“First World science is one science among many.” So claimed Paul Feyerabend, in 1975, in the introduction to the Chinese edition of Against Method. Feyerabend was not one to believe in the dominance of world powers any more than the relative merits of one scientific method over another. Instead, he believed in openness, not only to the insights that might be gained from competing scientific traditions but also from the influences of culture, history, religion or philosophy.

Some thirty years later the Chinese winners of the Global Perspectives on Science & Spirituality (GPSS) program were the first to tackle questions of scientific method during the recent workshops that took place in Paris to mark the launch of the 18 grant-winning projects. At first they approached the issues in First World orthodox fashion, but then—this was, after all, one of the main points of the meeting—they brought to the table their distinctive perspectives as scholars trained in the philosophy of Taoism.

At another point during the workshops the question of spirituality was broached head-on: “What, in the context of your project, is your working definition of spirituality?” asked Philip Clayton, professor of philosophy and religion at Claremont Graduate University and advisor to the GPSS project, looking to each project leader in turn. They had traveled from twelve countries spanning ten time zones, from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, India, China, Korea and Japan, and their answers reflected the diversity of their cultural, spiritual or religious backgrounds.

GPSS marks a new phase in the development of the field of science and religion. The project builds on the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences’ landmark Science and the Spiritual Quest program and the Metanexus Institute-based Local Societies Initiative, but with a new proviso: to consolidate the foundations and broaden the international scope of the field. As Pranab Das, GPSS Principal Investigator explained, “The project’s main objective is to gain insights from regions of the world that have, until now, been largely absent from the science-religion dialogue. From the outset our challenge has not only been to reach out to the rich scholarship of Asia and Eastern/Central Europe but to gain access to thinkers at a truly advanced level, to have an impact that would resonate through their intellectual communities.”

During a break in the recent workshops Philip Clayton summed up the motivations for the project: “The parameters of science-religion discussion in Western Europe and the U.S. are well known. Although there are hard questions and unresolved debates, the territory has been thoroughly surveyed. But here we have the sense that the GPSS award-winners are proceeding into uncharted territory. We’re watching new contrasts emerge, new themes for religion-science research—and, most interestingly, new connections between various cultural traditions that only emerge when science is used as a touchstone.”

Also present at the workshops in his role as co-advisor, and commenting on the inter-religious dimension of the discussions, Danish theologian Niels Gregersen reflected on some of the similarities between his own Lutheran tradition, “which has cultivated the meaning of paradoxes,” and Chinese Taoism and Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. At the close of a session on Framing the Questions in Science and Religion he commented on the “expansion from science-religion to science-spiritualities opening up new avenues for discussion.”

It took eighteen months to turn the GPSS—a joint program of the Interdisciplinary University of Paris and Elon University—from vision into reality. The first imperative was to establish visibility of the project and to create a multi-functional Internet site. Next came the identification of local partners in each country who would help to establish the credibility of the program and provide entrée into their networks of elite thinkers. Then, as Pranab Das recalls, “one of the most exciting and challenging aspects of the project was the team’s extensive travels and efforts in search of excellent applicants.”

In the Czech Republic, Father Pavel Gabor, Jesuit priest, physicist, amateur cyclist and member of the Vatican Observatory escorted the team on a tour of the country’s leading centers of academia. Illustrating the wisdom of the local partners approach, he revealed the secret of his remarkable success in getting the word out about the project: the select Czech Society for Cycling Astrophysicists whose members had just returned from their annual tour of the country’s observatories.

In St. Petersburg, physicist Alexei Nesteruk hired a transit van and an interpreter and rounded up the GPSS representatives each day for their meetings. In Vietnam astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan took time out of a trip to his native land to reveal several interesting leads there. The First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Paris gave generously of his time to help out with cultural and diplomatic issues. And in India the adage about never underestimating the power of local knowledge took on new significance. There, the Bangalore-based Kengal Hanumanthaiya Foundation produced dozens of leads in top universities and research institutes across the country and a meeting with the Education Minister—a man with a deep personal engagement in the science-religion dialogue, as it turned out, and genuine interest in the project.

As a result of these trips the project received 160 applications, 18 of which were eventually selected for awards ranging from $40,000 to $130,000. In view of the quality of the proposals, 16 runners-up also received Honorable Mention awards.

Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, GPSS is the largest grants competition ever to target Asia and Central/Eastern Europe in the field of science and religion.

The 18 awardees now have a full academic year to carry out their research projects, a year to unravel some of the conceptual threads that emerged during the workshops. East to West, the themes addressed and the approaches to issues of Science and Spirituality vary considerably. An interdisciplinary team at the Ryukoku University in Japan is working on a project entitled Pure Land Buddhism and the Natural Sciences, while a team at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China will consider Scientific Approaches to Human Consciousness and the Implications for Taoist Religion. In India, researchers will investigate Brain and Being: the Science and Spirituality of Consciousness; and a Polish project will examine Current Controversies about Human Origins.

As the international cadre of scientists, philosophers and theologians prepared to return home to their research, Pranab Das looked to the future: “The awardees are world-class thinkers with extensive networks in their regions and powerful voices in their intellectual communities. More importantly, they are committed to original study in the field of science and spirituality and have the potential to produce a very significant body of work during the coming year. I think we will look back at the collective output and impact of the GPSS awardees as a truly outstanding accomplishment.”

Links of Interest
   Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality
   Interdisciplinary University of Paris
   Elon University

Tom Mackenzie is the GPSS Program Manager based at the Interdisciplinary University of Paris. He has worked on numerous academic conferences and research projects in the area of Science and Religion in France, Kazakhstan, and India.

To receive a free monthly copy of Milestones by direct mail, please forward your request and address to milestoneseditor@templeton.org. To subscribe to any of the Foundation’s various free e-mail newsletters, including Milestones, go to our JTF Newsletter Subscriptions page.

Milestones is a publication of the John Templeton Foundation.