Читать книгу Science & Religion - Alister E. McGrath - Страница 16

The theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg is one of many influential scientists who emphasize that it is not possible to speak of ‘the scientific method’. Each scientific discipline develops its own research methods, which are adapted to its research tasks and field of inquiry. ‘We need to remember that what we observe is not nature itself, but nature as it is disclosed by our methods of investigation.’ Heisenberg's point suggests that the scientific need to use a multiplicity of research methods leads to a corresponding plurality of perspectives or insights about reality, which thus need to be woven together in some way to give rise to the best possible overall representation of nature.

Heisenberg recognizes both the complexity of the natural world and human experience, and offers an account of this which recognizes a plurality of approaches and intellectual outcomes. Heisenberg was able to accommodate both art and religion within his overall approach, distinguishing these from the natural sciences, while affirming their cultural legitimacy and intellectual distinctiveness. Art, science, and religion were the outcomes of different methods, and were to be seen as part of the greater human engagement with reality, which requires multiple research methods.

This framework offers some important possibilities for both identifying the distinct ‘knowledge products’ of science and religion. It respects the difference between science and religion, avoiding any attempt to confuse or conflate them; however, it holds that it is possible to bring together the different levels of knowledge that they produce. As we shall consider at several points in this work, the natural sciences are primarily concerned with understanding how things function, whereas religion is more concerned with what they mean. These represent different levels of engagement with human existence. Yet they can be brought together to give a fuller and richer understanding of the distinct nature of humanity.