This collection of texts is intended to accompany an intelligent reader along the path of knowledge concerning the relationship between science and religion. Although such a relationship has recently been the subject of widely publicized debate, great minds have been discussing issues surrounding that relationship for centuries. These pages contain a sampling of some of the most influential speculation concerning that debate, in the very words of those who have helped shape the conversation over the years. The revolutionary Italian scientist, Galileo Galilei, occupies a key and pivotal position in the history of this conversation. Hence, this anthology focuses on his story, often misunderstood and oversimplified, in order to guide the reader towards a greater appreciation of the complexities involved in the study of both science and religion.Fr. Philip Larrey, originally from Mountain View, California, teaches Philosophy of Logic at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Italy. He is also Guest Lecturer on Science and Religion at the Rome Study Center of the University of California. His academic interests include studies in the Analytical Tradition, Classical Philosophy of Knowledge, Metaphysics and the recent debate concerning Neo-Darwinian theories of evolution. His most recent book, entitled Thinking Logically, is available through the Davies Group Publishers (2006).
In discussing controversial issues in the contemporary Catholic Church, this collection of important documents represents a valuable guide. In an atmosphere of intelligent scrutiny, academic freedom and mutual respect, these texts will guide a creative debate concerning “hot-button” items facing the Church today and which impact our world as a whole.
The aim of this work is to provide interested scholars of the philosophy of knowledge with the general bases about the definition and constitution of epistemology, by excelling those themes and issues related to it that have marked an important page in the history of philosophical thought. Such work will come much closer to a philosophy philosophy of knowledge than to an essay or treatise having as its object the same referent, so that it can be more comprehensible to those directly concerned, who can also assimilate thanks to the exemplification of theses that are complex in themselves with not too many difficulties what you want to express in these pages.