Shaping
Biology
© Dr Arthur Jones
(September 2007)
Plan
1) Worldviews
2) Systematics
3) Some Case Studies
4) Conclusion
Worldviews
Worldviews
•
Christianity
•
Islam
•
•
•
Hinduism
Communism
Western Religion
Christian Story
Creation
Fall
Redemption
New Creation
Worldview of Western Religion
Science
Technology
Economics
Consumerism
Systematics:
Digging Deeper
Worldviews are not enough
For Christian critique of science and
science teaching
we need a systematic
understanding of how
beliefs influence science
The Bush of Knowledge
Facts
Theories
All the disciplines
Paradigms
Explicit
(usually
recognised)
Philosophy
General Philosophy
Religion
Implicit
(rarely
recognised)
© Richard Russell & Arthur Jones
religion
general philosophy
discipline philosophies
paradigms
theories
facts
religion
general philosophy
discipline philosophies
paradigm
theories
facts
Tree of
Life
General Philosophy
What is Biology?
“Life is never a material,
a substance to be
moulded. If you want to
know, life is the principle
of self-renewal, it is
constantly renewing and
remaking and changing
and transfiguring itself.”
(Doctor Zhivago)
Boris Pasternak
(1890-1960)
religion
general philosophy
discipline philosophies
paradigms
theories
facts
Philosophies of Biology
•
Atomism – all wholes are
explained by analysing them
into their parts.
•
Mechanism – All events are
explained by preceding events
which are their causes.
religion
general philosophy
discipline philosophies
paradigms
theories
facts
Paradigms
in the physical sciences
Atomic Theory
Chemical Bonding Theory
Kinetic Theory of Gases
Quantum Theory
Chaos Theory Conservation of Energy Law
Law of Increasing Entropy
Electromagnetic
Theory
Big Bang
Theory
Least Action Principle
Paradigms
in the biological sciences
Cell Theory
Exclusion Principle
Gene Theory
Principle of Homeostasis
Sociobiology
Selfish Gene Theory
Law of Biogenesis
Structuralism
Darwinism
Principle of Homology
Paradigms in Genetics
Two key paradigms:
•
•
Mendelism
particulate heredity
Weismannism
germ line theory
Mendelism – The factors governing
characters are material, hereditary
particles (‘atoms’) – now called
‘genes’.
Weismannism – Heredity is a
function of the germline only. The
germline gives rise to the body
(soma); the body does not affect
the germline.
Facts
Genetical ‘facts’
selected and interpreted by
Theories
Genetical theories
using the concepts of
Paradigms Mendelism Weismannism
governed by the assumptions of
Philosophy
Mechanism
Atomism
• DNA reductionism
is like saying the
bumps on a CD
• create both the music
and the CD player.


•
•
DNA encodes the building
materials (proteins), but
not the architect’s plans.
Heredity and development
never start with just DNA,
but always with whole cells,
whole organisms.
Paramecium
Is there a scientific
theory of evolution?
(1) Embryological Development
How? No theory!
(2) Evolutionary Development
How? No theory!
CONCLUSION:
How can we shape
biology?
•
•
•
through worldview analysis
through understanding how
beliefs influence science
through developing and
applying a Christian
philosophy of science
THE
END
Shaping
Biology
© Dr Arthur Jones
(September 2007)