At one level of the religion-science dialogue, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers have analyzed why millions of people believe in a God and in the religion of their family or ancestors. They have come up with various theories to explain this. Some have attributed faith in God to fear of death and to awe about…
Our attitudes and actions are often governed by our personal beliefs and the overall belief system under which we function. There are a great many sources for the beliefs we hold: early indoctrination and instructions received from parents and teachers, subtle influences from books and media, our own reflections, and our cultural, national, and religious…
The value in distinguishing different types of faith and doubt lies not only in clarifying these important mental states, but also in recognizing their indispensability and relevance in different contexts. Thus, for example, singing a devotional hymn in church is a great thing to do, but doing this in a physics colloquium may not be…
Not recognizing the difference between intelligibility faith and religious faith leads to statements like: “Whereas religions normally make a clear statement on their articles of faith, science introduces its assumptions more surreptitiously.” Contrary to what is implied here, science does not try to sneak into anybody’s territory surreptitiously. It just marches on, with its triumphs…
Just as it is simplistic to say that there is no faith component in science, it is not quite true that there is no doubt-component in the religious context. Many deeply religious people experience skeptic’s doubt when they encounter a religious system other than their own. Indeed the rejection of the doctrines of a different…
Doubt is a state of mind, some would say an affliction of the mind. It refers to a condition in which one is unable or unwilling to accept, on the face of it, a given statement as true. When we say we are in doubt, what we mean is that we are not altogether certain…
This recognition will resolve what may seem like a paradox to some: that profound and creative scientific minds can also be profoundly religious. Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton were mystically religious, Galileo Galilei and Augustin Cauchy were deeply Catholic, James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday were personally religious, Srinivasa Ramanujan and Chandrasekhara Raman were traditionally…
As stated in the last essay, religious faith is an essential element in any religious context. Usually, but not always, religious faith refers to unquestioning belief in a transcendent principle, most often called God. Even in the so-called atheistic religion of Buddhism, one talks of various Bodhisattvas who have trans-corporeal existence. Other important elements which…
Faith may be looked upon as the implicit trust one places in a person, thing, or idea, often without asking for or requiring any proof of its validity. In this sense, as I will discuss presently, it is not quite true that the scientific enterprise does not rest on any faith. Instead of the lines…
Doubt has philosophical and as well as scientific relevance. Since ancient times, keen minds have argued for a skeptical evaluation of any proposition that is presented as true. Skepticism generally entertains doubt about knowledge that appears to be, or is presented as, absolutely correct. Philosophical skeptics wonder about the reliability of our faculties of perception….