THE SCIENCE AND RELIGION FORUM DISCUSS INFORMATION AND REALITY: QUESTIONS FOR RELIGIONS AND SCIENCE

The Science and Religion Forum (SRF) promotes discussion on issues at the interface of science and religion. The forum membership is diverse and it holds an annual conference to encourage exploration of issues that arise at the interface of science and religion. This article provides an overview of the hybrid conference that took place at the Woodbrooke Centre in Birmingham in May 2022. The conference addressed the issue of information and reality for religions and science across two broad themes. The first focused on metaphysical matters and the impact of the idea that information (quantum, biological, digital) are the fundamental building blocks of the universe, on our theological discourse. The second took a more ethical turn focusing on the issues raised by the interaction of information (biological, personal, digital) and science in society. This thematic section includes articles that span both strands of the conference including the public Gowland Lecture and the winning essay from the Peacocke Prize.     

SCRIPTURAL REASONING AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

This essay explores of the relationship between religion and science using Max Weber's insights into the philosophy of social science, C. S. Peirce's philosophy of religion and the Qur’anic treatment of material reality. The Weber‐Peirce‐Qur’an conversation opens up the possibility of a (social) scientific affirmation of religion and a religious affirmation of science. Scriptural Reasoning (SR) has already demonstrated that it is capable of creating “mutual ground” between the different religious traditions. This exploration of the exchange between SR and the social sciences suggests that SR has the potential of contributing to the creation of mutual ground between the religious traditions and the “secular” academy.     

THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE1

L'Union Internationale de Psychologie Scientifique. — Le rapide développement, depuis le début de ce siécle, de la psychologie en tant que discipline scientifique, a amené les psychologues à se convaincre de la nécessité de s'organiser afin de faciliter, sur une base permanente, l'échange des idées, des connaissances et des personnes à l'échelle Internationale. Les travaux préparatoires ont abouti, apres plusieurs années, à la fondation, voici quinze ans, de l'Union Internationale de Psychologie Scientifique. l'IUPS tire son existence et sa force des Sociétés nationales de Psychologie scientifique qui en sont membres et dont les représentants a l'Assemblée de l'Union ont seuls pouvoir de définir la politique et de décider des actions de I'IUPS. Sous leur direction, l'Union s'est engagée dans des activités largement diversifées qui ont pour but d'améliorer les communications entre psychologues, d'encourager les échanges de chercheurs et d'étudiants, de collaborer avec d'autres organismes internationaux à des programmes d'intérêt commun, d'appliquer les connaissances et les méthodes des psychologues à des problèmes de portée Internationale et de promouvoir des projets de recherches qui relèvent de sa compétence propre.     

VIOLENCE,NONVIOLENCE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

In response to the Uppsala Assembly's Martin Luther King resolution (1968), and the controversy provoked by the World Council of Churches' humanitarian aid to groups combatting racism (1970→), the WCC Central Committee (Addis Ababa, 1971) asked its sub-unit on Church and Society to conduct a two-year study on the problems and potentialities of violence and nonviolence in the struggle for social justice. Reporting back to the Central Committee (Geneva, 22–29 August 1973), Church and Society noted that ‘Our task was not to initiate a discussion, for the issues had already registered themselves in the headlines of the press, the agendas of church synods and the consciences of many troubled individuals… Our distinctive role was that of trying to set the issue in a worldwide ecumenical context - which has meant, in particular, heIping white afluent Christians take seriously the perspectives of other parts of the Church.’ The main part of the report took the form of a statement (see below) drawing on work done during the previous two years. It was prepared, Church and Society explained, as ‘an attempt to clarify (not to terminate) the churches' debate. We underline the need for further work on the disagreements and unclarities which remain, and for the kind of genuinely ecumenical perspective on the whole problem without which none of our churches can escape from their various parochialisms.’     

SOCIAL INFORMATION AND EMPLOYEE ANXIETY ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Studies of job attitudes have traditionally been conducted on the correspondence between individual needs and objective job characteristics. A recently developed theory, however, suggests that job attitudes may be a function of social information received (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). This investigation used social information processing theory as the basis for a study of antecedents to employee anxiety about a move to an open office environment. The structural equation model developed from social information processing theory proved to be a good fit to the data, and a revised version of the model provided an even belter accounting for the variance in the data. Anxiety about organizational change was determined by social information, individual needs, and job characteristics, with need for privacy having the largest impact on anxiety. The model is discussed in terms of its support for information processing theory, its individual significant linkages, and the implications for need satisfaction models of job attitudes and other research on outcomes in organizations.     

SELF-IMAGE,INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND SOCIAL CHARACTER1

On interroge des individus sur l'image qu'ils se font d'eux-mêmes, l'image qu'ils désireraient donner d'eux-mêmes dans deux situations sociales distinctes (réunion amicale — entretien professionnel) et les traits d'autrui sur lesquels ils chercheraient, dans ces mêmes situations, à s'informer. Les AA. ont choisi des sujets qui sont représentatifs des types psycho-sociologiques de Riesman : étudiants de l'Inde méridionale (orientation traditionnelle); étudiants américains d'un collège exclusivement noir (orientation vers soi); étudiants américains d'un collège exclusivement blanc (orientation vers autrui). Pour se décrire eux-mêmes, les sujets indiens ont mis l'accent sur les origines démographiques, les noirs américains sur les traits de personnalité et les américains blancs sur les attitudes et opinions, ce qui est conforme aux hypothèses tirées du caractère dominant qu'ils représentent. On constate également que les Indiens changent de critères selon le type de situation évoquée, tandis que les Américains blancs changent très peu, les noirs américains se situant entre les deux.