Philosophy of Religion Research

Critical Examination of Meaning and the Possibility of Paradigm Shift by Accepting Emergentism

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Department for Philosophy of Science, Faculty Member, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Candidate for Philosophy of Religion, Institution for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Famous emergentists such as Nancy Murphy and Paul Davies claim accepting some emergentists' views would lead to a fundamental change in the prevailing scientific paradigm. This article first provides a general analysis of the components of the scientific paradigm by examining the main themes of positions such as naturalism, reductionism, scientism, and the like. In the course of this analysis, the various components of the scientific paradigm are explained, and the relation of these components to each other is examined. Afterwards, we examine emergentists' views of both weak and strong doctrines, and after classifying these views, we evaluate their relation to the components of the scientific paradigm. Investigating and classifying emergentists' views is done based on separating the views accepting hierarchy in nature in an ontological sense, against the views accepting just hierarchy in our explanations about nature, as well as the different views on the possibility of causal effects from higher than physical levels on the world situation. The results of this study show that, contrary to the views of Murphy and Davies, emergentism does not result in a paradigm shift, and only some of the particular views underlying this philosophical position are, to a limited extent, incompatible with some of the components of the prevailing scientific paradigm.

Keywords

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Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 17, Issue 2 - Serial Number 34
November 2020
Pages 27-56