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SUMMARY:The Myth of Religious Neutrality: How Beliefs Underlie Scholarship
  - Prof Roy Clouser (The College of New Jersey)
DTSTART:20100311T170000Z
DTEND:20100311T190000Z
UID:TALK23725@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:David Parry
DESCRIPTION:This presentation will argue that all theories of science and 
 philosophy presuppose something as divine and are in that sense religiousl
 y regulated. The divinity belief presupposed internally regulates theories
  in that the interpretation of the nature of their postulated entities var
 ies relative to the nature of the divinity presupposed. This sort of inter
 nal regulation is not just socio-cultural influence\, but arises from the 
 very activity of theory formation and so is universal and unavoidable. The
  influence of religious belief is thus deeper and more pervasive than the 
 prevailing view that theories need only be externally harmonized with part
 icular religious tenets.\n\nCase studies of the most influential theories 
 in various disciplines will illustrate how such theory-regulation works. F
 inally\, principles will be offered to show how this same sort of regulati
 on can be brought to theories when the controlling presupposition is belie
 f in the Christian God. These will draw on the model of a uniquely Christi
 an-theistic philosophy and science developed by the Dutch Calvinist philos
 opher Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977).\n\n\nRoy Clouser is professor emeritu
 s of philosophy and religion at The College of New Jersey. He holds a BA f
 rom Gordon College\, a BD from Reformed Episcopal Seminary\, and an MA and
  PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Along the way to the PhD he stud
 ied with Paul Tillich at Harvard Graduate School and with Herman Dooyeweer
 d at the Free University of Amsterdam. In 1997 he won one of the Templeton
  Awards for his course in science and religion. He is the author of The My
 th of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belie
 fs (University of Notre Dame Press\, revised edition 2005)\, Knowing with 
 the Heart: Religious Experience and Belief in God  (InterVarsity Press\, 1
 999)\, and numerous articles.\n\nThis seminar is being held in association
  with the West Yorkshire School of Christian Studies (WYSOCS) and the Kirb
 y Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE). Prof Clouser’s tour of t
 he UK is being sponsored by WYSOCS and Leeds Metropolitan University.\n
LOCATION:Rushmore Room\, St Catharine’s College
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