Religions· 2026Q1
Adapting to the Loss of Racism: A Case Study in Failed Predictions of Anti-Supernaturalism
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- 2026year
Short summary
Historical analysis of human origins theories reveals that scientific naturalism has not always confirmed its own predictions, serving as a counterexample to the idea that science inherently disproves the supernatural.
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Key points
- The historical data on human origins theories is presented as a counterexample to the consistent confirmation of naturalistic predictions by science.
- The debunking of racial differences in human morality and intelligence illustrates a process of hypothesis formation, testing, and falsification within naturalistic frameworks.
- The case study is analyzed using Karl Popper's concept of the 'conventionalist stratagem,' highlighting how scientific hypotheses adapt.
- The findings suggest that the relationship between science and religion can benefit from a more nuanced understanding of science's predictive history.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In the discourse over the relationship between religion and science, there is a division between those who see naturalism as a necessary assumption for science, one that cannot be empirically scrutinized and therefore cannot be falsified or verified, and those who see both naturalism and belief in the supernatural as competing hypotheses that can be criticized, and potentially falsified. Those who take the latter perspective more often than not believe that mainstream science, where its findings are relevant to the question, has always confirmed the predictions of naturalism. Here I suggest that this view of the historical data is overly simple. As a counterexample, I consider the history of the shifting predictions in naturalistic theories of human origins, particularly the now-debunked belief in racial differences in human morality and intelligence. The centuries-long process of hypothesis formation, testing, falsification, and subsequent hypothesis adjustment is placed in the Popperian framework of the “conventionalist stratagem,” and it is argued that this case study provides useful insights for the dialogue between science and religion today.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Religions, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities