INTRODUCTION: TOWARD A METAPHYSIC OF MEANING

Andrew Robinson; Christopher Southgate; Andrew Robinson; Christopher Southgate

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01084.x

Research Articles
INTRODUCTION: TOWARD A METAPHYSIC OF MEANING

Abstract

We introduce a two‐part collection of articles (Part 2 to appear in the September 2010 issue) exploring a possible new research program in the field of science and religion. At the center of the program lies an attempt to develop a new theology of nature drawing on the philosophy of C. S. Peirce. Our overall idea is that the fundamental structure of the world is exactly that required for the emergence of meaning and truth‐bearing representation. We understand the emergence of a capacity to interpret an environment to be important to the emergence of life, and we see the subsequent history of biological evolution as a story of increasing capacities for meaning making and meaning seeking. Theologically, we understand God to be the ground of all such meaning making and the ultimate goal of the universe's emerging capacity for interpreting signs. Here we explain our reasons for seeking a new metaphysical framework in which science and theology may each find a home. We survey the contributions to the two‐part collection, and we suggest that the interdisciplinary collaboration from which these have arisen may serve as a methodological model for the field of science and religion.

Keywords

research program, C. S. Peirce, semiotics, science and religion, metaphysics, interpretation, meaning

How to Cite

Robinson, A. & Southgate, C., (2010) “INTRODUCTION: TOWARD A METAPHYSIC OF MEANING”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 45(2), 339–344. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01084.x

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References

Conway Morris, Simon. 1998. The Crucible of Creation. Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press.

Deacon, Terrence. 1997. The Symbolic Species. Harmondsworth , U.K. : Penguin.

Drees, Willem B.2010. Religion and Science in Context: A Guide to the Debates. London : Routledge.

Gould, Stephen Jay. 1991. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. Harmondsworth , U.K. : Penguin.

Hoffmeyer, Jesper. 1996. Signs of Meaning in the Universe. Bloomington : Indiana Univ. Press.

Oyama, Susan, Paul E.Griffiths, and Russell D.Gray. 2001. “Introduction: What Is Developmental Systems Theory?” In Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution, ed. S.Oyama, P. E.Griffiths, and R. D.Gray, 1–11. Cambridge : MIT Press.

Robinson, Andrew. In press. God and the World of Signs: Trinity, Evolution and the Metaphysical Semiotics of C. S. Peirce. Leiden : Brill.

Southgate, Christopher, MichaelRobert Negus, and AndrewRobinson2005. “Theology and Evolutionary Biology.” In God, Humanity and the Cosmos: Second Edition Revised and Expanded, ed. C.Southgate London and New York : T&T Clark.

Wheeler, Wendy. 2006. The Whole Creature: Complexity, Biosemiotics and the Evolution of Culture. London : Lawrence and Wishart.

Authors

Andrew Robinson (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)
Christopher Southgate (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)

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Issue

Volume 45 • Issue 2 • June 2010

Publication details

Pages	339–344

Dates

Published	2010-06-02

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01084.x

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