Ep. #237 – Catholicism & the Science Classroom w/ Dr. Kenneth Kemp
Summary
What should students study in the science classroom? How might this look different in a Catholic school compared to an American public school? Is naturalism reinforced by the way science is taught in many schools? Is it possible to teach biology in a pedagogically responsible way yet without disrespecting those who hold religious views about creation? Dr. Kenneth Kemp joins us to discuss these topics.
Guest Bio
Dr. Kenneth Kemp earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in 1984. He taught philosophy for many decades and recently retired from teaching at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Kemp specializes in the relationship between science and religion. He has authored many articles including the influential 2011 publication Science, Theology, and Monogenesis in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. Also, he’s the author of the book The War that Never Was: Evolution & Christian Theology which we discussed on a previous podcast.
Kemp’s 8 Principles
Principle #1
(P1) Scientific research can only establish the powers of nature (i.e.,
what nature can do and, derivatively, the history of the natural world);
even on that, its conclusions, though often highly likely, are, at best, only
probable.
Principle #2
(P2) Science has shown (to the satisfaction of most scientists) that
natural processes could have shaped the geological column, originated
new species from one or a few first kinds of living thing, and given rise
to the human body.
Principle #3
(P3) Science has not yet provided a fully developed account of how
living things could have arisen by natural processes in a world without
life, though that failure does not show that life could not have so arisen.
Principle #4
(P4) Whether science has shown that natural processes could have given
rise to fully human beings depends in part on whether human beings are
purely material beings or whether they are beings with immaterial
souls.
Principle #5
(P5) Science cannot establish either (a) whether human beings have
immaterial souls or (b) whether there exists anything (e.g., a
supernatural creator) outside of nature that could be causally
responsible for some aspects of the natural world (e.g., by creation or by
miracle).
Principle #6
(P6) An argument that natural objects could have been (or even were)
produced by natural powers does not resolve one way or the other the
question of whether there exists anything outside of nature (e.g., a being
which created the natural world itself).
Principle #7
(P7) If there is anything outside of nature that could be causally
responsible for some aspects of the natural world, then an argument
that nature could produce some effect would not be sufficient to
determine whether it did so. Resolution of such a question might require
resolution of certain theological questions as well as scientific ones.
Principle #8
(P8) The evaluation of religious and theological questions is not
methodologically appropriate in the science classroom and not
politically appropriate in American public schools.
Resources
Scientific Method and Appeal to Supernatural Agency: A Case for Modest Methodological Naturalism (article) by Dr. Kenneth Kemp
Problems of Conceiving Human Origins (article) by Dr. Kenneth Kemp
God, Evolution, and the Body of Adam (journal article) by Dr. Kenneth Kemp
The War that Never Was: Evolution & Christian Theology by Dr. Kenneth Kemp (Amazon)
The War that Never Was: Evolution & Christian Theology by Dr. Kenneth Kemp (publisher’s website)
The Science of Adam (review of Dr. Craig’s book) by Dr. Kenneth Kemp
Science, Theology, and Monogenesis (2011 article) by Dr. Kenneth Kemp
“Transmission at generation”: Could original sin have happened at the time when Homo sapiens already had a large population size? (2016 article) by Antoine Suarez
The Genealogical Adam and Eve by Joshua Swamidass
Related Episodes
Ep. #155 – Simplicity, Creation, and Adam & Eve w/ Dr. Matthew Levering
Science, Evolution, and Monogenesis w/ Dr. Kemp – Ep. #104
Ep. #79 – Thinking about Adam & Eve w/ Dr. Swamidass
