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Divine Action and Laws of Nature

Famininejad Hamedan, Fatemeh | 2024

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 57654 (42)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Philosophy of Science
  6. Advisor(s): Akbary Takhtameshlu, Javad
  7. Abstract:
  8. The issue of divine action is one of the main questions in the field of science and religion. This issue has been investigated many times from different angles, but what is less discussed is the investigation of divine action from the perspective of the philosophy of science. In this research, by reviewing the history of theories of divine action, the relation of these theories with science was determined. Philosophers and theologians before the present century were forced to choose between science and religion in dealing with the issue of divine action because in a Deterministic world, there was no place for God's actions such as miracles and answering prayers. The members of the Divine Action project believe that with the advent of modern science and the breaking of determinism in some fields, a new way has been presented to philosophers to model divine action in a way that considers God's actions as objective without breaking the laws of nature. To explain God's actions, they turn to ontological indeterminacy, i.e., indeterminacy that is not due to our ignorance, but an inherent aspect of the subject itself, such as quantum mechanics. However, this view faces issues, one of which is the issue of magnification. According to this problem, very few quantum events can be effective at the macro level, thus limiting God's actions based on quantum mechanics. So this category can still be classified among the proponents of science in the crossroads of science and religion. The purpose of this thesis is to find a model of divine action that, in addition to objectively considering God's actions and not breaking the laws of nature, does not limit the scope of God's actions. To find this theory, two questions were examined: "What are the laws of nature?" and "What does it mean to break the rules?" Regarding the first question, by examining the common theories about the laws of nature, the view of new essentialism was chosen, according to which the laws are necessary. To answer the second question, the problem of sampling was raised, which suggests that it is usually not possible to find an example of a law in nature because different forces, such as electromagnetism and gravity, are applied to each object. Euler's method is used to obtain the equations of motion of an object affected by different forces. Using this method, the result of the forces on the object in the direction of each axis is equal to the mass of the object's acceleration (which is the second derivative of its position). Finally, a differential equation is obtained for the movement of the object in any direction, considering all the forces acting on it. This method does not prevent adding a new force to the result of the forces. Even if the body does not behave according to it, the law is not broken, but the outcome of the forces has changed. So the answer to the second question is that rules are not broken. Therefore, there is no need to limit God's actions to ontological indeterminacy. However, there are still two other obstacles from science for God's actions: determinism and causal closure. Usually, determinism is considered a principle arising from experimental science, especially classical physics. According to the principle of determinism, every cause necessarily follows its effect, and if we have two worlds with the same causal history, their futures must be the same. But this issue is violated in the case of performing a divine act, and since science says that our world is deterministic, a divine act cannot be performed. However, determinism alone cannot be an obstacle to divine action because ,As it is said, with the addition of a new force, an action contrary to the natural order of nature can occur without breaking the deterministic laws. To solve the problem of causal closure, Papineau's arguments were examined through physiological evidence and consistency laws, revealing that neither argument could be derived from science. Finally, it was concluded that the apparent contradiction between science and divine action is a superficial conflict. By delving deeper, these two do not conflict with each other, and science cannot be used to argue against divine action
  9. Keywords:
  10. Divine Actin in Nature ; Nature Law ; Determinism ; Causal Closure ; Science and Religion

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