Science and Religion in Search of Cosmic Purpose

Science and Religion in Search of Cosmic Purpose PDF Author: John F. Haught
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780878407699
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
This stimulating book offers candid reflections on the question of cosmic purpose written both by prominent scientists and by scholars representing the world's religious traditions. Examining the issue from a wide variety of perspectives, this is the only current book to deal with cosmic purpose from an interreligious and interdisciplinary perspective. The contributions address the question of whether a religiously-based notion of a purposeful cosmos is consistent with the latest scientific understanding of nature, and whether theology can affirm the presence of divine action without contradicting science.

Science and Religion in Search of Cosmic Purpose

Science and Religion in Search of Cosmic Purpose PDF Author: John F. Haught
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780878407699
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Get Book Here

Book Description
This stimulating book offers candid reflections on the question of cosmic purpose written both by prominent scientists and by scholars representing the world's religious traditions. Examining the issue from a wide variety of perspectives, this is the only current book to deal with cosmic purpose from an interreligious and interdisciplinary perspective. The contributions address the question of whether a religiously-based notion of a purposeful cosmos is consistent with the latest scientific understanding of nature, and whether theology can affirm the presence of divine action without contradicting science.

Purpose in the Universe

Purpose in the Universe PDF Author: Tim Mulgan
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191066575
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
Two familiar worldviews dominate Western philosophy: materialist atheism and the benevolent God of the Abrahamic faiths. Tim Mulgan explores a third way. Ananthropocentric Purposivism claims that there is a cosmic purpose, but human beings are irrelevant to it. Purpose in the Universe develops a philosophical case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism that it is at least as strong as the case for either theism or atheism. The book borrows traditional theist arguments to defend a cosmic purpose. These include cosmological, teleological, ontological, meta-ethical, and mystical arguments. It then borrows traditional atheist arguments to reject a human-centred purpose. These include arguments based on evil, diversity, and the scale of the universe. Mulgan also highlights connections between morality and metaphysics, arguing that evaluative premises play a crucial and underappreciated role in metaphysical debates about the existence of God, and Ananthropocentric Purposivism mutually supports an austere consequentialist morality based on objective values. He concludes that, by drawing on a range of secular and religious ethical traditions, a non-human-centred cosmic purpose can ground a distinctive human morality. Our moral practices, our view of the moral universe, and our moral theory are all transformed if we shift from the familiar choice between a universe without meaning and a universe where humans matter to the less self-aggrandising thought that, while it is about something, the universe is not about us.

Purpose in the Universe

Purpose in the Universe PDF Author: Tim Mulgan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199646147
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Two familiar worldviews dominate Western philosophy: materialist atheism and the benevolent God of the Abrahamic faiths. Tim Mulgan defends a third way. Ananthropocentric Purposivism claims that there is a cosmic purpose, but human beings are irrelevant to it. He argues that non-human-centred cosmic purpose can ground a distinctive human morality.

Why? The Purpose of the Universe

Why? The Purpose of the Universe PDF Author: Philip Goff
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198883781
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Why are we here? What's the point of existence? On the 'big questions' of meaning and purpose, Western thought has been dominated by the dichotomy of traditional religion and secular atheism. In this pioneering work, Philip Goff argues that it is time to move on from both God and atheism. Through an exploration of contemporary cosmology and cutting-edge philosophical research on consciousness, Goff argues for cosmic purpose: the idea that the universe is directed towards certain goals, such as the emergence of life. In contrast to religious thinkers, Goff argues that the traditional God is a bad explanation of cosmic purpose. Instead, he explores a range of alternative possibilities for accounting for cosmic purpose, from the speculation that we live in a computer simulation to the hypothesis that the universe itself is a conscious mind. Goff scrutinizes these options with analytical rigour, laying the foundations for a new paradigm of philosophical enquiry into the middle ground between God and atheism. Ultimately, Goff outlines a way of living in hope that cosmic purpose is still unfolding, involving political engagement and a non-literalist interpretation of traditional religion.

Cosmic Purpose

Cosmic Purpose PDF Author: Toyohiko Kagawa
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1625645090
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
On Christmas Eve in 1909, twenty-one-year-old Kagawa Toyohiko (1888-1960) rented a room in K?be's worst slum where, apart from two years of study in the United States, he remained with his wife and co-worker Haru for more than ten years. They engaged in pastoral work, evangelism, social reform movements, and literary activities, founding numerous institutions that are still in operation today. After publishing a best-selling novel in 1920, Kagawa began to draw the attention of people from around Japan and the world. His literary output was prodigious, amounting to more than 300 books. Often compared with his contemporaries Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer, Kagawa was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1947, 1948) and three times for the Nobel Peace Prize (1954, 1955, 1956). Challenging the materialism of Charles Darwin and the claim of H. G. Wells that "we must give up any idea that evolution is purposeful," Cosmic Purpose draws on research in physics, chemistry, astrophysics, mineralogy, genetics, and biology to offer evidence of purpose in the vast span of evolutionary history from the atom to human consciousness. In his attempt to renew our sense of wonder at this process, Kagawa proposes a "logic of finality" that links life to purpose.

Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential

Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential PDF Author: Ted Chu
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN: 1579830234
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
For millennia, great thinkers have contemplated the meaning and purpose of human existence; but while most assumed that humanity was the end point of creation or the pinnacle of evolution, Ted Chu makes the provocative claim that the human race may in fact be a means rather than an end—that humankind will give rise to evolutionary successors. In this wide-ranging and authoritative work, Chu reexamines the question of human purpose in light of the extraordinary developments of science and technology. Arguing that a deep understanding of our place in the universe is required to navigate the magnitude of the choices that lie ahead, he surveys human wisdom from both East and West, traces the evolutionary trajectory that has led to this point, and explores the potentials emerging on the scientific frontier. The book addresses the legitimate fears and concerns of “playing God” but embraces the possibility of transcending biological forms and becoming or creating entirely new life-forms.

Cosmic Messengers

Cosmic Messengers PDF Author: Elizabeth Peru
Publisher: Hay House UK Limited
ISBN: 1788170644
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Cosmic Messengers is a roadmap home to understanding soul, your place in the universe and the role of cosmic energy in accelerating your life purpose. As you awaken to a higher consciousness, you can remember why you're here, what you're good at and how you can fulfil your purpose, all with an energetic momentum. By becoming 'cosmically aware' you'll develop a deeper appreciation of your reason for being, and how you can impact the globe with your unique talents and skills. There are thirteen 'universal secrets' which, when applied, will accelerate your life purpose. You'll learn about energy, dimensions, planetary bodies, the human soul and personality, our spiritual reality, cosmic awareness, our spirit and angelic guides, momentum, resistance, the power of secrecy and using our imagination and intuition to walk our unique path. Plus, there are two valuable reference guides detailing 'The Common Physical Symptoms of Energy Shifts and Accelerating Your Life Purpose' and 'The Cosmic Reasons for Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Life Issues'. You'll be actively engaged throughout Cosmic Messengers via self-enquiry practices and guided meditations, which reinforce your understanding of who you are and your role in the cosmos. You'll receive answers from within, learn how to draw out your ancient wisdom and be guided to put your innate knowledge, skills and talents to work in living on purpose and becoming your own life guide.

Seeing All Things Whole

Seeing All Things Whole PDF Author: Thomas John Hastings
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498204082
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Kagawa Toyohiko was one of the best-known evangelists and social reformers of the twentieth century. Founder of several religious, educational, social welfare, medical, financial, labor, and agricultural cooperatives, he was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1947 and 1948), and four times for the Nobel Peace Prize (1954, 1955, 1956, and 1960). Appealing to the masses who had little knowledge of Christianity, Kagawa believed that a positive interpretation of nature was a key missiological issue in Japan. He reasoned that a faith, which is rooted in the "downward movement" of Christ's incarnation, must support the scientific quest and meditate on the purpose or "upward movement" implicit in scientific findings. Through an anti-reductionist methodological pluralism that strives to "sees all things whole," this "scientific mystic" employed a wide range of Japanese and Western cultural resources to assert a complementary role for science and religion in modern society.

Atheism, Morality, and Meaning

Atheism, Morality, and Meaning PDF Author: Michael Martin
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615923829
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Despite the pluralism of contemporary American culture, the Judaeo-Christian legacy still has a great deal of influence on the popular imagination. Thus it is not surprising that in this context atheism has a slightly scandalous ring, and unbelief is often associated with lack of morality and a meaningless existence. Distinguished philosopher and committed atheist Michael Martin sets out to refute this notion in this thorough defense of atheism as a both moral and meaningful philosophy of life. Martin shows not only that objective morality and a meaningful life are possible without belief in God but that the predominantly Christian world view of American society is seriously flawed as the basis of morality and meaning.Divided into four parts, this cogent and tightly argued treatise begins with well-known criticisms of nonreligious ethics and then develops an atheistic meta-ethics. In Part 2, Martin criticizes the Christian foundation of ethics, specifically the Divine Command Theory and the idea of imitating the life of Jesus as the basis of Christian morality. Part 3 demonstrates that life can be meaningful in the absence of religious belief. Part 4 criticizes the theistic point of view in general terms as well as the specific Christian doctrines of the Atonement, Salvation, and the Resurrection.This highly informed and sophisticated defense of atheism is a stimulating challenge to religious believers and a serious contribution to ethical theory.

The Nature of Light

The Nature of Light PDF Author: Chandra Roychoudhuri
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351835831
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
Focusing on the unresolved debate between Newton and Huygens from 300 years ago, The Nature of Light: What is a Photon? discusses the reality behind enigmatic photons. It explores the fundamental issues pertaining to light that still exist today. Gathering contributions from globally recognized specialists in electrodynamics and quantum optics, the book begins by clearly presenting the mainstream view of the nature of light and photons. It then provides a new and challenging scientific epistemology that explains how to overcome the prevailing paradoxes and confusions arising from the accepted definition of a photon as a monochromatic Fourier mode of the vacuum. The book concludes with an array of experiments that demonstrate the innovative thinking needed to examine the wave-particle duality of photons. Looking at photons from both mainstream and out-of-box viewpoints, this volume is sure to inspire the next generation of quantum optics scientists and engineers to go beyond the Copenhagen interpretation and formulate new conceptual ideas about light–matter interactions and substantiate them through inventive applications.