RT Article
T1 Randomness, Contingency, and Faith: Is there a Science of Subjectivity?
JF Zygon
VO 38
IS 1
SP 5
OP 23
A1 Peck, Steven L. 1957-
LA English
YR 2003
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1827955813
AB Materialists argue that there is no place for God in the universe. Chance and contingency are all that structure our world. However, the materialists’ dismissal of subjectivity manifests a flawed metaphysics that invalidates their arguments against God. In this essay I explore the following: (1) How does personal metaphysics affect one's ability to do science? (2) Are the materialist arguments about contingency used to dismiss the importance of our place in the universe valid? (3) What are the implications of subjectivity on belief and science? To answer the first question, I examine the later years of Sir Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the cofounders of evolution through natural selection with Darwin. His belief in nineteenth–century spiritualism profoundly affected his standing in the scientific community. I describe the effect of spiritualism on Wallace's science. To answer the second question, I use my own work in mathematical modeling of evolutionary processes to show that randomness, and contingency at one level, can actually be nearly deterministic at another. I demonstrate how arguments about chance and contingency do not imply anything relevant about whether there is a designer behind the universe. To answer the third question I begin by exploring a paradox of consciousness and show how the existence of subjective truths may provide a paradigm for sustaining a rational belief in God. These questions form the framework of a structured belief in a creator while yet embracing what science has to offer about the development of life on our planet.
K1 Alfred Russel Wallace
K1 supervenience
K1 Subjectivity
K1 mind–body problem
K1 Materialism
K1 Søren Kierkegaard
K1 God's existence
K1 Evolution
K1 emergent property
K1 Consciousness
DO 10.1111/1467-9744.00474