Analytic Theology Cluster on God, Evolution and Morality

Debating on God, Evolution, and Morality

 

We meet every eight weeks to inquiry how the notion of God can be shaped in terms of recent findings from evolutionary science

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Materials

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Verona, Fondazione Campostrini, September, 13/14, 2016

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In our first meeting Daniele Bertini presented on recent development in evolutionary research on primate cognition and behaviour (i.e, works by D.L.Cheney & R.Sayfarth and Frans de Wall). We also talked about whether analytic philosophy can improve theology. 

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Roma, December, 17, 2016

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We debated on how Catholic Theology approaches the theory of evolution. Selene Zorzi addressed recent contributions by Carlo Molari.

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Roma, January, 31, 2017

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During our second meeting we have engaged in a lively discussion about the relationship between philosophy of religion and theology. Particularly, we compared our views on how to read the findings of evolutionary science from the viewpoints of the two discipline. In light of the methodological agreement we reached, Daniele Bertini presented on Thomas Nagel's book against Neodarwinism, and Paolo Benanti presented materials about what evolution can teach on the nature of ethics. 

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Roma, March, 7, 2017

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In order to go deeper in our understanding of whether evolutionary research on morality matters to theological ethics, we had two lectures. Andrea Aguti presented on the history of how morality has been understood in Western philosophy and theology. Daniele Bertini summarized the main approaches which lead natural histories of the emergence of morality.

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Roma, September, 8, 2017

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Sofia Vescovelli delivered a lecture on Process Theology and whether such an approach to the notion of God is palatable strategy to reconcile religious understandings of the making of the world with scientific evidence from evolutionary sciences.

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Roma, October, 27, 2017

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We met for a one day conference (see the section "events" for detailed infos, and the section photos for a few pics). Many thanks to all the participants for their insightful discussions of cosmological arguments for God, inductive and kalam arguments, the Intelligent Design debate, darwinism and neodarwinism.

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Roma, January, 17, 2018

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We focused on biblical materials (especially patristics commentaries) about how to model divine intervention. Selene Zorzi lectured on how to understand which requirements for God's agency towards the world are established by revealed texts. Particularly, she claimed that a panentheist framework can accomodate a compatibilist reading of evolutionary findings with the idea that God plays an active role in human history, and that such a model is supported by a number of patristic texts.

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Roma, April, 9, 2018

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Damiano Migliorini, Ph.D Candidate at the University of Verona and Visiting Research Fellow at the Durham University gave an outstanding presentation on open theism. He focused on the main features of the doctrine, and the its relation to panentheism. See the Italian text in materials section.

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Roma, June, 15, 2018

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We will move forward our investigation of the relation between panentheism and evolutionism by facing a seminal figure as Teilhard de Chardin. Two one our presentations on schedule: Lubos Rojka on the emergence of human consciousness, and Paolo Trianni on the theological grounds of evolutionist philosophy. It is a public meeting. Students are welcome, but reservation is required (due to limitation of space).