Mircea Flonta
Bio
Mircea Flonta is professor of philosophy and correspondent member of the Romanian Academy. He graduated the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bucharest where he also obtained the PhD. He was Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, University of Munchen, Germany. His interests include classical and analytical epistemology, philosophy of science, Kantian and Wittgensteinian studies. His latest book - "Ganditorul singuratic" - was published at Humanitas Publishing House in 2008. He is working at a book about Darwin and Darwinian science from historical, philosophical, and religios perspective.
Position statement on the issue
A few observations on the theme.
Starting from its first release, in Origin of Species, and until
today, the scientific theory of evolution has held a central place
in the discussions on the relationship between modern science and
religion. (It is an issue that it is not given equal attention in
major religions and denominations.) The expressed views, present in
a vast literature, are of an overwhelming variety, a variety that
seems to depend on the different manners of perceiving the spirit
of scientific knowledge, and, first and foremost, on the large
differences in understanding what religion is. The way I see it,
opinions can be grouped depending on whether creationist cosmology
and Darwinian science are deemed incompatible, or, on the contrary,
are viewed as systems of representations which, by their nature,
cannot contradict themselves. If the claims to truths displayed by
the traditional creationism and of the science of evolution are to
be considered irreconcilable, then, either the accepted creationist
cosmology as revealed truth will challenge the Darwinian science,
or Creationism will be rejected in the name of science. There are
persons who accept the assumption according to which no
contradiction may occur between the belief in creation and
scientific knowledge about facts as these are placed on different
levels. Such persons might either say that the science of evolution
looks into the "secondary causes" by means of which the Creator
acts in nature, or say that we cannot have a controllable knowledge
of what exceeds the limits of experience, and thus, creationist'
representations are simply personal subjective beliefs (the
agnostic position). Developing arguments for and against each view
could be part of a conclusive discussion.
Mircea Flonta/February 2010
