Philip Clayton

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Philip Clayton (* 1955 ) is an American philosopher and theologian who is close to process theology .

Life

Clayton received his BA in Philosophy from Westmont College in 1978, summa cum laude . Initially still evangelically oriented, he then attended Fuller Theological Seminary , where he obtained an MA . Clayton continued his studies as a DAAD exchange student at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich with Wolfhart Pannenberg from 1981 to 1983 . From 1984 he studied at Yale University , where he completed his dissertation with the title Explanation from Physics to the Philosophy of Religion: Continuities and Discontinuities. (Explanations of physics for the philosophy of religion. Continuities and discontinuities) with Louis Dupré . In 1986 he earned his PhD jointly in both religious studies and philosophy.

Clayton received his first position as a lecturer in the spring of 1986 at Haverford College as Visiting Assistant Professor. From 1986 he taught as an assistant professor at Williams College . From 1990 to 1991 he was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Munich, before moving to Sonoma State University in 1991 , where he was given a chair in 1998. During this time he was again in Munich as Alexander von Humboldt Professor (1994–1995) and as a visiting professor at the Divinity School at Harvard (2001–2002). In 2002 and 2003 he received a grant (Templeton Research Grant) to participate in an interdisciplinary project to research emergence and to publish a book on the subject. In 2003 he moved to the position of Ingraham Professor and Dean at the Claremont School of Theology combined with a professorship for philosophy and religion and the position of Provost at Claremont Graduate University . There were renewed visiting professorships in Cambridge at St Edmund's College (spring 2006) and at Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions (2006-2007).

Clayton founded the American Academy of Religion's systematic theology group while teaching. An important research project was the Science and Spiritual Quest Program at the University of Berkeley , in which more than 100 scientists worldwide examined the relationship between science, ethics, religion and spirituality. Clayton held the position of a principal investigator. In addition, he has been able to acquire grants for various projects and has given a large number of guest lectures.

Teaching

Clayton's main research interests are the study of the relationship between science and religion, process theology and the philosophy of religion. He particularly deals with questions of the present in the areas of ecology, religion and society as well as ethics. Thematically, he pays special attention to the question of emergence, the mind-body problem and the commonality of the various religions.

Explanation from Physics to Theology: An Essay in Rationality and Religion (1989) is an epistemological-oriented book in which Clayton deals with the question of the rationality of religious beliefs. Starting with the question of what a good scientific explanation is, he deals with the theories of scientificity in the specialist sciences. The method of the research programs as developed by Imre Lakatos serves as a guide. When applied to theological questions, he defends the thesis that the religious studies also have their place in the canon of general sciences.

The book God and Contemporary Science (1998) was awarded the Templeton Book Prize. Clayton deals here with the relationship between theology and modern science. For him, the empirical findings of the sciences do not exclude the possibility that holistic worldviews, be they formulated by philosophy or theology, represent a necessary complement to research. He deals with the statements of quantum mechanics, the theories about the origin of the cosmos, chaos theory, the theory of self-organization, neurosciences or emergence and connects these theories with a panentheistic theology. He tries to show that neither the old nor the new testament are in contradiction to panantheism, but can be read in accordance with it.

Emergence is a new catchphrase, possibly a new paradigm for understanding modern science, philosophy of mind, and theology. In the book Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness (2006), Clayton deals intensively with the phenomenon of emergence. These show that there are irreducible levels in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology that call for a new approach to the phenomenon of consciousness. This is neither to be equated with pure brain states ( physicalism ), nor is it an independent entity that can be called mental substance or soul ( dualism ). Nor is it necessary to tie emergence to classical theology. From this insight, Clayton developed the concept of an emergent panentheism and a constructivist Christian theology that is in harmony with the knowledge of modern science.

In The Question of Freedom: Biology, Culture and the Emergence of Mind (2007), Clayton deals with the problem that modern neurosciences and biological evolution theories make it significantly more difficult to assume free will and the thesis of indeterminism. Clayton developed a theory of action that is consistent with modern biological knowledge as well as with many intuitions that humans are morally acting beings. He advocates the thesis that religion and questions of faith play an important role in understanding that humans can at least sometimes act freely in the natural world. For Clayton, freedom is an emergent phenomenon, the highest level of development of which is expressed in the human mind.

The book Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society (2009) is an invitation to churches and progressive Christians to take a stand in modern society and to influence new developments in society by reformulating their theological statements. It is an invitation to take a stand for reflection on Christian identity and the problems of a global and pluralistic society. For theology in particular, it is a challenge to face communication via the new media. The reactions in the modern world are much more immediate than in the past. It fits in with the fact that process theology conveys a new image of God. Shaped by antiquity and the Middle Ages, it was not possible in the past to imagine a God who interacts with the world without questioning God's omnipotence. In process theology, God is integrated into the world. He takes in the facts in the world and gives his answer to each individual and immediately. Therefore theology is not a matter of aloof, academic church teachers, but concerns every individual. Everyone is responsible for their Christian thinking and their Christian appearance in society.

In Religion and Science: The Basics (2011), Clayton argues that the traditional notion that the two are incompatible can and must be overcome. The two spheres are the most powerful forces that shape the modern world. First, he presents the current debate in a broad way. He explicitly deals with the contrasts between intelligent design and the new atheism, between scientific and religious ethics with regard to designer drugs, artificial intelligence and stem cell research as well as, in a critical discussion with Richard Dawkins, the future significance of science and religion . In doing so, he consults the positions of different religions on the issues raised. Clayton tries to take a neutral position and asks the reader to form their own opinion. Which arguments are most convincing? What position would the reader identify himself with? (P. 17) Clayton traces the mutual dependencies of religion and science, but gives no answers to the questions raised, but at the end challenges the reader to think for himself: "These are your questions now."

Fonts

Monographs
  • Explanation from Physics to Theology , New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. (German: Rationality and Religion: Explanation in Natural Science and Theology . Schöningh, Paderborn 1992)
  • The God problem I: God and infinity in modern philosophy . Schöningh, Paderborn 1996, Volume II: Modern attempted solutions . Schöningh 2002
  • God and Contemporary Science , William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 1998.
  • The Problem of God in Modern Thought , William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 2000. ( Review ; PDF; 83 kB)
  • Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness , Oxford University Press, 2004. (German: Emergence and consciousness: evolutionary process and the limits of naturalism . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2008) ( Review ; PDF; 106 kB)
  • The question of freedom: biology, culture and the emergence of the spirit in the world; Frankfurt Templeton Lectures 2006 , Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007 (English edition: In Quest of Freedom: The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World , 2009). ( Review ; PDF; 153 kB)
  • Adventures in the Spirit: God, World, and Divine Action , Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008.
  • (with Tripp Fuller) Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society , Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. ( Review )
  • (with Steven Knapp) The Predictament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, and Christian Minimalism , Oxford University Press, 2011. ( Three Questions for Philip Clayton (blog comment))
  • Religion and Science: The Basics , Routledge 2012 ( review )
Editorships
  • Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists , London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
  • In Whom We Live and Move and Have our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God's Presence in a Scientific World (with Arthur Peacocke), William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 2004.
  • Evolution and Ethics (with Jeff Schloss), Eerdman's 2004.
  • The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion (with Paul Davies ), Oxford University Press, 2006. ( Content and introduction by Philip Clayton ; PDF; 222 kB)
  • The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (with Zachary Simpson), Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • Practicing Science, Living Faith: Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists (with Jim Schaal), Columbia University Press, New York 2007.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clayton, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American theologian and religious philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH 1955