Is the statement “methodological naturalism is a necessary foundation for science” true by definition?
Many of the participants, yours truly among them, continue to hold to this position. On my part, it is what I was taught (Carnegie Tech, 1950s); my rationale is that it works well. During the conference it became clear that this was not at all a theist versus non-theist question. It is even possible that a non-theist might not hold it. One conference participant mentioned that this seems to be an English definitional problem; in German, the word “Wissenschaft” is the closest equivalent to the English “science” and includes all kinds of serious study, including religious studies. Phil Johnson suggested that this question will be, for the most part, answered in the negative within the next year or so. Steven Schafersman, a speaker at the convention (more about him later), took issue with this, as did several others. Phil then commented (all quotations in this essay are from my notes and may not conform exactly to published remarks. Any errors in them, of course, are mine); “How far have
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