Une courte introduction aux débats entre science et religion, bien au‑delà des affrontements spectaculaires entre athéisme militant et fondamentalismes.
Une présentation claire des questions clés : évolution, création, « Intelligent Design », miracles et lois de la nature.
Des études de cas célèbres – Galilée, le débat Huxley–Wilberforce, le procès Scopes, l’affaire de Dover – replacées dans leur contexte social, politique et religieux.
Pour qui c’est adapté
Lecteur·rice·s à la recherche d’un aperçu équilibré et accessible sur les relations entre foi et sciences modernes.
Personnes intéressées par la manière dont ces débats influencent l’école, le droit, la politique et l’espace public.
Étudiant·e·s, enseignant·e·s et curieux·ses qui lisent l’anglais et veulent un petit livre riche en exemples historiques et contemporains.
Thèmes
Histoire des conflits et des dialogues : Inquisition, darwinisme, procès Scopes, procès de Dover.
Questions philosophiques : foi, connaissance, lois de la nature, miracles, méthodes scientifiques et interprétations religieuses.
Interactions entre religion, droit et éducation dans les sociétés modernes, avec des perspectives non chrétiennes.
Livre, en anglais.
The debate between science and religion is never out of the news: emotions run high, fuelled by polemical bestsellers like The God Delusion and, at the other end of the spectrum, high-profile campaigns to teach 'Intelligent Design' in schools. Yet there is much more to the debate than the clash of these extremes. As Thomas Dixon shows in this balanced and thought-provoking introduction, many have seen harmony rather than conflict between faith and science. He explores not only the key philosophical questions that underlie the debate, but also the social, political, and ethical contexts that have made 'science and religion' such a fraught and interesting topic in the modern world, offering perspectives from non-Christian religions and examples from across the physical, biological, and social sciences. Along the way, he examines landmark historical episodes such as the trial of Galileo by the Inquisition in 1633, and the famous debate between 'Darwin's bulldog' Thomas Huxley and Bishop Wilberforce in Oxford in 1860. The Scopes 'Monkey Trial' in Tennessee in 1925 and the Dover Area School Board case of 2005 are explained with reference to the interaction between religion, law, and education in modern America.
Portrait Thomas Dixon is Lecturer in History at Queen Mary, University of London. A member of the International Society for Science and Religion and an expert on modern intellectual history, he writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement, and has published books about the history of psychology and about Victorian moral philosophy.
