Posted by Losky Lion on July 17, 1999 at 08:29:16:

In Reply to: Reason v Relativity in fin de millenaire America posted by Spero Katsivelos on March 15, 1999 at 13:50:27:

: My focus of interest is the lack of dialogue between scientific inquiry and religious understanding in modern America. There is alienation and a refusal for discourse between the arts and sciences in today's society that contributes to the impoverishment of both schools of understanding.

: I am dedicated to the syncretism of these opposite poles of human experience in the quest of "the whole man."

Well, SK, that is quite an ambitious dedication. As you probably know, there are attempts at dialogue between these two factions, e.g., Christians who write about the reasonableness of their faith or interpret obvservable scientific
facts in light of what they hold to be divine revelation.

There are however, impediments to such a dialogue, one significant such barrier being the question of presuppositions. If one group holds as a priori that there is no peronal-infinite God, and also holds that determining the existence of such a personal infinite God is beyond the realm of science, and they only accept as fact what science can prove, obviously the conclusions they reach will be constrained by this point of departure. On the other side, the a priori belief in the existence of a personal-infinite God who has revealed Himself in the Bible, for example, will also strongly limit the range of conclusions one is permitted to reach.

In the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Professor Jones told his cl that in archeology, the pursuit was fact; if students were interested in truth, they needed to go down to the philosophy department. Again, to build an unbreachable wall between truth and fact is another presupposition which tends towards certain outcomes.

As you launch off on your crusade, with what presuppositions do you begin?

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