FUNDACIÓN RAMÓN ARECES

Transcription

1 FUNDACIÓN RAMÓN ARECES Simposio Internacional Ciencia y religión en el siglo XXI: diálogo o confrontación? International Symposium Science and Religion in the XXI Century: Dialogue or Madrid, 10 y 11 de noviembre de 2011 Madrid, November 10-11, 2011 RESÚMENES / ABSTRACTS

2 1.-The beginning of Science in the Western World John Hedley Brooke 2.-The Galileo affair, does it still matter? Ignacio Sols 3.-Origin and creation in the Big-Bang universe Marco Bersanelli 4.-God and the Astronomer: Exoplanets, Life and Human Significance Jennifer Wiseman 5.-Artificial intelligence: will we ever create human machines? Fernando de Arriaga 6.-Brain and Soul: new ways of looking at an old problem José Manuel Giménez-Amaya 7.-Heisenberg, Gdel, and the question of finality in science Fernando Sols 8.-Evolution, Creation and Intelligent Design Francisco Ayala 9.-Creation or Evolution - Do We Have to Choose? Denis Alexander 10.-Geo-ethics and Geo-theology: The contribution of religious values to environmental conservarvation Emilio Chuvieco 11.-Human Dignity and the Foundations of Bioethics César Nombela 12.-Ethical Issues at the Beginning and End of Life John Wyatt

3 The beginning of Science in the Western World John Hedley Brooke The story of how Greek science and philosophy was eventually translated, developed and transmitted to Europe through the mediation of Arabic culture is well known. The role played by religious beliefs and institutions in the nurturing of the sciences has, however, been the subject of competing master-narratives. Until relatively recently there has been a tendency in Western historiography to diminish the originality of Muslim thinkers, with a consequent emphasis on Christian values and doctrines in the launch of modern science. By contrast, Muslim scholars, in celebrating the originality of Arabic astronomy, mathematics, optics and medicine, have tended to present Christianity as a cultural force that, if anything, was (and continued to be) opposed to scientific initiatives. The debate is coloured by the fact that apologists for particular religious beliefs like to present their own tradition as having a special relationship with the sciences. This particular trait is sometimes visible in scholarship that has emphasised the role of the Protestant Reformation in creating favourable conditions for the expansion of science. My argument in this paper will be that it is no longer possible to claim that Christianity gave birth to modern science. At the same time, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries both Catholic and Protestant Christianity provided resources for the justification of new, empirical methods of enquiry. While the revival of atomism and the mechanisation of nature generated anxieties for Christian theologians, new ways were found for re-integrating scientific and theological principles that helped to produce an enduring scientific culture in Western Europe.

4 The Galileo affair, does it still matter? Ignacio Sols The Galileo affair has been extensively used as a "war" case between Science and Religion. It is known that the first effect of war, whether real or imaginary, is to obscure the truth, since the subject becomes highly controversial and the necessary historical accuracy is often ignored. I have tried to approach this issue from scratch, without any previous judgment, reading directly from the historical sources. My conclusions are then in line with the standard beliefs about the case, but with some divergences which I will discuss in my lecture, dealing both with the personal and the epistemological aspects of the controversy, as well as with its consequences on the development of Science. Origin and creation in the Big-Bang universe Marco Bersanelli All ancient civilizations wondered about the nature of celestial objects and developed mythological accounts for the origin of an ordered cosmos from a primordial substance (water, chaos, etc.). The Judo-Christian tradition introduced an entirely new concept of creation, by which the universe (all that is, every creature, each instant of time) emerges from nothingness by the free act of a loving and rational God. Modern science has developed a remarkably faithful description of the physical processes responsible for the formation of the basic structures in the universe, from planetary to cosmic scales. While several issues are still open and pose serious challenges, we can describe in coherent physical terms the main stages of cosmic evolution. Initially the universe was characterised by a state of

5 extreme simplicity, with high temperature and density, with slight density perturbations which acted as gravitational seeds for structure formation. The combination of cosmic expansion and of a variety of physical processes acting at local scales produced a series of transitions to increasingly complex systems. Cosmological observations now underway are producing a snapshot of the early universe with unprecedented detail, shedding new light on the physics at work some 14 billion years ago, just a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang. Thus scientific cosmology has superseded the mythological accounts of ancient cultures, by providing a rational description of the origin of structures through the wonderful fabric of natural laws. On the other hand, modern science leaves untouched the big question of creation: What is the ultimate source of all-that-is? Why reality (including space-time), instead of no-reality? Furthermore, modern cosmology arouses new fundamental questions: Why is the universe suitable for life and consciousness? What is the nature of physical laws driving cosmic evolution? What makes our understanding of the universe possible? God and the Astronomer: Exoplanets, Life and Human Significance Jennifer Wiseman In recent years, astronomers have detected over 600 planets outside of our own solar system, and many more are being identified as possible planets. Thus very rapidly the study of these "exoplanets" has moved from being in the realm of science fiction to being a top priority of the world's astronomical programs. Actual images of extra solar planets are now being revealed for the first time. The NASA- ESA Hubble Space Telescope is already characterizing the atmospheres of Jupiterlike planets in other systems. And the recent launch of the NASA Kepler space telescope is enabling the first statistical assessment of how common solar systems like our own really are.

6 Will we find planets like "Earth"? How will we know if there's life beyond Earth? And what will finding (or not finding) other life-friendly planets mean for our understanding of human significance and our relationship to God? As we begin to characterize these "other worlds" and assess their habitability, the question of the significance and uniqueness of life on Earth will impact our society as never before. I will provide a comprehensive overview of the techniques and status of exoplanet detection, followed by reflections as to the societal impact of finding out that Earths are common, or rare. Will finding other potentially habitable planets create another "Copernican Revolution"? Will perceptions of the significance of life on Earth change when we find other Earth-like planets? I will discuss the intriguing implications for humans of searching for life elsewhere. Artificial intelligence: will we ever create human machines? Fernando de Arriaga It is difficult to answer properly this question due to the extraordinary number of unknowns and the ambitious time range it includes, but some clues will be given to try to answer the question in a reasonable way. Starting from several existing definitions of Artificial Intelligence (AI), its actual status will be discussed, as well as the different dilemmas set up through the history: strong AI, soft AI, hard AI, distributed AI. After that, the original question will be divided into the following ones: -can a machine have a mind? -can a machine have emotions? -can a machine be creative? -can a machine be benevolent or hostile?

7 -can a machine be self aware? -can a machine have a soul? -can a machine know God? Specific problems set up by the possible answers to these questions will be discussed. Brain and Soul: new ways of looking at an old problem José Manuel Giménez-Amaya The main ideas that I would like to transmit in my talk are as follows: 1) The neuroscience is a biological discipline, which was aimed in its foundation as an interdisciplinary common research. That is, in my opinion, the main reason for showing a great ability of growing in knowledge integration as we have seen and experienced in the last forty years. 2) However, one of the most remarkable hints in this integrative development could be summarized in the following question: why the humanities studies have recently been of great interest for the neuroscience itself? 3) To answer this crucial interdisciplinary enquiry, I will try to give you an idea about how difficult has been for this neurobiological discipline to fully develop an explanation of the human being as a whole from the unique perspective of the functioning of the nervous system. 4) In a final approach and in contrast with the above-mentioned in n. 3, I will attempt to illustrate how coherent and consistent are the recent neurobiological

8 discoveries (specially related to the field of the systems neurobiology) and the anthropological view of the aristotelian-thomistic philosophical tradition. Heisenberg, Gödel, and the question of finality in science Fernando Sols The 20th century has revealed two important limitations of scientific knowledge. On the one hand, the combination of Poincaré's nonlinear dynamics and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle leads to a world picture where physical reality is, in many respects, intrinsically undetermined. On the other hand, Gödel's incompleteness theorems reveal us the existence of mathematical truths that cannot be demonstrated. More recently, Chaitin has proved that, from the incompleteness theorems, it follows that the random character of a given mathematical sequence cannot be proved in general (it is 'undecidable'). I reflect on the consequences derived from the indeterminacy of the future and the undecidability of randomness, concluding that the question of the presence or absence of finality in nature is fundamentally outside the scope of the scientific method.

9 Evolution, Creation and Intelligent Design Francisco Ayala In The Origin of Species, Darwin advanced a scientific explanation of the design of organisms. The adaptations of organisms are outcomes not of chance, but of a process that, over time, causes the gradual accumulation of features beneficial to organisms, whenever these features increase the organisms chances of surviving and reproducing. There is design in the living world: eyes are designed for seeing, wings for flying, and kidneys for regulating the composition of the blood. The design of organisms comes about not by intelligent design, but by a natural process, which is creative through the interaction of chance and necessity. Organisms are pervaded by imperfections, dysfunctions, cruelties, and even sadism. The theory of evolution accounts for these mishaps by natural selection, as the outcomes of natural processes, so that they need not be attributed to God s explicit design. Creation or Evolution - Do We Have to Choose? Denis Alexander It is often thought that an intrinsic compatibility exists between the ideas of creation and Darwinian evolution. This misunderstanding arises from two main sources. First, since the publication of Charles Darwin s On the Origin of Species (1859) evolution has frequently been used for various social, political, religious or anti-religious purposes. These ideological investments are not intrinsic to the theory, which focuses on providing an explanation for the origins of biological diversity, but have the consequence that in the public domain the term evolution

10 often has associations incompatible with the idea of creation. The second main reason for the supposed incompatibility arises from the US anti-darwinian creationist and Intelligent Design movements. These movements agree with the claims of ultra-darwinians such as Richard Dawkins that creation and evolution provide rival accounts for the origins of biological diversity. This lecture will draw on the traditional understandings of creation shared by all the Abrahamic faiths to suggest that there is no need to choose between creation and evolution. Instead they provide two different provide complementary narratives for the history of living things on this planet. Both accounts are important if we are to do justice to the complex reality of life. Geo-ethics and Geo-theology: The contribution of religious values to environmental conservation Emilio Chuvieco Religions may play a very relevant role in environmental conservation. On one hand, they provide cosmological visions that help to explain human-nature relations and on how humans should relate to their environment. On the other hand, religions include a set of moral values, which would help to change economic and social behaviors that are behind the current ecological crisis. The goal of this lecture will be to identify points of convergence between the great religious traditions in addressing human-nature relations, as well as presenting a critical evaluation of whether those approaches have in fact affect environmental conservation in representative countries. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism have been considered. The main traditions considered are: (1)

11 dominion: humans are at the top of Creation and use the natural resources as needed; (2) stewardship: humans have a delegate dominion over Creation and are responsible and accountable for their use of natural resources; (3) empathy: nature follows moral behavior of humans; (4) analogy: nature is an image of God; (5) God worshipper, nature gives glory to God (6) natural mysticism, union with God is accomplished through contemplation of the created world; (7) worship: nature is sacred. These approaches are not necessary conflicting, but rather they can be considered in some cases as complementary. Their actual impact of water and environmental conservation should be further researched. Human Dignity and the Foundations of Bioethics César Nombela Human dignity is an essential issue for all matters concerning bioethics. Every declaration, international convention or legal text and directive, related to interventions on human beings, includes the consideration of human dignity as an attribute to which any human being is entitled. Examples are the Helsinki Declaration, the Belmont Report, the Oviedo Convention and the EU Directive on Clinical Trials and specially the United Nations International Declaration on Human Rights. All these texts refer to the respect and promotion of human dignity in all kinds of medical procedures and treatments. However, there is an increasing trend, on the part of some bioethicists, to argue that the concept of human dignity should be re-examined because in can be considered as an empty box and a useless concept that does not go beyond the respect for autonomy. It is my contention that human dignity is a fully valid concept that must be promoted. In the era of Biotechnology human dignity must be reinforced in view of the potential interventions that are feasible based on the advancement of the technologies. Scientific knowledge of the life of the human species can provide a

12 sound basis for the foundations of bioethical principles and values. In this lecture I will consider the development of human life through the embryonic and fetal stages as a process in continuity. Human dignity belongs in the filed of values, scientific knowledge can provide an objective ground on which to base proposals for the promotion of human rights. Ethical Issues at the Beginning and End of Life John Wyatt Advances in biomedical technology have led to new and troubling issues at the beginning and end of life. This talk will briefly review how developments in reproductive technology, prenatal screening, embryology and neonatal intensive care have changed our attitudes to parenthood and brought new urgency to longstanding debates about the value and significance of developing human life. Similarly at the end of life the rise of interest in euthanasia and physician assisted suicide is driven in part by technological and interventionist medical care. A central issue in contemporary ethical debates is the nature of personhood and the talk will contrast contemporary naturalistic and Christian perspectives and draw out the practical implications of these differing perspectives for medical and social care.