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Negotiating the Boundaries of Science and Religion: The Case of Henry Margenau
Author(s) -
Durbin William A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/0591-2385.2011999201
Subject(s) - idealism , faith , ambivalence , relation (database) , negotiation , reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , metaphysics , sociology , embodied cognition , epistemology , philosophy , social science , psychology , social psychology , database , computer science
The life of Henry Margenau (1901–1997) offers a case study in the complexity of the science‐religion relation. As a physicist‐philosopher at Yale University, he pursued a public program of “amalgamating religion with science.” He drew upon his authority as a physicist and a tradition of philosophical idealism to advocate a “reciprocity” between the two spheres. He argued that a “new modesty” and “metaphysical attitude” among scientists created new opportunities for collaboration. At the same time, his view of faith and his sense of the religiousness of science created troubling ambiguities. In the end, Margenau embodied the ambivalent relation between science and religion while revealing the limits of renegotiating the boundaries.