Science, Religion, and the Quest for Truth

Abstract

Robert Cohen’s contribution to the philosophy and history of science is well documented in his own writings, and in the prodigious publications of his Boston Colloquium. Less well known are his collegial connections with those in other fields. For some years he and I have been colleagues and friends, and have often made common cause at Boston University between his Center for the Philosophy and History of Science, and my Institute for Philosophy and Religion. Our office complexes are at opposite ends of the Philosophy Department at Boston University, and the symbolism of that spatial balance is significant for a Department which has historically made substantive contributions in both fields. Philosophers of religion, alas, have seldom known much about the history and philosophy of science, whereas philosophers of science have occasionally been quite knowledgeable about religious matters. Cohen is in this tradition. In a university community which boasts a number of “Rennaissance” men and women, Cohen is nevertheless distinctive in the broad range of his interests and sympathies, and his specific knowledge in a wide variety of fields. He and I have often discussed issues in the philosophy of religion, and on one occasion did a joint paper on scientific and religious ways of knowing.