There was a conference at St. Louis University last weekend on causal powers (Putting Powers to Work). The program looked excellent. I note that the John Templeton Foundation was a sponsor. IMO this is an excellent use of their funds, given how they describe the portion of their mission which is devoted to "Science and the Big Questions". One subset of this funding area is called "Philosophy and Theology" (other areas relate to direct science grants, which are obviously welcome, and also the promotion of "dialogue" between science and "theology and/or philosophy").
The reason this is notable is that until recently the Foundation's material and grant record struck me as notable for a neglect of philosophy in (often quixotic-seeming) pursuit of dialogue between science and religion. Three years ago, I wrote a letter to the foundation about this, and got a polite reply acknowledging this but saying it was in keeping with the founder's vision.
Since then, the Foundation has been revamping its organization and programs fairly extensively, and philosophy has been getting more into the mix -- notable was a recent significant grant for the study of free will. Hopefully, they will continue to fund pure philosophical research, particularly in the areas of metaphysics which are indispensible IMO if one wants to pursue answers to "Big Questions". Looking at the free will program and the inclusion of a philosophy of religion talk at the powers conference, it appears Templeton will likely insist on some PoR or theology aspect to these programs, but I would think that needn't be problem as long as it's not heavy-handed.
Showing posts with label Templeton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Templeton. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Templeton Funds Initiative in Evolutionary Biology
[See also updates at the end of the post]
I just saw the news (here - I’m not sure if this was made public earlier) about the John Templeton Foundation's $10 million multi-part grant to fund “Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology” (FQEB), an initiative to be led by Harvard’s Martin Nowak.
Nowak has led what is called the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard and has focused on the mathematical modeling side of evolutionary studies. The first announced effort is to offer fellowships to scholars pursuing envelope-pushing work on topics in evolution as well as the study of the origin of life.
I would like to learn more about this, but here are a few tidbits from the above links which are interesting. While the name evokes the earlier Templeton funding of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), this program is more geographically centered (in Boston) and so, while not involving a new independent physical institute, it nonetheless is less “virtual” than FQXi. FQXi exists mainly to provide grants to scholars whose work in foundational physics might not otherwise garner funding from traditional sources. FQEB seem to be more people-driven (and Harvard/Boston oriented), and Nowak’s role seems crucial.
Importantly to me, however (as someone who watches Templeton -- see here and here -- and “roots” for them to apply their vast resources wisely), the initiative raises more potential controversy in terms of whether pure science will result from this effort versus a bias to search out and rationalize religion-friendly results. (This is not an issue with FQXi, which I think anyone who supports pure physics would be at least broadly pleased with):
[UPDATE 8 Jan.2010: It seems the Templeton newsletter emailed to me on 6th January, which is my first link above, was the first public notice of this; the next blogosphere notice was today and comes from the "Intelligent Design" promoter, William Dembski, here. My brief opinion of ID is above and in an earlier blog post here.]
[UPDATE 20 Jan.2010: Templeton has announced funding priorities for the new year, and, of interest to this blog, they include Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality and Foundational Questions in the Mathematical Sciences.]
[UPDATE 21 Jan. 2010: Also interesting to me is Templeton’s recruiting of journalist and blogger Rod Dreher to a post called a director of publications. His new blog is here (the first post is here). I assume it is no accident that he is a Christian conservative. There seems to be plenty of circumstantial evidence of an ongoing tension at JTF between the late founder’s clearly non-sectarian, progressive view of the religious impulse and the current Christian conservative leadership.]
I just saw the news (here - I’m not sure if this was made public earlier) about the John Templeton Foundation's $10 million multi-part grant to fund “Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology” (FQEB), an initiative to be led by Harvard’s Martin Nowak.
Nowak has led what is called the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard and has focused on the mathematical modeling side of evolutionary studies. The first announced effort is to offer fellowships to scholars pursuing envelope-pushing work on topics in evolution as well as the study of the origin of life.
I would like to learn more about this, but here are a few tidbits from the above links which are interesting. While the name evokes the earlier Templeton funding of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), this program is more geographically centered (in Boston) and so, while not involving a new independent physical institute, it nonetheless is less “virtual” than FQXi. FQXi exists mainly to provide grants to scholars whose work in foundational physics might not otherwise garner funding from traditional sources. FQEB seem to be more people-driven (and Harvard/Boston oriented), and Nowak’s role seems crucial.
Importantly to me, however (as someone who watches Templeton -- see here and here -- and “roots” for them to apply their vast resources wisely), the initiative raises more potential controversy in terms of whether pure science will result from this effort versus a bias to search out and rationalize religion-friendly results. (This is not an issue with FQXi, which I think anyone who supports pure physics would be at least broadly pleased with):
- The stated goal includes a reference to "understandings of teleology and concepts of ultimate purpose".
- A Templeton officer says a “next phase of FQEB” will include “rigorous integrative work” with scholars in philosophy and theology.
- The board includes a Divinity professor(!)
- Nowak, who has had affiliations with Templeton for some time, is himself is a committed Christian (was this a necessary if not sufficient fact in spurring this initiative?). A short essay where he expresses some of his views is here.
[UPDATE 8 Jan.2010: It seems the Templeton newsletter emailed to me on 6th January, which is my first link above, was the first public notice of this; the next blogosphere notice was today and comes from the "Intelligent Design" promoter, William Dembski, here. My brief opinion of ID is above and in an earlier blog post here.]
[UPDATE 20 Jan.2010: Templeton has announced funding priorities for the new year, and, of interest to this blog, they include Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality and Foundational Questions in the Mathematical Sciences.]
[UPDATE 21 Jan. 2010: Also interesting to me is Templeton’s recruiting of journalist and blogger Rod Dreher to a post called a director of publications. His new blog is here (the first post is here). I assume it is no accident that he is a Christian conservative. There seems to be plenty of circumstantial evidence of an ongoing tension at JTF between the late founder’s clearly non-sectarian, progressive view of the religious impulse and the current Christian conservative leadership.]
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Sir John Templeton Dead at 95
Sir John was one of great investors and philanthropists (here is the press release from the John Templeton Foundation site). I had the opportunity to hear him speak a couple of times and I conversed personally with him for a few minutes once (about interest rates and currency markets) and he was extremely insightful.
The foundation’s work, a big part of which looks to bridge religion and science, is sometimes controversial (for more see this old post), but it has funded many worthy efforts, including for example the recent seeding of the Foundational Questions Institute. I hope they continue to fund this kind of scientific research. In terms of critique, my personal wish would be that they divert some funding from religion and theology to non-religiously motivated study of metaphysics and philosophy of science. In any case, I think our progress on the big questions should be better because of the existence of the foundation. So, thanks to Sir John and to those who work at implementing his vision.
The foundation’s work, a big part of which looks to bridge religion and science, is sometimes controversial (for more see this old post), but it has funded many worthy efforts, including for example the recent seeding of the Foundational Questions Institute. I hope they continue to fund this kind of scientific research. In terms of critique, my personal wish would be that they divert some funding from religion and theology to non-religiously motivated study of metaphysics and philosophy of science. In any case, I think our progress on the big questions should be better because of the existence of the foundation. So, thanks to Sir John and to those who work at implementing his vision.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Revised Mission for Templeton?
There’s a post by Sean Carroll on Cosmic Variance from the other day noting that the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) had announced the recipients of its first round of grants geared toward research into deep questions of physics and cosmology. It looks like an exciting and worthy list. The sole funding (so far) for the institute has come from the John Templeton Foundation (JTF), which is well known for having as a primary goal the promoting of a reconciliation between science and religion. At the end of his comment to the post, Anthony Aguirre (associate director of FQXi) says: “…it is interesting to note that we recently found out that JTF has a new mission statement. Not sure what this signifies.”
If you go to the foundation’s home page, you now see this mission statement:
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for scientific discovery on what scientists and philosophers call the 'Big Questions.' Ranging from questions about the laws of nature to the nature of creativity and consciousness, the Foundation’s philanthropic vision is derived from Sir John’s resolute belief that rigorous research and cutting-edge scholarship is at the very heart of new discoveries and human progress.
I don’t know when this appeared (and it wasn’t heralded by a press release), but it is remarkable to note the focus on science and the complete absence of the words “religion” or “spirituality”, etc.
[UPDATE (Nov. 14, 2006): The foundation has revised the site; the mission statement above is reworded slightly but the content is the same; the older mission statement mentioned next appears to have been removed...]
Now it turns out that if you drill down into the "About the Foundation” section you will see a different mission statement, which has the references to moral and spiritual dimensions, etc. and a quote from Sir John referring to God. And if you check out the overview of what is still called the Science & Religion part of the foundation’s work, you still see the emphasis on religion. It may be that mission statement on the home page shouldn't be taken to imply a significant change in emphasis. (Take a look at the Programs and Conferences sections for more information on what the foundation is doing -- there is also a 15 minute video).
Many, including Sean Carroll, have been concerned about accepting grants from the foundation because of suspicions it really simply wants to advance religion, specifically Christianity. I would refer you to this article by science writer John Horgan from a few months back, for background on these sorts of qualms.
The reason this is all intriguing is that the foundation has immense resources (over $1 billion), yet the idea of reconciling religion with science seemed misguided. Science is of course not a worldview but a methodology for investigation of the world. If you try to inject religion into science it wouldn't be science anymore. Perhaps JHF realizes this, and simply thinks funding scientific research into the deepest foundational issues will lead to results friendly to their worldview.
Another way to approach these issues would be more philosophical than scientific -- looking for middle ground between the science-inspired worldview of metaphysical naturalism versus religious worldviews. But I've long thought that if this was the goal, then the foundation should have supported academic philosophy more explicitly alongside physics on the one hand and theology on the other. Disciplines such as philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics, for instance, have (in my opinion) a crucial role to play if you want to find such common ground between worldviews. Perhaps I can be encouraged by the reference to “philosophers” in the mission statement above.
Regardless of this, if the foundation intends to continue or further increase its focus on funding of foundational research in physics and cosmology with no explicit religious "strings" attached (as appears to be the case with the FQXi funding), that would be a good thing.
Update: Congratulations to Matt Leifer (of Quantum Quandaries) for being one of the grant recipients (his comment on the grant announcement is here).
If you go to the foundation’s home page, you now see this mission statement:
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for scientific discovery on what scientists and philosophers call the 'Big Questions.' Ranging from questions about the laws of nature to the nature of creativity and consciousness, the Foundation’s philanthropic vision is derived from Sir John’s resolute belief that rigorous research and cutting-edge scholarship is at the very heart of new discoveries and human progress.
I don’t know when this appeared (and it wasn’t heralded by a press release), but it is remarkable to note the focus on science and the complete absence of the words “religion” or “spirituality”, etc.
[UPDATE (Nov. 14, 2006): The foundation has revised the site; the mission statement above is reworded slightly but the content is the same; the older mission statement mentioned next appears to have been removed...]
Now it turns out that if you drill down into the "About the Foundation” section you will see a different mission statement, which has the references to moral and spiritual dimensions, etc. and a quote from Sir John referring to God. And if you check out the overview of what is still called the Science & Religion part of the foundation’s work, you still see the emphasis on religion. It may be that mission statement on the home page shouldn't be taken to imply a significant change in emphasis. (Take a look at the Programs and Conferences sections for more information on what the foundation is doing -- there is also a 15 minute video).
Many, including Sean Carroll, have been concerned about accepting grants from the foundation because of suspicions it really simply wants to advance religion, specifically Christianity. I would refer you to this article by science writer John Horgan from a few months back, for background on these sorts of qualms.
The reason this is all intriguing is that the foundation has immense resources (over $1 billion), yet the idea of reconciling religion with science seemed misguided. Science is of course not a worldview but a methodology for investigation of the world. If you try to inject religion into science it wouldn't be science anymore. Perhaps JHF realizes this, and simply thinks funding scientific research into the deepest foundational issues will lead to results friendly to their worldview.
Another way to approach these issues would be more philosophical than scientific -- looking for middle ground between the science-inspired worldview of metaphysical naturalism versus religious worldviews. But I've long thought that if this was the goal, then the foundation should have supported academic philosophy more explicitly alongside physics on the one hand and theology on the other. Disciplines such as philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics, for instance, have (in my opinion) a crucial role to play if you want to find such common ground between worldviews. Perhaps I can be encouraged by the reference to “philosophers” in the mission statement above.
Regardless of this, if the foundation intends to continue or further increase its focus on funding of foundational research in physics and cosmology with no explicit religious "strings" attached (as appears to be the case with the FQXi funding), that would be a good thing.
Update: Congratulations to Matt Leifer (of Quantum Quandaries) for being one of the grant recipients (his comment on the grant announcement is here).
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