A Estranheza do Universo e o Diálogo Ciência-Fé: Haldane e Dawkins

Abstract

In recent years, this famous assertion by J.B.S. Haldane (“Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose”) has been brought back to its proper context by Richard Dawkins, most recently in his The God Delusion. In fact, his reflections on this saying constitute the very tenor of his final words in the book, indicating what he considers as a proper attitude regarding human knowledge, purported modesty akin to Candide’s garden. This paper starts by highlighting aspects of the history of this quotation by Haldane (that first appeared in 1927), together with his ideas on philosophy and religion. Next, the usage of it by contemporary cosmologists is discussed. Its appropriation by Dawkins is then analyzed. It is suggested that Dawkins goes beyond, more so than Haldane, the limits of proper science in his criticism of the role of philosophy and religion in today’s world. After some ontological and epistemological considerations, it is shown how Haldane understood religion in its relationship with science, and this understanding is compared to Ernan Mc Mullin’s “consonance”.