Are There Limits to Science?

Based on the 2016 conference of the Science and Religion Forum, this volume effectively discusses the limits of naturalism in a number of fields, questioning the monopoly of knowledge implied in scientism and opening up other ways of knowing. The reader is introduced to expansive or non-reductive naturalism, which still denies the possible existence of a supernatural realm while trying to maintain the integrity of values and include God. The second paper is a criticism of the first, and proposes a different view, namely the holistic dualism of Charles Taliaferro. A paper on divine action explores the 'causal joint' in some detail, and is followed by what I found the most interesting contribution on emotion, reason and the limits of science by Donovan Schaefer. He refers to the guiding emotionality of our bodies and minds, reminding us of Hume's subordination of reason to what he called calm passion and, like Mary Midgley, putting forward the idea that knowledge production is emotionally saturated - as is the defence of scientific and philosophical positions. He also discusses William James and affect theory, commenting that science, strictly speaking, is defined a form of systematic knowledge rather than being confined to natural science. There are many other interesting papers on related topics, including physics, Thales, neuroscience and transhumanism – a stimulating volume.