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Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews?

Yonatan I. FishmanContact Information

(1)  Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA

Received: 26 December 2006  Accepted: 23 July 2007  Published online: 21 August 2007

Abstract  Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and scientific institutions have argued that science cannot test supernatural worldviews on the grounds that (1) science presupposes a naturalistic worldview (Naturalism) or that (2) claims involving supernatural phenomena are inherently beyond the scope of scientific investigation. The present paper argues that these assumptions are questionable and that indeed science can test supernatural claims. While scientific evidence may ultimately support a naturalistic worldview, science does not presuppose Naturalism as an a priori commitment, and supernatural claims are amenable to scientific evaluation. This conclusion challenges the rationale behind a recent judicial ruling in the United States concerning the teaching of “Intelligent Design” in public schools as an alternative to evolution and the official statements of two major scientific institutions that exert a substantial influence on science educational policies in the United States. Given that science does have implications concerning the probable truth of supernatural worldviews, claims should not be excluded a priori from science education simply because they might be characterized as supernatural, paranormal, or religious. Rather, claims should be excluded from science education when the evidence does not support them, regardless of whether they are designated as ‘natural’ or ‘supernatural’.

Contact Information Yonatan I. Fishman
Email: yfishman@aecom.yu.edu

Yonatan I. Fishman   is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York. He received his BA in cognitive science and cell biology from Vassar College, and his MS and PhD in Neuroscience from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. He currently does research in the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine investigating neural mechanisms underlying the perception of complex sounds such as those of music and speech.

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  1. Gauld, Colin (2010) Ronald L. Numbers (ed): Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion : Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 2009, ISBN: 9780674033276, 320 pp, price: $US27.95. Science & Education
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  2. Smith, Mike U. (2009) Current Status of Research in Teaching and Learning Evolution: II. Pedagogical Issues. Science & Education
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