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Is Science Necessary...

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
images

to Religion?

Does Religion have to justify itself to science?
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Necessary? No.

There is no a priori reason that religions have to hold on to proven false beliefs. The Dalai Lama for example famously declared that if there was a case where science contradicted a bit of Buddhist doctrine, he'd discard that doctrine.
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Necessary? No.

There is no a priori reason that religions have to hold on to proven false beliefs. The Dalai Lama for example famously declared that if there was a case where science contradicted a bit of Buddhist doctrine, he'd discard that doctrine.
He's a bloody heretic.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
No, the Dalai Lama was just paying lip service.
He would never drop a doctrine because he knows which side his bread is buttered on.
So anything he or someone else says about doctrine is automatically a lie in your view. What a religious doctrine class belief you have.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
images

to Religion?

Does Religion have to justify itself to science?
I doubt that religion can justify itself to science any more than, say, music or football can. It's not at all clear what such justification would mean. Since religion is not science, it cannot be properly expressed in scientific terms.

While science is not necessary to religion, I do think that religion ought to take careful note of science. This is for two reasons. Most obviously, religion needs to avoid contradicting, or seeming to contradict, science. The history of such contradictions is that science prevails and religion has to adapt. The other reason is that the discoveries of science can be celebrated by religion. I am rehearsing Haydn's Creation (Die Schöpfung) at the moment. This was written during the Enlightenment, at a time when people saw the workings of nature, newly uncovered by science, as wonderful evidence of the creative power of God. This comes through strongly in the music.

It is not by coincidence or mere whim that the papacy runs an astronomical observatory.;)
 

shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
images

to Religion?

Does Religion have to justify itself to science?

If there is not harmony between science and religion then religion concerning the physical nature of our existence is mythology and ancient fiction not relevant to the physical nature of our existence and science,
 

Ella S.

Dispassionate Goth
I am a big fan of the concept of Non-Overlapping Magisteria.

Science tells us what "is." It can tell us whether our beliefs about what exists and how things work are likely to be true or not. These are all things that have to be reasoned.

Religion tells us what we "ought" to do. It tells us what ceremonies to perform, what's right and what's wrong, what clothes to wear, etc. These are all things that have to be taken on faith.

When science tries to meddle in "oughts," it becomes pseudoscience. When religion tries to tell us what "is," it becomes superstition.
 

ppp

Well-Known Member
I am a big fan of the concept of Non-Overlapping Magisteria.

Science tells us what "is." It can tell us whether our beliefs about what exists and how things work are likely to be true or not. These are all things that have to be reasoned.

Religion tells us what we "ought" to do. It tells us what ceremonies to perform, what's right and what's wrong, what clothes to wear, etc. These are all things that have to be taken on faith.

When science tries to meddle in "oughts," it becomes pseudoscience. When religion tries to tell us what "is," it becomes superstition.
How can religion tell us what we ought to do when what we aught do is a function of Our Goals and What Is?
 

Ella S.

Dispassionate Goth
My biology, my psychology (which is a function of my biology) and my environment.

How do you know that you "ought" to pursue the goals given to you by your biology? That sounds like a faith-based statement to me.
 
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