Some Comments on The Problem of Reductionism in Contemporary Physical Science

Frank E. Budenholzer; Frank E. Budenholzer

doi:10.1111/1467-9744.00477

Research Articles
Some Comments on The Problem of Reductionism in Contemporary Physical Science

Abstract

Is reductionism simply a methodology that has allowed science to progress to its current state (methodological reductionism), or does this methodology indicate something more, that the material universe is determined in full by its smallest components (ontological or causal reductionism)? Such questions lie at the heart of much of the contemporary religion–science dialogue. In this essay I suggest that the position articulated by philosopher–theologian Bernard Lonergan is particularly suitable for dealing with these questions. For Lonergan, the criterion of the real is simply its verified intelligibility and not its imaginability. Each of the various levels of reality, as studied in sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, and sensitive and rational psychology, consists of an intelligible integration of what on the lower level would be simply random occurrences. The things studied by the various sciences (atoms, molecules, cellular organisms, animals, human persons, and so on) are intelligible unities, and no one level is somehow more real than any other. I argue that such a scheme, while seeming somewhat counterintuitive, is best able to deal with the multilayered reality of the contemporary physical and life sciences and provide an opening to the richness of the social sciences and the achievements of human culture.

Keywords

critical realism, descriptive and explanatory science, intelligibility, cognitional analysis, Bernard Lonergan, reductionism

How to Cite

Budenholzer, F., (2003) “Some Comments on The Problem of Reductionism in Contemporary Physical Science”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 38(1), 61–69. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9744.00477

Rights

Downloads

Download XML
Download PDF

60

Views

73

Downloads

3

Citations

References

Agazzi, Evandro, Ed. 1991. The Problem of Reductionism in Science. Chicago : Kluer Academic.

Atkins, Peter. 1995. “The Limitless Power of Science .”In Natures Imagination, ed. JohnCornwell, 122–32. Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press.

Barbour, Ian G.1997. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. San Francisco : Harper.

Barbour, Ian G.. 2000. When Science Meets Religion. San Francisco : HarperCollins.

Brown, Warren S., NanceyMurphy, and MalonyH. Newton, eds. 1998. Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature. Chicago : Fortress.

Budenholzer, Frank. 1984. “Science and Religion: Seeking a Common Horizon. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 19 (September): 351–68.

Dennett, Daniel. 1991. Consciousness Explained. Chicago : Little, Brown.

Flanagan, Joseph. 1997. Quest for Self‐Knowledge: An Essay in Lonergan's Philosophy. Chicago : Univ. of Toronto Press.

Gilson, Etienne. 1986. Thomist Realism and the Critique of Knowledge. Trans. Mark A.Wauch. San Francisco : Ignatius.

Lonergan, Bernard J. F. [1957] 1992. Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Ed. CroweF. E. and DoranR. M. Toronto : Univ. of Toronto Press.

Lonergan, Bernard J. F.. 1972. Method in Theology. New York : Herder and Herder.

Peacocke, Arthur. 1993. Theology for a Scientific Age. Chicago : SCM Press.

Searle, John. 1998. Mind, Language and Society: Philosophy in the Real World. New York : Basic Books.

Wilson, Edward O.1998. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

𝕏

Authors

Frank E. Budenholzer (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)

Downloads

Issue

Volume 38 • Issue 1 • March 2003

Publication details

Pages	61–69
Published on	2003-03-01

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9744.00477

File Checksums (MD5)

XML: da36c2fc5821d31516bbb387e547525f
PDF: 31dc11204c67ac8b184b26c20cb8ec13

Abstract

Keywords

How to Cite

Rights

Downloads

60

73

3

References

Share

Authors

Downloads

Issue

Publication details

Licence

Identifiers

File Checksums (MD5)

Table of Contents

Abstract

Keywords

How to Cite

Rights

Downloads

60

73

3

References

Share

Authors

Downloads

Issue

Publication details

Licence

Identifiers

File Checksums (MD5)

Table of Contents

Non Specialist Summary