Michael Ruse provides a new analysis of the often troubled relationship between science and religion. Arguing against both extremes – in one corner, the New Atheists; in the other, the Creationists and their offspring the Intelligent Designers – he asserts that science is undoubtedly the highest and most fruitful source of human inquiry. Yet, by its very nature and its deep reliance on metaphor, science restricts itself and is unable to answer basic, significant, and potent questions about the meaning of the universe and humankind’s place within it: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the ultimate source and foundation of morality? What is the nature of consciousness? What is the meaning of it all? Ruse shows that one can legitimately be a skeptic about all of these questions, and yet why it is open for a Christian, or member of any faith, to offer answers.
• This is a major new analysis of the science-religion relationship • The book is incredibly timely, given on the one hand the great success and publicity of the so-called New Atheists (prominently Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion) and on the other hand the strong support (particularly in the USA) of various fundamentalist movements, most recently so-called Intelligent Design Theorists • Michael Ruse is a very well-known figure who has been at the forefront of the science-religion debate for over 30 years
Contents
Introduction; 1. The world as an organism; 2. The world as a machine; 3. Organisms as machines; 4. Thinking machines; 5. Unasked questions, unsolved problems; 6. Organicism; 7. God; 8. Morality, souls, eternity, mystery; Conclusion.
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