Full Description
This wide-ranging book critically reviews the ways in which religious and non-religious belief systems interact with scientific methods, traditions and theories. Contributors explore how, for some secularists, `science' forms an important part of social identity. Others examine how many contemporary religious movements justify their beliefs by making a claim upon science. The book shows how debates about science and belief are firmly embedded in political conflict, class, community and culture.
Contents
Foreword ‾ Grace DavieEditors' Introduction: Science, Belief and the Sociological Tradition ‾ Stephen H. Jones, Tom Kaden and Rebecca CattoPART I: Methodological Challenges in the Study of Science and BeliefThe Sociological Study of Science and Religion in Context ‾ Fern Elsdon-Baker and Will Mason-WilkesSurvey-based Research on Science and Religion: A Review and Critique ‾ Jonathan HillLanguage, Labels and Lived Identity in Debates about Science, Religion and Belief ‾ Tom Kaden, Stephen H. Jones and Rebecca CattoResearching Clergy Attitudes towards Science: A Reflective Account of Key Methodological Challenges ‾ Lydia ReidPART II: Belief in the Study of Science and TechnologyFrom `Science and Religion' to `Transcendence in Science', or: What We Can Learn from the (History of) Science and Technology Studies ‾ Silke GulkerRational Believers: Religion, Tradition and Spirituality among Indian Scientists ‾ Renny ThomasMuslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research ‾ Jessica Carlisle, Salman Hameed and Fern Elsdon-BakerPART III: Science, Culture and Non-religionFeeling Rational: Affinity and Affinity Narratives in British Science-Non-religion Relations ‾ Lois LeeAvoiding the `Anti-intellectual Abyss': How Secular Humanists in Sweden try to Define the Boundaries between Science, Religion, Pseudoscience and Postmodernism ‾ Susanne KindAtheism and the Social Sciences ‾ Stephen LeDrewPART IV: Religion, Conflict and ModerationScience and the Unearned Virtues of the `Really Religious People': Exploring the Association between Perceived Religiosity and Science Rejection among Students in the Midwestern United States ‾ David E. LongDiscourses on Science and Islam: A View from Britain ‾ Amy UnsworthConclusion: Future Directions in the Sociological Study of Science and Belief ‾ Stephen H. Jones, Rebecca Catto and Tom Kaden
