Denise Rall posts:
This might help someone. Interestingly, he takes an epistemological approach. Here is a quote I recorded from his preface:
"Lyotard distinguished between narrative and scientific knowledge as two distinct species of discourse which can both fufil legitimate functions" (1984: 29f.) He then goes on to evaluate theology for its discursive value.
van Huyssteen, J. W. (1998). Duet or duel? Theology and science in a postmodern world. London, SCM Press.
This complements Christian who raises a critical issue, one that would be applauded by most who work in the arena of futures, futures studies and similarly labeled disciplines within The Academy and outside. This is not the area of projecting the future, as you, also, suggest; but it includes thinking about possible futures and their consequences as well as paths that might realize or prevent attainment. To that point, the invention of the WWW transcended its original purpose and intent giving us the opportunity for this exchange. Thus we must be open to serendipity . Also, to the point, one must realize that the Enlightenment, while in part a reaction to religious hegemony, also took a very wrong turn when its members accepted the idea that the tools and practices of science could create a similar "science of humans". Perhaps two of its failures, as identified by the political philosopher, John Gray, in the most mathematical of the social arena, economics, has been Marxism and Capitalism. Thus we must take care that we do not, in the beginning, accept the revisionist versions, such as neo-marxism, which by fiat rejects, out of hand, ideas based on "faith" which, in its formality might manifest itself as religion and, perhaps even "science". Science is simultaneously inductive, developing models from empirical data, and deductive, building of mathematical models which can be the basis of experimental verification. Research, by fiat, evokes the disciplines that have broken from philosophy by such practices. And it is validated by its seeming successes in the natural world. So, Lyotard is right- science and philosophy or religion can be separated, as Pope Urban did for Galileo, science deals with cause and philosophy and religion deal with purpose. Where social studies falls depends. . . With the rise of virtual worlds and multiple or connected "metaverses" the questions get more interesting and cross disciplinary boundaries. Where this takes AIR is an interesting question. tom dr. tom p abeles, editor On the Horizon _________________________________________________________________ Watch “Cause Effect,” a show about real people making a real difference. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_watchcause