Complexity Thesis Category
John W. Draper on Natural Law and Providence
Posted on July 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
Descartes viewed nature as created by a wise Creator, who had created the universe from nothing and let it run, like a machine, by itself. That is, there was no need for God to constantly intervene. By contrast, Gassendi believed that the laws we discover in nature are our laws, not God’s, and therefore he […]
Phrenology, the Origins of Scientific Naturalism, and Herbert Spencer’s “Religion of the Heart”
Posted on August 24, 2014 1 Comment
Over the weekend I came across several interconnecting books and themes. The first was John van Wyhe’s excellent Phrenology and the Origins of Victorian Scientific Naturalism (2004), which traces the origins of scientific naturalism back to British phrenology. In this book Wyhe takes the “social interests” approach, resting on the “common-sense assumption,” he writes in […]
Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science
Posted on February 21, 2014 Leave a Comment
Few subjects elicit stronger responses than the relationship between science and religion. How best to characterize this relationship? According to recent historical work, “No generalization has proved more seductive and tenacious than that of ‘conflict.’” Such generalizations, or assumptions, are widely prevalent in contemporary culture. In popular press, in journalism, and even among some academic […]