Issues in Science and Theology: What is Life? (Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology)

This book explores the concept of Life from a range of perspectives. Divided into three parts, it first examines the concept of Life from physics to biology. It then presents insights on the concept from the perspectives of philosophy, theology, and ethics. The book concludes with chapters on the hermeneutics of Life, and pays special attention to the Biosemiotics approach to the concept. The question {u2018}What is Life?{u2019} has been deliberated by the greatest minds throughout human history. Life as we know it is not a substance or fundamental property, but a complex process. It is not an easy task to develop an unequivocal approach towards Life combining scientific, semiotic, philosophical, theological, and ethical perspectives. In its combination of these perspectives, and its wide-ranging scope, this book opens up levels and identifies issues which can serve as intersections for meaningful interdisciplinary discussions of Life in its different aspects. The book includes the four plenary lectures and selected, revised and extended papers from workshops of the 14th European Conference on Science and Theology (ECST XIV) held in Tartu, Estonia, April 2012 Preface 8 Contents 10 Contributors 12 Part I From Physics to Biology 13 1 From Physics to Semiotics 14 Introduction 15 Newton 15 Darwin 16 Monod and “Teleonomy” 17 Functions, Meanings, and Doings Are Real in the Universe 17 The Non-ergodic Universe Above the Complexity of the Atom 17 Kantian Wholes and the Reality of Functions and “Doings” 18 Collectively Autocatalytic DNA Sets, RNA Sets or Peptide Sets 19 Collectively Autocatalytic Sets Are the Simplest Cases of Kantian Wholes and the Peptide Parts Have Functions 19 Task Closure 20 Task Closure in a Dividing Bacterium 20 Biosemiosis Enters at this Point 20 Toward: No Entailing Laws, But Enablement in the Evolution of the Biosphere 21 The Uses of a Screw Driver Cannot Be Listed Algorithmically 21 Adaptations in an Evolving Cell Cannot Be Prestated 21 We Cannot Pre-state the Actual Niche of an Evolving Organism 22 Darwinian Preadaptations and Radical Emergence: The Evolving Biosphere, Without the “Action” of Selection, Creates Its Own Future Possibilities of Becoming 23 The Adjacent Possible 24 Without Natural Selection, the Biosphere Enables and Creates Its Own Future Possibilities 25 Evolution Often Does Not Cause, But Enables Its Future Evolution 25 Toward a Positive Science for the Evolving Biosphere Beyond Entailing Law 25 Re-enchantment and Creating a New World 27 How Much Magic Do We Want to Be Re-enchanted? 28 Bibliography 29 2 Is Life Essentially Semiosis? 31 Introduction 31 A Confusion of Means with Ends? 32 Semiosis and Biological Functions 32 The “Absent Content” 33 Manufacturing Semiosis 34 Structural Determination 35 Conclusion 35 Bibliography 35 3 Life in the Open Air 37 Life 39 What Does the “Is” Do in “What Is Life?”? 39 When We Ask “What Is Life?”, What Is the “Other” That We Are Contrasting It with? 40 Why Interrogate This Boundary? 41 In 42 Air 43 The Air Has Its Own Life 44 The Air Carries the Signal of Life 45 The Organism Is “in” the Air 46 The Open 47 Life in the Open Air: For Us, Here, Now 49 Bibliography 50 4 Reflections on Life: Lessons from Evolutionary Biology, with Insights from Sergius Bulgakov 52 Evolution as the Unifying Theory of Biology 53 The Relationship of Evolution and Ecology 55 Critiques of Evolution 57 The (Quasi-Scientific) Question of Chance in Science (and Evolution) 58 The (Ideological) Question of “Animal Baseness” 59 The (Theological) Question of Causality 61 Concluding Thoughts: Lessons from Evolution 64 Bibliography 64 5 Life in Terms of Nano-biotechnologies 66 Introduction 67 What Is Life? 67 The “Technosciences” and the Making of the Living 67 Philosophical Consequences: The Reduction of a Living System to Its Functions 68 From the Representation of Life to the Ethics of the Living 70 Human Responsibility Facing the Limits of the Living 70 The View of the Christian Tradition: A Ternary Anthropology and Attention to the Lower 71 Conclusion 72 Bibliography 73 Part II Concepts of Life in Philosophy, Theology and Ethics 75 6 Life: An Ill-Defined Relationship 76 What Is Life? 76 Do We Need a Definition of Life? 77 Do Theologians Have Anything of Worth Saying About the Definition of Life? 79 a. Diagnosing a Definition Deficit 79 b. Handling a Definition Deficit 80 Life as Relation 80 The Significance of Scale 81 What Is Life According to Christian Theology? 82 Life Is Relationship 82 Eternal Life and Relationship 83 Death Revisited 85 Relationality in Human Life 86 Relationality as Wisdom 87 If Life Is Sacred, What Constitutes Its Sacredness? 88 Conclusion 89 Bibliography 90 Internet Sources 91 7 Emergence, Realism and the Good Life 93 Emergence Theory: Going Beyond Reductionism 94 Meaning, Values and Agency 95 Teleology and Values as Inherent in Nature 97 Scientific Realism in Kauffman's and Rue's Theories of Emergence 98 The Conflict Between Naturalism and Scientific Realism 99 Consequences for Kauffman's and Rue's Normative Naturalism 102 Conclusion 103 Bibliography 104 8 Dust of the Ground and Breath of Life (Gen 2:7): The Notion of `life' in Ancient Israel and Emergence Theory 106 Introduction 106 Emergence Theory 107 Platonic Thought 108 Greek and Israelite Thought 109 The Concept of Life in Ancient Israel 110 The Concept of Death in Ancient Israel 111 Nephesh: The Needy Human Being 113 Basar: The Frail Human Being 114 Ruah: The Empowered Human Being 114 Leb (lebab): The Rational Human Being 115 Dabar: The Creative Word 116 Is God a Person? 117 Switch Theory and Spiritual Empowerment 117 Conclusion 120 Bibliography 121 9 The Openness of Life: Personhood and Faith: An Infinitizer Approach 122 Introduction: Totalizers and Infinitizers 122 Basic Experiences of Self and Personhood 123 Further Experiences of Personhood 125 Science, Consciousness and Persons 127 The Entanglement of Subjectivity and Objectivity 128 The Enrichment of Personhood by Faith 129 Knowledge of God 130 Concluding Aspiration 132 Bibliography 132 10 Respect for Life in the Age of Science 134 Introduction 134 Ontologies Past and Present 135 Substantialism 135 Atomism 136 The Building Blocks of Matter in Modern Science 137 From Substantialism to Atomism 138 Medieval Prelude: Nicholas of Autrecourt 138 The Scientific Revolution 138 Atoms and DNA 139 Philosophical Implications 140 Retreat from Reality 140 The Crucial Difference: Populations Versus Substance 141 Implications for Morality 141 Theory Change in Science 142 Examples 142 Options 144 The Relativist Option 144 Back to the Future (Repackaging Terminology) 145 The Moral Compass 146 Common Sense 146 Moral Principles and the Three Blind Men 148 Consequences and Conclusions 148 Bibliography 149 Part III The Hermeneutics of Life 151 11 Life and Consciousness: Is There a Biological Foundation for Consciousness? 152 How Are We to Understand Consciousness? 152 How Are We to Understand Life? 154 Life and Consciousness 155 Life and Proto-consciousness 155 Life and Telo-consciousness 156 Conclusion 158 Bibliography 159 12 “To Research Living Beings, One Has to Participate in Life”: Viktor von Weizsäcker's Legacy 160 His Life 161 His Thought 162 Unity of Perception and Motion 162 Vertigo Experiments 163 Me and My Environment 165 Philosophical Conclusion 166 Comparison with Barbour's Critical Realism 166 Theological Conclusion 168 Bibliography 169 13 Signs, Science, and Religion: A Biosemiotic Mediation 171 Introduction 172 Pragmatism and Nature's a Priori 172 What Life? How Semiotic? Why Religion? 173 Peircian Triads 175 Conclusion: The Pragmatic Practice of Religion 177 Bibliography 178 14 Persons Knowing Life: Theological Possibilities in Michael Polanyi's Philosophy 180 Science and Personhood 182 Personal Knowledge 184 Persons Knowing Life 186 Conclusion: Thoughts for Theology 188 Bibliography 190 15 Life Beyond Critical Realism: Developing van Huyssteen's Transversal Approach to the Science/Theology Dialogue 191 Bibliography 201 Index 203 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 From Physics to Semiotics....Pages 3-19 Is Life Essentially Semiosis?....Pages 21-26 Life in the Open Air....Pages 27-41 Reflections on Life: Lessons from Evolutionary Biology, with Insights from Sergius Bulgakov....Pages 43-56 Life in Terms of Nano-biotechnologies....Pages 57-65 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Life: An Ill-Defined Relationship....Pages 69-85 Emergence, Realism and the Good Life....Pages 87-99 Dust of the Ground and Breath of Life (Gen 2:7): The Notion of ‘life’ in Ancient Israel and Emergence Theory....Pages 101-116 The Openness of Life: Personhood and Faith: An Infinitizer Approach....Pages 117-128 Respect for Life in the Age of Science....Pages 129-145 Front Matter....Pages 147-147 Life and Consciousness: Is There a Biological Foundation for Consciousness?....Pages 149-156 “To Research Living Beings, One Has to Participate in Life”: Viktor von Weizsäcker’s Legacy....Pages 157-167 Signs, Science, and Religion: A Biosemiotic Mediation....Pages 169-177 Persons Knowing Life: Theological Possibilities in Michael Polanyi’s Philosophy....Pages 179-189 Life Beyond Critical Realism: Developing van Huyssteen’s Transversal Approach to the Science/Theology Dialogue....Pages 191-202 Back Matter....Pages 203-207