Life Sciences Commons^™

The Sacred Emergence Of Nature, Ursula Goodenough, Terrence W. Deacon

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Setback To The Dialogue: Response To Huston Smith, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Huston Smith's book, Why Religion Matters, offers an eloquent evocation of mystical sensibility. Unfortunately, along the way, he offers a strongly negative and often inaccurate account of the scientific worldview, the claim being that the science is laying siege to the spiritual.

Religiopoiesis, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Religiopoiesis describes the crafting of religion, a core activity of humankind. Each religion is grounded in its myth, and each myth includes a cosmology of origins and destiny. The scientific worldview coheres as such a myth and calls for a religiopoietic response. The difficulties, opportunities, and imperatives inherent in this call are explored, particularly as they impact the working scientist.

Reflections On Scientific And Religious Metaphor, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

The importance of scientific conflicts for theology and philosophy is difficult to judge. In many disputes of significance, prominent scientists can be found on both sides. Profound philosophical and religious implications are sometimes said to be implied by the new theory as well. This article examines the dispute over natural selection between Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould as a contemporary instance of such a conflict. While both claim that profound philosophical conclusions flow from their own alternative account of evolution, I suggest that the implication is not as great as is claimed and that the alleged implications have as …

Reflections On Science And Technology, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Science and technology are frequently confused. This essay points out the bases for this confusion and then focuses on a basic distinction, namely, that whereas science brings us information that we have little choice but to absorb and reflect upon, technology is something that humans elect to do and, hence, can also elect not to do. It is proposed that technological ethics are most cogently undertaken with scientific understanding as the linchpin and religious/artistic sensibilities as the muse.

Creativity In Science, Ursula W. Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Creativity is a concept far more often associated with art than with science. The creative dimension of scientific inquiry and practice is described and compared with its artistic counterpart; similarities and differences are analyzed.

She presented this paper at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Star Island Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS), “Creativity, Non-Conformity, and Madness” at Star Island, New Hampshire, 28 July-4 August 1990.