Philosophy, Faith, and Discovery Institute Books
Discovery Institute Books offers a variety of titles exploring the intersection of philosophy, science, and theology.
The Resurgence of Substance Dualism
The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism, edited by Jonathan J. Loose, Angus J. L. Menuge, and J. P. Moreland, is a groundbreaking collection of contemporary essays from leading international scholars that provides a balanced and expert account of the resurgent debate about substance dualism and its physicalist alternatives. Substance dualism has for some time been dismissed as an archaic and defeated position in philosophy of mind, but in recent years, the topic has experienced a resurgence of scholarly interest.
Aquinas, Evolution, and Theology
In the book Aquinas and Evolution, Fr. Michael Chaberek explores the intersection of Faith & Science. To show the substantial incompatibility (contradiction) between Thomas Aquinas’s teachings and theistic evolution we need to refer to the two levels of his intellectual enterprise. One is the level of philosophy (metaphysics); the other is the level of theology. Whereas philosophy is based entirely on the principles of natural reason and being (reality) without the help of revelation, theology is based on different principles.
Information and the Theory of Being
In Being As Communion, William A. Dembski proposes a new perspective on reality. For a thing to be real, it must be able to communicate with other things. If this is so, then the problem of being receives a straightforward resolution: to be is to be in communion. So the fundamental science, indeed the science that needs to underwrite all other sciences, is a theory of communication.
Intelligent Design and Christian Faith
Discovery Fellow William Dembski provides an important perspective in his work Intelligent Design. In this popular treatment of intelligent design, he combines his Ph.D. in philosophy with his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago and his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary to elucidate how the scientific theory of intelligent design interacts with his personal Christian faith.
Darwinism: Science or Philosophy
The volume Darwinism: Science or Philosophy features contributions from Phillip E. Johnson, Stephen C. Meyer, Michael J. Behe and William A. Dembski. This volume presents papers presented at an early conference at Southern Methodist University in 1992 which was a landmark event in uniting scholars who now make up the intelligent design movement. Phillip Johnson, Program Advisor for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, explains that evolution is based upon assumptions of naturalism, which are often unsupported by the evidence.
Summary of Key Publications
- The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism (May 1, 2018) – Focuses on Natural and Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy of Mind.
- Aquinas and Evolution (April 28, 2017) – Focuses on Faith & Science and Intelligent Design.
- Being As Communion (September 11, 2014) – Explores the problem of being and communication.
- Intelligent Design (July 12, 2002) – Explores the interaction between scientific theory and Christian faith.
- Darwinism: Science or Philosophy (July 1, 1994) – Examines the assumptions of naturalism in evolutionary theory.