Evolutionary naturalism takes the inherent limitations of science and turns them into a devastating philosophical weapon: because science is our only real way of knowing anything, what science cannot know cannot be real.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the limitations of science in understanding reality, suggesting that if science cannot explain something, it is deemed unreal.
Phillip E. Johnson argues that evolutionary naturalism views science as the sole authority on knowledge, asserting that anything beyond the scientific realm is considered non-existent. This perspective raises philosophical concerns about the nature of reality and the scope of human understanding, suggesting that dismissing the unknowns outside of scientific inquiry may be a flawed position.
In practice
In a debate about the role of science in society, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the limitations of scientific inquiry.
They are all beasts of burden in a sense, ' Thoreau once remarked of animals, 'made to carry some portion of our thoughts.' Animals are the old language of the imagination; one of the ten thousand tragedies of their disappearance would be a silencing of this speech.
If we truly think of Christ as our source of holiness, we shall refrain from anything wicked or impure in thought or act and thus show ourselves to be worthy bearers of his name. For the quality of holiness is shown not by what we say but by what we do in life.
For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.
Without dignity, identity is erased.
Peace is not made at the council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.
I think that has to do with my awareness that in a sense we all have a certain measure of responsibility to those who have made it possible for us to take advantage of the opportunities.
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