Gang Chen

Department of Philosophy, Huazhong University of Science & Technology

Project title:

The Relationship between Science and Spirituality from a Postmodern Perspective. On Scientific Approaches to Human Consciousness and the Implications for Taoist Religion.

Abstract:

The paper examines the scientific works on Consciousness by three Nobel Prize Laureates, and their inherited problems. The problems are duo to their deficiency in philosophy. Given the various monist echoes in current Western Philosophy, Chinese traditional Taoism has a crucial role to play. We believe that there exists a mutual relation of support and compatibility exists between Taoist dualism and the works in neuroscience. Taoism can provide an insight into the complex findings in neuroscience. A correct interpretation of the achievements in neuroscience can extend a support for the reality of human spirituality. A creative interface between science and religion may lead to an expansion of scientific method from purely third-person objective observation to a notion accommodating subjective conscious experience.

Short biography:

Dr Gang Chen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Research Centre of Current Philosophy, specialised in History, the Philosophy of Science and the Philosophy of Mind. He studied at Wuhan University, the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of Western Ontario (USA). Professor Chen’s articles have appeared in some of the most influential journals and newspapers in China in recent years. He is the Executive Director of the Research Center for Current Philosophy sponsored by the "State 985 Fund". He is responsible for the International Academic Exchange for the Department of Philosophy at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), and will be HUST’s 2005 on-campus coordinator of the Sino-British Summer Philosophy School.