Natural sciences in the process of cultural transformations: towards interdisciplinary dialogue
Abstract
Cultural changes in recent times have brought about a profound change in valuations regarding the social role of natural sciences. While in the early twentieth century positivism saw science as the only source of valuable knowledge, postmodernism at the beginning of this century treats natural theories primarily as a form of literary narrative. In anti-intellectual moods that express criticism of the Enlightenment affirmation of rationality, the pragmatic applications of science are valued, not its cognitive functions. Such a situation creates an urgent need for interdisciplinary cooperation between philosophers, theologians and representatives of natural sciences. Recently, interdisciplinary research programs have been undertaken in many centers, concerning various aspects of the theory of evolution, the relationship between information processing in computers and neurophysiology, the relationship between methodological naturalism and various versions of ontological naturalism.
The research in this area introduces a new quality in the mutual relations between natural sciences and Christian thought. This research overcomes both the illusions of scientism and the partial concept of truth that dominates positivism, which lacks answers to questions essential for a comprehensive vision of the world. At the same time, they also respond to the vision of an interdisciplinary dialogue that John Paul II presented in the encyclical Fides et Ratio and in the Letter to George Coyne SI, addressed on the 300th anniversary of the publication of Newton's Principia.
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