Project Summary

Project Activities
Scientism is the view that science, and science alone, can give us knowledge, tell us what exists, and answer our moral, existential, and religious questions. Scientism is rampant in contemporary intellectual culture: it is assumed and endorsed in- and outside academia by influential scientists and philosophers writing about evolutionary theory, genetics, brain science, psychology, and philosophy. From there, scientism also wields influence on various social and professional practices, such as medicine, law, education, religion, and child rearing.

We think scientism is not only false, but also harmful. False, because there are other sources of knowledge besides science. Harmful, because it undermines notions that are central to human self-understanding and flourishing, and to various social and professional practices; notions such as free will, rational decision-making, moral character, and religious belief. Hence, the central question in the proposed research project is:
  • What are the problems of scientism and how can it be overcome?
To answer this question, we ask three subsidiary questions, to be addressed in three parts of the research project:
  1. How does scientism manifest itself in research about free will, rational decision-making, moral character, and religious belief and how does it affect social and professional practices informed by these areas of research?
  2. How can scientism be analysed in a philosophically rigorous manner, what are the arguments for and against it, and how good are these arguments?
  3. What does a non-scientistic framework for integrating scientific knowledge with other sources of knowledge look like?

​In order to conduct the project, we aim to establish The Abraham Kuyper Center for Science and Religion at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, which can accommodate national and international scholars, organise conferences and workshops, maintain a website, and communicate with the press
All of the project’s workshops, conferences, and lectures are announced on the webpage of the Abraham Kuyper Center.

Co-Applicants

  • Principal Investigator: René van Woudenberg
  • Gerrit Glas
  • Gijsbert van den Brink

Project Team

Postdocs:
  • Rik Peels
  • Leon de Bruin
  • Emanuel Rutten
  • Kelvin McQueen (2014–2015)
  • Myriam Kyselo (2014–2015)
​Ph.D. Students:
  • Naomi Kloosterboer
  • Lieke Asma
  • Hans van Eyghen
  • Scott Robbins
  • Josephine Lenssen
Postgraduate Students:
  • Mathanja Berger
  • Joëlle Rothuizen-van der Steen
  • Geertjan Holtrop
Associated Research Fellows:
  • Terence Cuneo
  • Russ Shafer-Landau
  • Stefan Paas
  • Jan Boersema
Project Manager
  • ​Irma Verlaan