The central contention of the "New Atheism" of Richard Dawkins,
Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens is that there
has for several centuries been a war between science and religion,
that religion has been steadily losing that war, and that at this
point in human history a completely secular scientific account of
the world has been worked out in such thorough and convincing
detail that there is no longer any reason why a rational and
educated person should find the claims of any religion the least
bit worthy of attention. But as Edward Feser argues inThe Last
Superstition, in fact there is not, and never has been, any war
between science and religion at all. There has instead been a
conflict between two entirely philosophical conceptions of the
natural order: on the one hand, the classical "teleological" vision
of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, on which purpose or
goal-directedness is as inherent a feature of the physical world as
mass or electric charge; and the modern "mechanical" vision of
Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, according to which the physical
world is comprised of nothing more than purposeless, meaningless
particles in motion. As it happens, on the classical teleological
picture, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the
natural-law conception of morality are rationally unavoidable.
Modern atheism and secularism have thus always crucially depended
for their rational credentials on the insinuation that the modern,
mechanical picture of the world has somehow been established by
science. Yet this modern "mechanical" picture has never been
established by science, and cannot be, for it is not a scientific
theory in the first place but merely a philosophical interpretation
of science. Moreover, as Feser shows, the philosophical arguments
in its favor given by the early modern philosophers were notable
only for being surprisingly weak. The true reasons for its
popularity were then, and are now, primarily political: It was a
tool by which the intellectual foundations of ecclesiastical
authority could be undermined and the way opened toward a new
secular and liberal social order oriented toward commerce and
technology. So as to further these political ends, it was simply
stipulated, by fiat as it were, that no theory inconsistent with
the mechanical picture of the world would be allowed to count as
"scientific." As the centuries have worn on and historical memory
has dimmed, this act of dogmatic stipulation has falsely come to be
remembered as a "discovery." However, not only is this modern
philosophical picture rationally unfounded, it is demonstrably
false. For the "mechanical" conception of the natural world, when
worked out consistently, absurdly entails that rationality, and
indeed the human mind itself, are illusory. The so-called
"scientific worldview" championed by the New Atheists thus
inevitably undermines its own rational foundations; and into the
bargain (and contrary to the moralistic posturing of the New
Atheists) it undermines the foundations of any possible morality as
well. By contrast, and as The Last Superstition demonstrates, the
classical teleological picture of nature can be seen to find
powerful confirmation in developments from contemporary philosophy,
biology, and physics; moreover, morality and reason itself cannot
possibly be made sense of apart from it. The teleological vision of
the ancients and medievals is thereby rationally vindicated - and
with it the religious worldview they based upon it.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
