Science and Religion in Meta-Perspective – Part II

Abstract

A meta-theory was developed that brought together implicit premises or world views that constantly re-surface in human thought. Although these elements, which are often referred to in the literature as the result of differences in human ‘temperament’, have long been part of the scholarly activity of humankind, a comprehensive synthesis has been lacking so far. In order to redress this shortcoming, an integrated perspective, supported by scholarly evidence, regarding basic characteristics of making sense of life and world is introduced. As a result four paradigmatic or root intellectual orientations (designated as type I, type II, type III and type IV) have been identified. The theory was found to be applicable across a wide range of thinkers, scholarly disciplines, and cultures. In the current paper (Part II) the theory is applied in terms of the objectivist-empyrean (type I) tendency in S-R, as represented by the ideas of the physicist Ian Barbour, Philip Clayton (philosopher) and of Wentzel van Huyssteen (theologian). A second section focuses on the objectivist-empiricist (type II) inclination as manifested in the work of John Polkinghorne (physicist), Arthur Peacocke (bio-chemist), and Gregory Peterson (theologian).

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2151