Naturalism and the Religious Worldview

The HPP and its partners invite applications, and papers for its 2022 study week, ‘Naturalism and the Religious Worldview’. This event will comprise a three-day workshop and a two-day conference. It will take place on 1 to 6 September, with the workshop running from 1 to 3 September and the conference from 5 to 6 September. The location will be the Hotel Sveti Križ, Trogir, Croatia, a short journey from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites at Trogir and Split. 

The Workship will be led by Dr Nicholas Waghorn (University of Oxford). 

Participation and Paper Submissions

Undergraduate and M.A. students are invited to attend both the workshop and conference; or the workshop only. Researchers and graduate students (including M.A. students) are invited to deliver papers at the conference. Papers should be written in the official language of the study week, English. All applications should be sent by 30 July 2022 to [email protected]. Please indicate in the subjectline whether you wish to take part in:

1.       Naturalism and the Religious Worldview Workshop

2.       Naturalism and the Religious Worldview Conference

3.       Naturalism and the Religious Worldview Workshop and Conference

The registration fee is 450 euros for the workshop and 300 euros for the conference. This will cover organisational costs, food, and accommodation. All applicants should provide, in a separate document, the following information: name, status/title, institution, curriculum vitae, contact address, emailand phone number. Those who wish to deliver papers at the conference should also provide a title and 250-300word abstract.

Study Week Theme

The event will focus on one of the perennial themes of modern thought, namely the compatibility of valued elements of religious life with naturalistic metaphysics. These include free will, the meaning of life, the significance of beauty, or the bindingness of moral and political obligations. Many leading modern thinkers have contributed to this discussion, including Nietzsche, Kant, Dostoevsky, Karl Barth, John Paul II, Mary Midgley, Bernard Williams and Roger Scruton. Some have argued that elements of religious life are recoverable without religious belief, while others, including both religious and non-religious thinkers, have argued that they are inseparable. The study week will bring together canonical thinkers and contemporary research from across disciplines and traditions to reflect on how we should respond to this theme today.

This event is a part of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion's project, New Horizons for Science and Religion in Central and Eastern Europe, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. It is hosted with the collaboration and support of the Humane Philosophy Project, the University of Warsaw, and the German Research Foundation’s ‘Theologie als Wissenschaft’ project at the Ruhr University Bochum.