Science and soul / Charles Birch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Birch, Charles.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and science.

Physical Description:

x, 196 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Templeton Foundation Press edition.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, PA : Templeton Foundation Press, [2008]

Summary:

Preeminent evolutionary biologist Charles Birch credits many pivotal scholars in the science and science-religion worlds with shaping his worldview. In his memoir Science and Soul, he reflects on twenty leaders in these areas who became his mentors, contributing to his perception of the meaning of life, the duties of science, and his views on process-relational thought. These key figures come from the fields of modern evolutionary biology, animal ecology, the philosophy of religion, and science and religion and include Theodosius Dobzhansky, J. B. S. Haldane, Margaret Mead, Charles Elton, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Ian Barbour.

As well as exploring his personal and professional relationships with leading twentieth-century scientists and theologians, Birch also explains his belief that "religion, like science, ought to be endlessly modifiable." Coming from a restricted evangelical Christian background, Birch first encountered Alfred North Whitehead's process thought as an undergraduate, opening up for him new dimensions of Christianity and expanding his own philosophy of life. His candid commentary about process thought and its effect on his life and thinking shows how Whitehead's philosophy contributes to a belief in both science and faith.

Contents:

Evolutionary biologists

Theodosius Dobzhansky

JBS Haldane

CH Waddington

Sewall Wright

WE Agar

Animal ecologists

Charles Elton

HG Andrewartha

Thomas Park

Paul and Anne Ehrlich

Environmental ethicists

Philosophers of religion

Harry Emerson Fosdick

Charles Raven

Robert Maynard Hutchins

Charles Hartshorne

Paul Tillich

Daniel Day Williams

Reinhold Niebuhr

Science and religion

Carl von Weizsäcker

Margaret Mead

John Habgood

Ian Barbour

My philosophy of life : pansubjectivism

Worldviews

Modern worldview

Deconstructive postmodern worldview

Constructive postmodern worldview

Kinds of perception

Centrality of experience

Objections to pansubjectivism

Ecological worldview of pansubjectivism

First-person and third-person views

Internal relations

Purposive nature of experience

Values

Value of nature

Evolving cosmos

My philosophy of life : panentheism

God

History of pansubjectivism and panentheism

Practical consequences.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [188]-191)and index.

ISBN:

9781599471266

1599471264

OCLC:

165958251