[Buddha-l] science #3

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Fri, 2006-01-13 at 04:54 -0500, Dan Lusthaus wrote:

> Richard, you are arguing for a view of science that can only be universal
> ( = free from cultural or religious provincialism) if secular.

That is correct.

> But another strategy would be to invite rightwing Christians to adopt a view
> toward science that their Jewish, Muslim, Daoist, Confucian, etc., have
> cherished for millenia. 

Good luck. Right-wing Christians seem unwilling to adopt attitudes that
even most mainstream Christians have cherished for millennia. Indeed,
much of what we call right-wing Christianity has deliberately and self-
consciously defined itself in opposition to liberal Christianity and to
modern science. So inviting right-wing Christians to adopt more open
attitudes (an invitation that numerous Christians have already extended
to them) is likely to be about as successful as inviting them to sell
their recreational vehicles and join the Sierra Club.

> It's worth remembering that this universalism of science and its having gone
> the parochial confines of any particular religion, is itself a development
> of a nearly ubiquitous religious sensibility.

That's right. But one must be careful not to commit the genetic fallacy.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico