Exploring Reality
Encyclopedia
Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science & Religion is a book by John Polkinghorne
which offers a "progress report" on his "search for truth. All my life I have been trying to explore reality. That exploration includes science, but it also necessarily takes me beyond it. The process of investigation has a spiral character, as tackling the issues draws the explorer inwards towards a deeper engagement with the multidimensional character of reality"
in the UK and by Yale University Press
in the USA, in 2005. ISBN 0-300-11014-6
against Postmodernism
.
2. The Causal Nexus of the World suggests that "scientifically our knowledge is still pretty patchy, excellent within certain well-defined domains but often unable to make satisfactory connections between different domains. The problematic of the relationship of Quantum physics to Classical physics
provides an instructive example" and also that "matters of causality
... are not finally settled by science alone. Ultimate conclusions have to rest on the foundation of a metaphysical
decision."(p xii)
In 3. Human Nature he notes that Charles Kingsley
and Frederick Temple
welcomed Charles Darwin
's insights, which also implied a level of continuity between humans and other animals. However he notes that humans abilities in language, science and rationality are very different from those of animals. He says "the fact that we share 98.4% of our DNA with chimpanzees shows the fallacy of genetic reductionism, rather than proving that we are only apes who are slightly different. After all I share 99.9% of my DNA with J. S. Bach, but that fact carries no implication of a close correspondence between our musical abilities"(p45). He suggests that "while natural selection
has been an important factor in the development of life on Earth, it is by no means obvious that it is the only type of process involved" and that "the attempt to force classical Darwinian thinking into the role of an explanatory principle of almost universal scope has proved singularly unconvincing as it seeks to inflate an assembly of half-truths into a theory of everything". He believes that Evolutionary epistemology is also based on a half-truth. Being able to make sense of everyday experience is a vital asset, yet when Newton
discovered universal gravity, something happened that went far beyond anything needed for survival and that rational feats like proving Fermat's Last Theorem
go far beyond anything susceptible to Darwinian explanation.
John Polkinghorne
John Charlton Polkinghorne KBE FRS is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer, and Anglican priest. He was professor of Mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest...
which offers a "progress report" on his "search for truth. All my life I have been trying to explore reality. That exploration includes science, but it also necessarily takes me beyond it. The process of investigation has a spiral character, as tackling the issues draws the explorer inwards towards a deeper engagement with the multidimensional character of reality"
Publication Information
The book is published by SPCKSPCK
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is the oldest Anglican mission organisation. It was founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray , and a small group of friends. The most important early leaders were Anton Wilhelm Boehm and court preacher Friedrich Michael Ziegenhagen...
in the UK and by Yale University Press
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
in the USA, in 2005. ISBN 0-300-11014-6
Synopsis
In 1. Reality Polkinghorne explains "how natural the task of exploring reality is for someone whose intellectual formation has been in the sciences"(p xi) and asserts his belief in Critical realismCritical realism
In the philosophy of perception, critical realism is the theory that some of our sense-data can and do accurately represent external objects, properties, and events, while other of our sense-data do not accurately represent any external objects, properties, and events...
against Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
.
2. The Causal Nexus of the World suggests that "scientifically our knowledge is still pretty patchy, excellent within certain well-defined domains but often unable to make satisfactory connections between different domains. The problematic of the relationship of Quantum physics to Classical physics
Classical physics
What "classical physics" refers to depends on the context. When discussing special relativity, it refers to the Newtonian physics which preceded relativity, i.e. the branches of physics based on principles developed before the rise of relativity and quantum mechanics...
provides an instructive example" and also that "matters of causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
... are not finally settled by science alone. Ultimate conclusions have to rest on the foundation of a metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
decision."(p xii)
In 3. Human Nature he notes that Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...
and Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple was an English academic, teacher, churchman and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1896 until his death.-Early life:...
welcomed Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's insights, which also implied a level of continuity between humans and other animals. However he notes that humans abilities in language, science and rationality are very different from those of animals. He says "the fact that we share 98.4% of our DNA with chimpanzees shows the fallacy of genetic reductionism, rather than proving that we are only apes who are slightly different. After all I share 99.9% of my DNA with J. S. Bach, but that fact carries no implication of a close correspondence between our musical abilities"(p45). He suggests that "while natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
has been an important factor in the development of life on Earth, it is by no means obvious that it is the only type of process involved" and that "the attempt to force classical Darwinian thinking into the role of an explanatory principle of almost universal scope has proved singularly unconvincing as it seeks to inflate an assembly of half-truths into a theory of everything". He believes that Evolutionary epistemology is also based on a half-truth. Being able to make sense of everyday experience is a vital asset, yet when Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
discovered universal gravity, something happened that went far beyond anything needed for survival and that rational feats like proving Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two....
go far beyond anything susceptible to Darwinian explanation.