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Barbour's Fourfold Way: Problems with His Taxonomy of Science‐religion Relationships
Author(s) -
Cantor Geoffrey,
Kenny Chris
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/0591-2385.00395
Subject(s) - taxonomy (biology) , epistemology , independence (probability theory) , sociology , field (mathematics) , social science , philosophy , ecology , biology , mathematics , statistics , pure mathematics
In this paper several problems are raised concerning Ian Barbour's four ways of interrelating science and religion—Conflict, Independence, Dialogue, and Integration—as put forward in such publications as his highly influential Religion in an Age of Science (1990) and widely adopted by other writers in this field. The authors argue that this taxonomy is not very useful or analytically helpful, especially to historians seeking to understand past engagements between science and religion.