DISCIPLINING RELATIVISM AND TRUTH |
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| Authors: | Philip Clayton |
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| Institution: | Assistant professor of philosophy, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Theology and Science Group during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Chicago, Illinois, 22 November 1988. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. Imre Lakatos's philosophy of science can provide helpful leads for theological methodology, but only when mediated by the disciplines that lie between the natural sciences and theology. The questions of relativism and truth are used as indices for comparing disciplines, and Lakatos's theory of natural science is taken as the starting point. Major modifications of Lakatos's work are demanded as one moves from the natural sciences, through economics, the interpretive social sciences, literary theory, and into theology. Although theology may consist of Lakatosian research programs, it also includes programs of interpretation and programs for living. This conclusion must influence our definition of theological truth and our assessment of theological relativism. |
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| Keywords: | Lakatos philosophy of science relativism theology truth |
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