The Science/Religion Debate.

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Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes 23 seconds

Star Trek is often interpreted to have a negative view of religion, in favor of a humanistic and atheistic vision of the future. In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling challenge the typical interpretation of science and religion in Star Trek, considering both the rationality of religious belief and also potential issues with the rationality of scientific reasoning.

Topics in this episode include traditional philosophical arguments attempting to prove God's existence, the correspondence theory of truth vs. the coherence theory of truth, logical positivism and the meaningfulness of religious language, the tentativeness of scientific conclusions, Thomas Kuhn on paradigm shifts in science, and the problem of divine action. Mike and Zachary conclude the discussion by asking what we can learn about divine action and top-down causation by the movement of matter and antimatter particles inside the warp core of a starship.

This episode also introduces the Meta Treks review contest, running between December 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016.

Chapters

Welcome to Episode 8 (00:01:06)
Overview of the Topic (00:01:25)
Meta Treks Review Contest (00:11:54)
Discussion Starts (00:14:50)
The Rationality of Religious Belief (00:18:08)
The Correspondence Theory of Truth (00:31:15)
The Irrationality of Science (00:38:10)
Final Thoughts (01:14:55)

Hosts

Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling

Production

Dennis Castello (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)