This book investigates the nature and relevance of conjunctive explanations in the context of science and religion. It explores questions concerning how scientific and religious explanations for features of the world or phenomena within it relate to each other and whether they might work together in mutually enriching ways. The chapters address topics including the relationship between Darwinian and teleological explanations, non-reductive explanations of mind and consciousness, and explanations of Christian faith and religious experience, while others explore theological and philosophical issues concerning the nature and feasibility of conjunctive explanations. Overall, the contributions help to provide conceptual clarity on how scientific and religious explanations might or might not work together conjunctively as well as exploring how these ideas relate to specific topics in science and religion more generally.
Table of Contents:
Conjunctive Explanations in Science and Religion: An Introduction
Diarmid A. Finnegan, David H. Glass, Mikael Leidenhag and David N. Livingstone
CONVERSATION I Explanation in Science and Religion
1 Conjunctive Explanations: How Science and Religion Can Work Together
David H. Glass
Conjuctive Explanations: A Response
Aku Visala
2 Agents as Difference Makers, or Why Many Human Actions Have Mental Causes
Aku Visala
Agents as Difference Makers: A Response
David H. Glass
CONVERSATION II Designing Darwinism
3 The Telos of Darwin’s Troubling Metaphor: Darwin’s Pigeons, Dennett’s Cranes, Fodor’s Granny
David N. Livingstone
The Telos of Darwin’s Troubling Metaphor: A Response
E. V. Rope Kojonen
4 Asa Gray vs. Charles Darwin: Evaluating the Darwinian Case against Conjunctive Explanations
E. V. Rope Kojonen
Asa Gray vs. Charles Darwin: A Response
David N. Livingstone
CONVERSATION III Irreducibilities, Material and Mental
5 God, Consciousness and Conjunctive Explanations
Joanna Leidenhag
God, Consciousness and Conjunctive Explanations: A Response
Tom Mcleish
6 Complementary Causation and Emergence: A Substrate for Conjunctive Explanations
Tom Mcleish
Complementary Causation and Emergence: A Response
Joanna Leidenhag
CONVERSATION IV Divine Causes and Mental Beliefs
7 A Conjunctive Explanation About Psychopathology? Hearing Voices, Psychosis and Religious Experience
Anastasia Philippa Scrutton
A Conjunctive Explanation about Psychopathology? A Response
Andrew Torrance
8 A Conjunctive Explanation of the Mental Phenomenon of Christian Faith
Andrew Torrance
A Conjunctive Explanation of the Mental Phenomenon of Christian Faith: A Response
Anastasia Philippa Scrutton
CONVERSATION V The (Im)possibility of Theological Explanations
9 Are Theological Explanations Superfluous? The Cognitive Science of Religion and Ockham’s Razor
Gijsbert Van Den Brink
Are Theological Explanations Superfluous? A Response
David O. Brown
10 A Re-Evaluation of Non-Overlapping Magisteria
David O. Brown
A Re-Evaluation of Non-Overlapping Magisteria: A Response
Gijsbert Van Den Brink
CONVERSATION VI Explanatory Virtues: Theological Explorations
11 John Polkinghorne on Conjunctive Explanation
Stephen N. Williams
John Polkinghorne on Conjunctive Explanation: A Response
Alister Mcgrath
12 An Explanatory Mosaic
Alister Mcgrath
An Explanatory Mosaic: A Response
Stephen N. Williams
About the Author :
Diarmid A. Finnegan is a Reader in the Geography, the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.
David H. Glass is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing at Ulster University, Northern Ireland.
Mikael Leidenhag is a Research Fellow in the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
David N. Livingstone is a Professor in Geography, the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Review :
“[Conjunctive Explanations in Science and Religion] exemplifies outstanding scholarship in science, religion, and science and religion since all authors are erudite in multiple disciplines and skilful in conveying their positions in a persuasive manner. […] This book serves as an excellent guide to navigating one of the most fundamental questions in the field of science and religion, namely the meaning of explanation and its various levels […] Readers who can unpack this book will undoubtedly profit much from its rich content and wide scope.”
- Zishang Yue in Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences
“This edited volume explores the potential of conjunctive explanations formed by conjoining scientific and religious explanations. […] In sum, although not all the chapters of this volume are intimately connected to the notion of conjunctive explanation, each of them is an insightful and thought-provoking contribution to the science-religion dialogue.”
- Matthias Egg in Science & Christian Belief
