Faith and Science Test- Definitions

philosophy

the discipline that studies how the think clearly

to think clearly

to know what is a good argument that deserves our agreement because it makes a point, and what is a bad argument that we should reject

argument

the process of drawing a conclusion

data

the raw facts

premises

the things you take for granted

touchstone truths

a special kind of premise; the sort of thing you have to take for granted before you can even start thinking

materialism

the notion that our thoughts are determined by the way the toms in our brains move

term

the definitions of the words used for the argument

logic

the process of arranging conclusions in a step-by-step sequence to produce an inference

graduation of confidence

what level of confidence I am entitled to give this conclusion in view of the data, the premise, and the kind of inference

datum

you just know God directly and what you need is to get in touch with that knowledge that you've been suppressing

premise

unless you take God's existence for granted, you have no basis for sound reasoning of any sort

inference

a conclusion from a chain of reasoning

objective

free from bias (normally not subject to disagreement)

accepted definition of science

the collecting of data from observations of the real world, and then the organizing of those observations in a way that leads to a generalization called a law

Main parts of the accepted def of science

empirical, producing laws, objectivity

Sciences that deal with regularities

physics, chem, ect

sciences that don't deal with regularities

theories of orgins of the universe or life, geological history of mountain range

discursive reasoning

means you can put your reasons into words and defend them

distanciation

you try put some emotional distance between yourself and the object of your study

reductionism

the view that in order to explain something, you have to explain how its components work

modeling

a scientific description

paradigm

the generally accepted models of a scientific community

paradigm shift

when the problems with a model get so severe that the only thing to do is adopt a new model and chuck the old one out

NOMA

non-overlapping magistra, a type of compartmentalization to separate science and religion

5 diagnostic questions to discover someones worldview

1) definition of science
2) definition of faith
3) relationship of faith to knowledge
4) operating relationship between science and faith
5) Gods relationship to the world

stochastic processes

random physical processes

2 story house analogy

fact/value dichotomy
1st story) facts (science)
2nd story) values (religion)

philosophical materialism

religion

the science wars

a territorial battle on truth within our universities

What should science be?

a discovery of our ability to reveal the patterns beneath the things we see, hear, fee;, and touch by careful observation, imagination, and theory

examples of how science points toward theism

1) the new cosmology
2)anthropic fine tuning
3) the orgin of life and the orgin of information necessary to bring life into existence

fideism

there is no evidence for Christian belief, only faith

inference to the best explanation

we do exhaustive analysis of the possible explanations and keep adding information until only one explanation is left that can explain the whole range of data

disteleology

apparent poor design in the biological and physical world. Implies that imperfect design disproves a perfect God

theodicy

reconciling belief in God and natural evil

positivism

based on the claim that the only source of positive knowledge in the world is derived from our physical senses

Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School Distrect

2005 Pennsylvania state case: dealt with whether or not intelligent design could be taught in schools