Rethinking the Relation between Science and Religion: Some Epistemological and Political Implications
| Autor | Mauricio Nieto - Franklin Gamwell - Ángela Iranzo Dosdad - Carlos Manrique |
| Cargo | PhD. in History of Science (University of London, UK) - Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religions (University of Chicago, UE ) - PhD in Political Science and International Relations (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain) - Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion (University of Chicago, UE) |
| Páginas | 258-266 |
By Ángela Iranzo DosdadD – Carlos ManriqueS
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7440/res51.2015.19
* PhD. in Histor y of Science (U niversit y of London, UK ). Vice-Dea n of Research an d Graduate Stu dies at the Sc hool of Social S ciences, an d tenured
professor o f the History De partment at Uni versidad de los An des, Colombia. Ema il: mnieto@uniande s.edu.co
v Ph.D. in Philosop hy of Religions (U niversity o f Chicago, UE). Sh ailer Mathew s Distinguis hed Servic e Professor Eme ritus of Religi ous Ethics, t he Philosophy
of Religions, a nd Theology at the D ivinity Scho ol at the Universit y of Chicago. Email: g amwel@uchica go.edu
D PhD in Poli tical Science and I nternational Relat ions (Universida d Autónoma de Madri d, Spain). Professor of t he Political Scienc e Department at Un iver-
sidad de los A ndes, Colombia. Em ail: a.iranzo26@uni andes.edu.co
S Ph. D. in Philosophy of Religion ( University of Chic ago, UE). Assista nt Professor of the Philo sophy Departme nt at Universidad de l os Andes, Colombia.
Email: ca.manrique966@uniandes.edu.co
In contemporary western societies we have become
used to thinking of the relation between “science”
and “religion” (or between “faith” and “reason”) in
disjunctive terms, assuming a necessary opposition
and/or the overcoming of one of them by the other
(science as an understanding of the world necessarily
opposed to religious beliefs and practices, one
which tends historically to overcome the latter in
the progress of civilization). An example of this
pervasive assumption is the widespread narrative
that frequently appears in elementary and secondary
school history programs regarding the Church’s
persecution of Galileo and his final condemnation for
heresy due to his pioneering scientific discoveries.
Another perspective that was influential in forming
this same pervasive assumption was the clear-cut
Kantian separation between a theoretical use of
reason —capable of yielding an objective, necessary
and universal scientific knowledge of empirical
phenomena expressed in the laws discovered by
science, as distinct from the practical use of reason to
guide us in how to live, beyond the limits of all positive
knowledge of the world. This same conception was
formulated later in the distinction drawn by Weber
between the “facts” that social sciences are called on
to describe objectively and the “value judgments”
relegated to the subjective spheres of morality and
religion. Without attempting to identify the precise
historical origins of this widespread interpretation of
a necessary opposition between science and religion,
how would you, in your work as a historian of science
/ as a theologian, submit it to a critical assessment
and, hence, argue in favor of reconsidering this
dominant conception of the relation between science
and religion as an unbridgeable dichotomy?
Mauricio Nieto (MN): There certainly is a long and
dominant historiographical tradition that has narrated
the rise of modern science as a triumph of reason
over faith, of experience over superstition, and one
which assumes that western Europe is the cradle of a
superior form of rational, objective, neutral, scientific
knowledge in opposition to the beliefs of others and
to religious dogmas in themselves. However, this
Rethinking the Relation between Science
and Religion: Some Epistemological and
Political Implications
Interview of Mauricio Nieto* – Franklin Gamwellv
Revista de Estudios Sociales No. 51 • rev.estud.soc. • Pp. 300.
ISSN 0123-885X • Bogotá, enero - marzo de 2015 • Pp. 258-266.
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