Sciences of the Origin
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AboutCosmology, the biological search for the origin of life, and the archaeological quest for the origin of the human mind share the key methodological features and challenges: a pronounced under-determination of theories based on indirect evidence of deep history, ubiquitous selection effects (biases), an inherent interdisciplinary orientation, and a crucial assimilation of techniques from other disciplines. Given their striking commonalities, philosophers and scientists are starting to analyze common structures of historical explanations across sciences studying the deep past and the origins of the physical universe, life, and mind.
Our project is a place for exchanging ideas between cosmologists, archeologists, and biologists working on the origins, as well as philosophers, historians, theologians, and social scientists studying the various aspects of human thought that have shaped these intellectual pursuits. Reflecting on how methodologies and ideas from various domains of knowledge are intertwined in these sciences would yield valuable methodological and philosophical insights. |
This research was supported by the University of Oxford project 'New Horizons for Science and Religion in Central and Eastern Europe' funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in the publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the John Templeton Foundation.
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