Can There be a Quantum Philosophy and Theology?

"Is spacetime really curved? Isn't it conceivable that spacetime is actually flat?... What is the real, genuine truth? Is spacetime really flat, as the above paragraphs suggest, or is it really curved? To a physicist like me this is an uninteresting question because it has no physical consequences." Kip Thorne in Black Holes and Time Warps

The first years of the 20th century brought a revolution in physics that lead to relativity and quantum mechanics. But the impact of these new developments on Catholic philosophy and theology was minimal. Today we find a growing enthusiasm in Christian circles for the findings of the modern scientific cosmologists, especially as they are served up by the popular scientific press. But there is a disturbing aspect to this enthusiasm. It seems to be saying, at times, "The revolution in physics that has given us quantum theory and a new cosmology should lead to a revolution in Christian philosophy and theology - to a quantum theology, if you will." Put in another way, it seems to say that philosophy and theology must build on the foundations of cosmology so a new cosmology will lead to a new philosophy and theology.

This is an attitude which is fed by both scientists and the popular scientific press, as we can see in the following examples.

In the Feb.1996 issue of Discover magazine, there was a review of the work of a Russian cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin on the origin of the universe. Vilenkin mused that if quantum theory allowed a particle to pop into existence from nothing, why couldn't the whole universe originate that way - why couldn't many proto- universes simply pop into existence? In a stroke, Discover tells us that Vilenkin "reduced creation from a metaphysical event to a physical one. What had seemed unknowable, was suddenly reduced to a set of equations."

Discover is not alone. Stephen Hawking's solution to the question of the origin of the universe is quite similar. In his A Brief History of Time he tells us that the quantum theory of gravity opens up a new possibility in explaining the beginning of the universe, or what he calls its boundary conditions. "One could say: "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary." The universe would be completely self-contained and not effected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would simply BE."

So much for the old philosophical questions. It looks like the philosophers and theologians didn't even know how to frame their questions properly. Why? Because they lacked the proper skills in math and physics, or as Hawking tells us, "There is a real problem here. The people who ought to study and argue such questions, the philosophers, have mostly not had enough mathematical background to keep up with modern developments in theoretical physics." (Black Holes and Baby Universes)

Hawking is not alone either in this attitude. Frank Tipler puts it in an even stronger way: "Either theology is pure nonsense, a subject with no content, or else theology must ultimately become a branch of physics. The reason is simple. The universe is defined to be the totality of all that exists, the totality of a reality. Thus, by definition, if God exists, He/She is either the universe or part of it. The goal of physics is understanding the ultimate nature of reality. If God is real, physicists will eventually find Him/Her." (The Physics of Immortality)

Do you agree with these quotes? Should we be trying to create a quantum theology or philosophy based on the most recent findings of science?

Now it is your turn to contribute to this discussion.

(from the innerexplorations.com web site; gratitudes to Jim and Tyra Arraj for this opening statement)

For me, this quote answers the question with a resounding negative:

"In his article, "The Search for Meaning in a Global Civilization," V�clav Havel reports on the return to the archetype: "The relationship to the world that modern science fostered and shaped now appears to have exhausted its potential. . . . It fails to connect with the most intrinsic nature of reality, and with natural human experience. . . . It produces what amounts to a state of schizophrenia: Man as an observer is becoming completely alienated from himself as a being. Classical modern science described only the surface of things, a single dimension of reality. And the more dogmatically science created it as the only dimension, as the very essence of reality, the more misleading it became. Today, for instance, we may know immeasurably more about the universe than our ancestors did, and yet, it increasingly seems they knew something more essential about it than we do . . . . The same thing is true of nature and of ourselves. The more thoroughly all our organs and their functions, their internal structure and the biochemical reactions that take place within them are described, the more we seem to fail to grasp the spirit, purpose, and meaning of the system that they create together and that we experience as our unique ‘self.’

"What makes the Anthropic Principle [the concept that, from the countless possible courses of its evolution, the universe took the only one that enabled life to emerge] and the Gaia Hypothesis [the organic and inorganic portions of the earth’s surface form a single system, a mega-organism] so inspiring? One simple thing: Both remind us, in modern language, . . . of what we have long projected into our forgotten myths, and what perhaps has always lain dormant within us as archetypes. That is, the awareness of our being anchored in the Earth and the universe, the awareness that we are not here alone nor for ourselves alone, but that we are an integral part of higher, mysterious entities against whom it is not advisable to blaspheme. This forgotten awareness is encoded in all religions. . . . It is one of the things that forms the basis of man’s understanding of himself, of his place in the world, and ultimately of the world as such."

Excerpt from: "Is Post-Modernism Pass�?" by Sally Morgenthaler, Rev. Magazine, September/October 2001
You can find the entire article at: http://www.onlinerev.com/revmag/0901/passe.html

Bonnie
Rev. Magazine, Rev Mag online