Science, Religion, and the Meaning of Life and the Universe: “Amalgam” Narratives of Polish Natural Scientists

This article deals with phenomena occurring at the interface of the existential, the religious, and scientific inquiry. On the basis of in-depth interviews with Polish physicists and biologists, I examine the role that science and religion play in their narrative of the meaning of the Universe and h...

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Autore principale: Rogińska, Maria (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
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Pubblicazione: Wiley-Blackwell [2016]
In: Zygon
Anno: 2016, Volume: 51, Fascicolo: 4, Pagine: 904-924
Altre parole chiave:B Polish natural scientists
B Religione
B Science
B in-depth interviews
B amalgam thesis
B Meaning
Accesso online: Volltext (doi)
Descrizione
Riepilogo:This article deals with phenomena occurring at the interface of the existential, the religious, and scientific inquiry. On the basis of in-depth interviews with Polish physicists and biologists, I examine the role that science and religion play in their narrative of the meaning of the Universe and human life. I show that the narratives about meaning have a system-related (“amalgam") character that is associated with responses to adjacent metaphysical questions, including those based on scientific knowledge. I reconstruct the typical amalgam questions of Polish scientists and come to a conclusion about the stability of religious and nonreligious amalgams in this group. Critically referring to the thesis concerning the secularizing impact of science, I conclude that science by itself does not have a destructive effect on Polish scientists’ confidence that life and the Universe are meaningful, but is rather an exacerbating factor of the existing worldview system.
ISSN:1467-9744
Comprende:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12298