The Territories of Human Reason: Science and Theology in an Age of Multiple Rationalities

by Alister E. McGrath

Our understanding of human rationality has changed significantly since the beginning of the century, with growing emphasis being placed on multiple rationalities, each adapted to the specific tasks of communities of practice. We may think of the world as an ontological unity-but we use a plurality of methods to investigate and represent this world. This development has called into question both the appeal to a universal rationality, characteristic of the
Enlightenment, and also the simple 'modern-postmodern' binary. The Territories of Human Reason is the first major study to explore the emergence of multiple situated rationalities. It focuses on the relation of the natural sciences and Christian theology, but its approach can easily be extended to other
disciplines. It provides a robust intellectual framework for discussion of transdisciplinarity, which has become a major theme in many parts of the academic world.

Alister E. McGrath offers a major reappraisal of what it means to be 'rational' which will have significant impact on older discussions of this theme. He sets out to explore the consequences of the seemingly inexorable move away from the notion of a single universal rationality towards a plurality of cultural and domain-specific methodologies and rationalities. What does this mean for the natural sciences? For the philosophy of science? For Christian theology? And for the interdisciplinary
field of science and religion? How can a single individual hold together scientific and religious ideas, when these arise from quite different rational approaches? This ground-breaking volume sets out to engage these questions and will provoke intense discussion and debate.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Theology, History, History Of Science

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2019

About the author

Alister Edgar McGrath is a Northern Irish theologian, priest, intellectual historian, scientist, and Christian apologist. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College. He was previously Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, until 2005. He is an Anglican priest and is ordained within the Church of England.

Aside from being a faculty member at Oxford, McGrath has also taught at Cambridge University and is a Teaching Fellow at Regent College. McGrath holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford, a DPhil in Molecular Biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity in Theology and a Doctor of Letters in Intellectual History.

McGrath is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, and the relationship between science and religion, as well as his writings on apologetics. He is also known for his opposition to New Atheism and antireligionism and his advocacy of theological critical realism. Among his best-known books are The Twilight of Atheism, The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life, and A Scientific Theology. He is also the author of a number of popular textbooks on theology.

Reviews

[Calvin Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your normal, Alister McGrath "apologetics" book. This is a technical and sometimes verbose book that deals with a lot of theories, both in psychology and the philosophy of science. That being said, for those who put in the time and effort, I believe it to be a worthwhile read. The constant refrain of the book is "there is more than one way to look at something" and I believe the point is well made.

As a note, there is little to no defense on McGrath's part of theology being a rational or intellectual coequal to the other academic disciplines, particularly the natural sciences. This may leave some readers with a bad taste in their mouths, but McGrath does extensively cover the complaint in some of his other works which are worth consulting.

Two chapters stand out to me as noteworthy. Firstly, "Rational Explanation in Science and Religion" is almost introductory in nature as it takes the reader through various theories on what it means to "explain" something. The conclusion of the chapter I feel to be most satisfactory, but not so overwhelming that it stifles all desire to read other opinions. The chapter "Complexity and Mystery" is particularly fascinating though it leaves a lot left unsaid but this seems to be owing to the lack of academic literature in this area as McGrath notes.

I couldn't help but feeling a little dissatisfied with the concluding chapter. I was hoping for some more clarity as to just what the "territories of human reason" were. It seemed as though there was a lot put into developing the theory and history to tackle the problem, but very little analysis of the proposed solution. This was a shame and I do hope further volumes will be put out to engage on this subject more.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing and thoughtful exploration of the approach to rational thinking presented by science, on the one hand, and religion (specifically, Christianity), on the other. This book can be read as a charitable critique of scientism as McGrath stresses the limits of all rationality, including the rationality that attends scientific inquiry. I would highly recommend this work for those interested in the intersection between science and religion by an esteemed theologian who is well-versed in scientific discoveries and developments as well as theology.