Monday, October 29, 2007
Science and Naturalism
Two of the better thinkers in the Godblogosphere, Joe Carter and Matt Anderson, have written recently about methodological naturalism, and specifically, it's limitations. Said Joe:
Methodological naturalism is a an a priori agreement about what science does, and does not do. Yes, that means a priori limitations to science, limitations they rightly point out, but that does not make the approach somehow invalid, just limited. Yes, it is true, many get too big for their britches and think that they can answer everything naturalistically, but they simply make the mistake of conflating a self-imposed limitation as the edge of reality.
Science is about measurement, as such it must remain naturalistic in its approach. One simply cannot measure the other-than-natural. Science without its methodological naturalism will become something other than science. Science is limited, but it is not "wrong." Some scientists are.
The biggest problem with this discussion in that it has no endpoint because the answer lies in the a priori assumptions. There is other-than-nature or there is not. Science will never prove the proposition one way or the other, and religion/philosophy will never be able to demonstrate the reality of other-than-nature with the rigor that science demands.
I have seen this discussion/debate carried out in various settings and with various people for years and years. The debate is never settled, but what does happen is Christ reigns, most often in the lives of the people most vociferously opposed to it initially, and yet they still do not have the debate resolved. How does that work?
Simple, because the people involved in the discussion are used by the Holy Spirit to reach people on levels they did not even know existed. I have found that in such debates it is far more important to work on my gracefulness and love and other fruits of the Spirit than it is to hone my arguments. I do not herein imply that Joe or Matt lack these things, they are both gracious gentlemen.
But I do often wonder about the energy put into the discussion? Can that grace be communicated in the written word? Well, certainly the Holy Spirit can communicate however He sees fit, but can I? Not sure, just know where I want to put my energy.
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If God can be discerned from the evidence of creation, than the evidence of God is detectable by empirical observation and study of the natural world. The Christian must therefore completely reject philosophical naturalism. We might also conclude that methodological naturalism is flawed and a hindrance to science. Though the method may be adequate for some purposes, it is unnecessarily self-limiting and should be rejected.Said Matt:
In other words, asking some questions of nature and not others will inevitably lead to an incomplete–and in that respect, inaccurate–model. What this means, however, is that the notion that we can understand the material composition of a thing abstracted from its form or purpose is questionable. We will certainly learn a lot about the material composition–we may even be able to manipulate that object in interesting and “productive” ways. But we will not understand that which we are manipulating. The formal and final causes–the “what is it” and “what is it for”–relate to the material and efficient causes. To see them as isolated divides reality from itself, giving us a stunted impression of both the material and efficient causes on the one hand, and the formal and final causes on the other. (This may be the difference between modern and medieval science: the medievals wanted understanding, leaving the control to the magicians, whereas moderns more often allow the desire for control to motivate their scientific endeavors).These are really smart guys and far better philosophers than I am, but, as far as I know, they have never done actual science, something I do routinely.
Methodological naturalism is a an a priori agreement about what science does, and does not do. Yes, that means a priori limitations to science, limitations they rightly point out, but that does not make the approach somehow invalid, just limited. Yes, it is true, many get too big for their britches and think that they can answer everything naturalistically, but they simply make the mistake of conflating a self-imposed limitation as the edge of reality.
Science is about measurement, as such it must remain naturalistic in its approach. One simply cannot measure the other-than-natural. Science without its methodological naturalism will become something other than science. Science is limited, but it is not "wrong." Some scientists are.
The biggest problem with this discussion in that it has no endpoint because the answer lies in the a priori assumptions. There is other-than-nature or there is not. Science will never prove the proposition one way or the other, and religion/philosophy will never be able to demonstrate the reality of other-than-nature with the rigor that science demands.
I have seen this discussion/debate carried out in various settings and with various people for years and years. The debate is never settled, but what does happen is Christ reigns, most often in the lives of the people most vociferously opposed to it initially, and yet they still do not have the debate resolved. How does that work?
Simple, because the people involved in the discussion are used by the Holy Spirit to reach people on levels they did not even know existed. I have found that in such debates it is far more important to work on my gracefulness and love and other fruits of the Spirit than it is to hone my arguments. I do not herein imply that Joe or Matt lack these things, they are both gracious gentlemen.
But I do often wonder about the energy put into the discussion? Can that grace be communicated in the written word? Well, certainly the Holy Spirit can communicate however He sees fit, but can I? Not sure, just know where I want to put my energy.
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