2014 Program
Schedule
8:30 am Registration and Breakfast (HYH118)
9:00 am Devotional, John Peckham, Associate Professor of Theology and Christian Philosophy, Andrews University
9:20 am Welcome, Andrea Luxton, Provost, Andrews University
9:30 am Keynote Address, Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary, The Myth of the Science-Religion Wars—and Why it Matters to your Kids
10:30 am Break
10:45 am John Slattery, Doctoral Student, University of Notre Dame, Faith, Reason, and Science? The Applicability of Thomas Kuhn to Christian Theology’s Dialogue with “Science”
11:15 am Karl Bailey, Associate Professor of Psychology, Andrews University, Folk Intuitions About Human Nature Among Nonreductive Physicalist Christians
11:45 am Lunch (HYH207)
1:15 pm Issachar Scholar Presentation: Mateja Plantak, Graduate Student, Andrews University, Newton and Prophecy: What He Said and Why it Matters
1:45 pm Panel Discussion with Nancey Murphy, John Slattery, and Karl Bailey
Moderated by Gary Burdick, Professor of Physics and Associate Dean for Research, Andrews University
3:00 pm Breakout sessions
4:00 pm Synthesis
4:30 pm Worship led by Charles Reid, Associate Professor of Voice, Andrews University
5:00 pm Supper (HYH207)
Abstracts
Nancey Murphy, The Myth of the Science-Religion Wars—and Why it Matters to your Kids
No matter how much has been written by historians debunking the warfare myth, it still has a tremendous influence in American culture. This lecture intends to make a small contribution to providing a more accurate picture of the relations between Christianity and the sciences, both past and present.
John Slattery, Faith, Reason, and Science? The Applicability of Thomas Kuhn to Christian Theology’s Dialogue with “Science”
In 1962, Thomas Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, a groundbreaking work in the philosophy of science that not only altered the public view of science, but helped to create entirely new disciplines within history, sociology, and philosophy. Too often cast into the pool of “postmodernism” in theological writings, Kuhn was instead a historian and philosopher who argued that we reconsider the transformations and apparent progressions of science in light of the often-missed subtleties of human behavior and human desires. What one person sees as objective fact, another sees as a theory to be proven. What is good science today might become poorly done science tomorrow. This presentation will analyze the major arguments of Kuhn as well as his contemporary counterparts, and will argue that Christian theology has yet to adequately grasp and struggle with his philosophical argument, especially in terms of the dialogue with science. Kuhn’s view of science must help theologians see this human phenomenon in a completely new light—not simply as a producer of novel things, but as one extension of humanity’s desire for rational knowledge of God—an extension, however, that is completely embedded in and victim to the demands and prejudices of culture.
Karl Bailey, Folk Intuitions About Human Nature Among Nonreductive Physicalist Christians
Recent work at the intersection of social psychology and experimental philosophy has examined folk intuitions or lay beliefs about a number of philosophical issues, including free will. These discussions are important, because they take place in the context of the popularization of a particularly reductionist form of physicalism—one that restricts free will and conscious experience to mere convenient illusions. A few studies and commentators have gone so far as to suggest that while we (the notionally unified cognitive scientists and philosophers) might ‘know’ that there is no real agentive consciousness or free will, we should not tell anyone else, as morality may suffer in the face of a putative illusory subjective experience. On the other hand, rather than primitive and limited notions, social psychology and experimental philosophy paint a picture of rich folk intuitions that—at least in some cases—are at ease with complex tensions. What of Christians who as a group espouse a doctrine of nonreductive physicalism in contrast to a popularized reductive physicalism and a normative Christian dualism? I will report on some recent work characterizing folk intuitions among physicalist Christians.
About the Speakers
Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary
Nancey Murphy is professor of philosophy at Fuller Seminary, Pasadena. She received the Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley (philosophy of science) and the Th.D. from the Graduate Theological Union. Her first book, Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning, won the American Academy of Religion award for excellence. She is author of eight other books and co-editor of twelve. Her most recent is (with Warren Brown) Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. Her research focuses on the role of modern and postmodern philosophy in shaping Christian theology; on relations between theology and science; and on neuroscience and philosophy of mind.
John Slattery, Doctoral Student, University of Notre Dame
John Slattery is a doctoral student in Systematic Theology and the History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame, having received his Master’s degree in Theology from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. John’s current dissertation focus lie in the applicability of Thomas Kuhn’s philosophical ideas in discussions of tradition and continuity in theology, especially as related to the transition from 19th to 20th century Roman Catholic thought. His other research interests include Black Catholic liberation theology, the relationship of theology to philosophy more generally, contemporary political theologies of Johann Baptiste-Metz and M. Shawn Copeland, and the philosophy of the late Rev. Ernan McMullin.
Karl Bailey, Associate Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Program Coordinator, Andrews University
Karl Bailey received his PhD in psychology, with a specialization in cognitive science, from Michigan State University. He has taught at Andrews University since 2004, and has directed the Behavioral Neuroscience Program since 2011. Bailey is one of the most active undergraduate research mentors on campus, supervising over 100 individual projects since arriving at Andrews. He and his students are currently working on problems in visual cognition, internalization of religious behavior, and cognitive load.