There will be a Lecture on Tuesday, April 9, at 6:30pm in Room 3-410, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences on the campus of Purdue University (915 Mitch Daniels Blvd, West Lafayette, IN 47907).

The lecture, entitled “Philosophy as an Antidote to Scientism,” will be given by Prof. James McClure of the Purdue Department of Mathematics.

The lecture is part of the Spring 2024 Christianity and Science Series and is co-sponsored by the Purdue Chapter of the Society of Catholic Scientists and the Purdue chapters of the American Scientific Affiliation and Intervarsity Fellowship.

Abstract of talk:

Scientism is the belief that science is the only truth. It involves a number of related beliefs that are antithetical to Christianity: that human beings are just collections of atoms organized by the evolutionary process; that morality is just a product of evolution and has no other foundation; and that our conscious experience is an illusion, and the only true knowledge of the world is given by science. Especially in settings where scientism is rampant it can be helpful to Christian believers to realize that, in fact, these are not scientific statements, and that they cannot be proved, or even tested, by scientific methods. Philosophy gives us tools for thinking about statements like these in a systematic way, taking all the evidence into account. In particular, it can help us think carefully about situations where Christian teaching conflicts, or seems to conflict, with scientific statements. It is a powerful antidote against scientism that illuminates its logical inadequacies and exposes its overreach. Prof. McClure specializes in algebraic topology and is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He has a lifelong interest in Philosophy and is in the Purdue Book of Great Teachers.