Where Philosophy Meets Theology
Libby A. Nelson
May 21, 2013
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/21/some-philosophy-scholars-raise-concerns-about-templeton-funding...Scientists have often criticized the [Templeton] foundation’s grants for
attempting to interject religion into the sciences. ...Now the same debates are spilling over into philosophy...a broader concern:
how the influx of money from one donor, with a specific worldview, could transform the discipline in the future.
...Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Rutgers...: “We may
expect a huge number of papers and books in our field taking a religious perspective at the very least extremely seriously,” Stanley wrote. “This is not why I entered philosophy, and it is incompatible with my conception of its role in the university. I will
not take any money from Templeton or speak at any Templeton funded conferences...”
“I think
Templeton money is affecting the constant judgments we all inevitably make about what is worth attending to and what we don't take seriously,” wrote Peter Godfrey-Smith, a professor of philosophy at the City University of New York...
Alex's comment: 鄧普頓基金具基督教背景，捐款支持課題與宗教有關的科學研究，曾在科學界引起爭議，被批評企圖把宗教議題引入科學。隨著基金開始也資助哲學研究項目，現在哲學界也引起同類爭議：基金之捐款將改變哲學界，預期將陸續出現大量議題與宗教有關的研究、論文、和書籍。雖然鄧普頓基金並不要求研究結果須對宗教有利，但問題在於，在研究經費一向短缺的哲學科，有一大筆鼓勵宗教課題的資金來到，勢必扭轉哲學界對「甚麼值得鑽研，甚麼不重要」 的判斷。
Locked
