIAN YAZZIE BURKHART
(ii) Historical overviews 43
5 Islam and science 45
AHMED RAGAB
6 Christianity and science 58
GARY B. FERNGREN
7 Feminism, religion, and science 69
J. JEANINE THWEATT-BATES
8 Jews and the study of nature 79
NOAH EFRON
v
CONTENTS
PART II
Scientific and religious models of the world
(i) Cosmologies and cosmogonies 91
9 Cosmology 93
JOEL R. PRIMACK AND NANCY ELLEN ABRAMS
10 Astronomy: From star gazing to astrobiology 103
GRACE WOLF-CHASE
11 Hindu cosmogony/cosmology 113
GERALD JAMES LARSON
12 Modern cosmology and religious naturalism 124
DONALD M. BRAXTON
13 Cosmology and theology 135
ANTJE JACKELÉN
(ii) Quantum theoretical approaches and causality 145
14 Quantum theoretical approaches and causality 147
GREGG JAEGER
15 Quantum mechanics and some Hindu perspectives 156
VARADARAJA V. RAMAN
16 Quantum theory, philosophy, and theology: Is there a distinct
Roman Catholic perspective? 169
WILLIAM R. STOEGER, S.J.
17 Quantum theory, causality, and Islamic thought 179
MEHDI GOLSHANI
(iii) Complexity, emergence, and eliminativism 191
18 Eliminativism, complexity, and emergence 193
TERRENCE DEACON AND TYRONE CASHMAN
19 Philosophical implications of emergence 206
TIMOTHY O’CONNOR
20 Emergence and Christian theology 213
JAMES W. HAAG
vi
CONTENTS
21 Buddhism, emergence, and anti-substantialism 223
CHARLES GOODMAN
(iv) Evolutionary biology and suffering 231
22 The biological antecedents of human suffering 233
URSULA GOODENOUGH
23 Suffering through to something higher 248
HOLMES ROLSTON, III
24 Magic, monotheism and natural evil: Classical and modern
Jewish responses to suffering 259
LAWRENCE TROSTER
25 The problem of suffering in theistic evolution 270
TED PETERS
(v) The cognitive sciences and religious experience 283
26 The cognitive sciences: A brief introduction for science
and religion 285
MICHAEL L. SPEZIO
27 Cognitive science and classical Buddhist philosophy of mind 296
RICHARD K. PAYNE
28 Christianity and the cognitive sciences 308
CHARLENE P. E. BURNS
29 Hinduism and the cognitive sciences: Challenges, contrasts,
and confluences 320
STEPHEN KAPLAN
(vi) Ecology and the integrity of nature 331
30 Frontiers in religion and ecology: Notes on the new ecology
and the creation of value 333
NATHANIEL F. BARRETT AND WILLIAM R. JORDAN, III
31 Judaism and the science of ecology 345
HAVA TIROSH-SAMUELSON
32 Asian religions, ecology, and the integrity of nature 356
CHRISTOPHER KEY CHAPPLE
vii
CONTENTS
33 Meaning-making practices and environmental history: Toward an
ecotonal theology 368
WHITNEY A. BAUMAN
PART III
Religion and science, values, and public policy
(i) Origins 379
34 Origins 381
MICHAEL RUSE
35 Creation and liberation: The ontology of American Indian origins 391
SCOTT L. PRATT
36 Origins: The Hindu case 403
C. MACKENZIE BROWN
37 Christian responses to evolution 414
CHRIS DORAN
38 Jewish origins: Cosmos, humanity, and Judaism 425
SHAI CHERRY
(ii) Biotechnology and justice 437
39 Biotechnology and justice 439
RONALD COLE-TURNER
40 Justice and biotechnology: Protestant views 449
KAREN LEBACQZ
41 Muslim ethics and biotechnology 455
EBRAHIM MOOSA
42 Biotechnology and justice: Roman Catholic perspectives 466
B. ANDREW LUSTIG
43 Justice in the margins of the land: Jewish responses to the challenges
of biotechnology 476
LAURIE ZOLOTH
(iii) Non-human cognition: animal cognition and artificial intelligence 485
44 Ecce Pan: Primate theory of mind and the notion of awe 487
DAVID HARNDEN-WARWICK AND JESSE M. BERING
viii
CONTENTS
45 Animals as religious and soteriological beings: A Hindu perspective 497
ELLISON BANKS FINDLY
46 Animals and Christianity 508
GREGORY R. PETERSON
47 Does the Buddha have a theory of mind?: Animal cognition and
human distinctiveness in Buddhism 520
JONATHAN C. GOLD
(iv) Aging and life extension 529
48 Prospects for the biomedical postponement of aging: Technical
context for a theological debate 531
AUBREY D. N. J. DE GREY
49 Response to Aubrey de Grey from the perspective of Buddhism 540
DEREK F. MAHER
50 Cosmic aliveness: Nurturing life in the Daoist tradition 549
LIVIA KOHN
51 A Christian theological response to Aubrey de Grey’s prospects for the
biomedical postponement of aging: Or: what does it mean to live
long and prosper? 558
ANN MILLIKEN PEDERSON
(v) Transhumanism and artificial intelligence 567
52 Transhumanism and cognitive enhancement 569
DANIEL S. RIZZUTO AND JOSHUA W. FOST
53 Cyborgs, robots, and eternal avatars: Transhumanist salvation at the
interface of brains and machines 578
ROBERT M. GERACI
54 Human-directed evolution: A Christian perspective 591
NOREEN HERZFELD
55 American Indians, transhumanism and cognitive enhancement 602
THURMAN LEE HESTER, JR.
Index 611
ix
CONTRIBUTORS
NancyEllenAbramsisalawyer (J.D., UniversityofMichigan)withaB.A.from the
University of Chicago in history and philosophy of science. She specializes in the
role of science in a new politics. She is an award-winning writer and co-authored,
with Joel R. Primack, The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering our
Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos (Riverhead, 2006). Abrams and Primack gave the
Terry Lectures at Yale in October 2009 on “Cosmic Society: the New Universe
and the Human Future”; their book based on those lectures will be published by
Yale University Press, spring 2011.
Nathaniel F. Barrett is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for the
Biocultural Study of Religion. His research interests include cognitive and
evolutionary theories of religion, the Chinese traditions of Daoism and Con-
fucianism, and philosophy of nature. He has published articles in Process Studies,
InternationalJournalforPhilosophyofReligion,and JournalfortheAmericanAcademy
of Religion.
Whitney A. Bauman is Assistant Professor of Religion and Science at Florida
International University. His book Theology, Creation and Environmental Ethics
(Routledge, 2009) won the Templeton Award for Theological Promise. He is
co-editor with Rick Bohannon and Kevin O’Brien of Grounding Religion: A Field
Guide to the Study of Religion and Ecology (Routledge, 2010) and Inherited Land: The
Changing Grounds of Religion and Ecology (Wipf and Stock, 2011). He is currently
working on his second manuscript, tentatively entitled Religion, Nature and Queer
Theory: Opening Spaces for Dialogue.
Jesse M. Bering is the Director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture and a
Reader in the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University, Bel-
fast, Northern Ireland. A research psychologist by training, he writes the popular
weekly column “Bering in Mind,” a featured blog for the Scientific American
website. In addition, he has published over sixty professional scientific articles,
nearly all in the area of human social evolution. He was awarded the 2010 “Sci-
entist of the Year Award” by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Sci-
entists and Technical Professionals, a division of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
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