Okay, he's wrong. Was there something else?
"While scientific evidence may ultimately support a naturalistic worldview,
science does not presuppose Naturalism as an a priori commitment, and
supernatural
claims are amenable to scientific evaluation."
Yours faithfully,
Dick Fischer, author, lecturer
Historical Genesis from Adam to Abraham
<http://www.historicalgenesis.com> www.historicalgenesis.com
-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Bill Cobern
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 9:00 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews? by Yonatan I.
Fishman
I would be interested to know if anyone on the list has read the following
article which is available as a pre-print at the www.springerlink.com
<http://www.springerlink.com/> webpage. The article will appear sometime
this year in the journal Science & Education. I have a pdf copy if anyone
would like to see the article but does not have access to SpringerLink. As I
say, I'm curious as to how people on the list might respond to Fishman's
arguments, especially those more philosophically trained than I am!
grace & peace
bill
Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews?
Yonatan I. Fishman
Abstract Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and scientific
institutions have
argued that science cannot test supernatural worldviews on the grounds that
(1) science
presupposes a naturalistic worldview (Naturalism) or that (2) claims
involving supernatural
phenomena are inherently beyond the scope of scientific investigation. The
present paper
argues that these assumptions are questionable and that indeed science can
test supernatural
claims. While scientific evidence may ultimately support a naturalistic
worldview,
science does not presuppose Naturalism as an a priori commitment, and
supernatural
claims are amenable to scientific evaluation. This conclusion challenges the
rationale
behind a recent judicial ruling in the United States concerning the teaching
of ''Intelligent
Design'' in public schools as an alternative to evolution and the official
statements of two
major scientific institutions that exert a substantial influence on science
educational policies
in the United States. Given that science does have implications concerning
the
probable truth of supernatural worldviews, claims should not be excluded a
priori from
science education simply because they might be characterized as
supernatural, paranormal,
or religious. Rather, claims should be excluded from science education when
the evidence
does not support them, regardless of whether they are designated as
'natural' or
'supernatural'.
Dr. Bill Cobern, Director
The George G. Mallinson Institute for <http://www.wmich.edu/science/>
Science Education
University Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and Science
Education
College of Arts & Sciences
Western Michigan University
3225 Wood Hall
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5444
Voice: +269.387.5407 FAX: +269.387.4998
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cobern/
Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo
<http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/kzoolife.php> !
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Received on Mon Apr 20 23:26:28 2009
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