Monotheism paved the way for analytical thinking?

[reup]

noooo does that mean my 75% fail rate was wrong or you just hit the 25%?

[Taraz]

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noooo does that mean my 75% fail rate was wrong or you just hit the 25%?

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By check it out, I didn't mean that I'd actually buy the book. I'll read up on it and buy it if it looks interesting. All is not lost yet . . .

[vulturesrow]

Taraz,

I highly recommend you check out a work called Science and Creation: From Eternal Cycles to an Oscillating Universe , by Father Stanley Jaki. Before anyone jumps in, I suggest they check out the man's bio and CV ( Stanley Jaki. He has actually done a lot of work along these lines but the particular title I quoted examines seven ancient cultures specifically. But many of his other works explore the thesis that you are talking about. Also, he doesnt look at it from a monotheistic standpoint, but a Christian one.

Here is the bio from the above website:

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Stanley L. Jaki, a Hungarian-born Catholic priest of the Benedictine Order, is Distinguished Professor at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. With doctorates in theology and physics, he has for the past forty years specialized in the history and philosophy of science. The author of almost forty books and over a hundred articles, he served as Gifford Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and as Fremantle Lecturer at Balliol College, Oxford. He has lectured at major universities in the United States, Europe, and Australia. He is honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Science, membre correspondant of the Academe Nationale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts of Bordeaux, and the recipient of the Lecomte du Nouy Prize for 1970 and of the Templeton Prize for 1987.

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I'd like to preempt some of the usual Christianity stifles science I see flung about this forum on a regular basis. Let me just throw some names at you: Kepler, Boyle, Galileo, William of Ockham, Newton. This is but a smidgen of names that I can cite.

And for the person that said you dont need to know the philosophy of science, you couldnt be further from the truth. I'll let others elaborate. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Arnold Day]

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And for the person that said you dont need to know the philosophy of science, you couldnt be further from the truth. I'll let others elaborate. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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I think this was me. I am not sure what you mean by philosophy of science, but I think philosophy is one of the worst things that a scientist can study.

[reup]

of course.

[vhawk01]

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The atrocities committed in the name of religion during the middle ages, and extremely bizarre beliefs (witches, blasphemy, the flood), are pretty strong evidence of monotheism suppressing rational analysis. This was superstition and hysteria.

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No. Wrong. Christian monotheism is a world view and Christian monotheists acted according to its strictures. You have a world view and act according to yours.

Two secular ideologies: Nationalism Socialism and Soviet Communism did as much harm if not more. Neither was religious.

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I'd say both were religious, they just didn't believe in God. The things religion and Stalinism had in common, thats the enemy.

[reup]

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The atrocities committed in the name of religion during the middle ages, and extremely bizarre beliefs (witches, blasphemy, the flood), are pretty strong evidence of monotheism suppressing rational analysis. This was superstition and hysteria.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Wrong. Christian monotheism is a world view and Christian monotheists acted according to its strictures. You have a world view and act according to yours.

Two secular ideologies: Nationalism Socialism and Soviet Communism did as much harm if not more. Neither was religious.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say both were religious, they just didn't believe in God. The things religion and Stalinism had in common, thats the enemy.

[/ QUOTE ]

monotheism has never suppressed anything that didn't deserve it. the monotheist? oh ok.

[Arnold Day]

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And for the person that said you dont need to know the philosophy of science, you couldnt be further from the truth. I'll let others elaborate. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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I think this was me. I am not sure what you mean by philosophy of science, but I think philosophy is one of the worst things that a scientist can study.

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Specifically what I am saying is that I can think of numerous cases when philosophy has ruined a scientist or caused him to make a major error but I really can't think of an instance where it has helped a scientist.

Probably the most famous example of this would be Einstein's rejection of quantum mechanics based on his belief that randomness could not be part of the fundamental laws of nature.