The Big Questions Science Can't Answer

YEAR 9 · UNIT 14: RELIGION & SCIENCE · LESSON 5

What You'll Learn

Explore the limits of science. Evaluate whether science and meaning can coexist.

Recall: Miracles and Explanation

Building on Lesson 4
5:00

Recall key ideas about miracles.

What is Humes argument about miracles?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Testimony is always less reliable than established natural law.

How do Hume and Aquinas differ?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Hume: miracles violate nature (implausible). Aquinas: God works through nature unexpectedly.

What does "medically inexplicable" mean?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Doctors cannot find natural explanation, but does not prove divine causation.

Can science explain healing?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Science explains mechanisms; cannot explain why it happened to this person.

What Science Can and Cannot Do

The Scope of Science

Science excels at "How?" questions about physical world. But struggles with "Why?" questions:

  • Why do I exist? Science explains reproduction, not purpose.
  • What is beautiful? Science measures brain response, not beauty.
  • What is right/wrong? Science describes behavior, not morality.
  • What happens after death? Science has no data from afterlife.

Science requires testable, measurable evidence. Meaning, purpose, supernatural are outside science.

Five Big Questions Science Struggles With

1. Consciousness: Science maps brain activity but cannot explain subjective experience (qualia).

2. Why anything exists: Big Bang explains origin, not why something rather than nothing.

3. Morality: Science describes moral behavior; cannot tell you what you should do.

4. Life meaning: Science explains how life works, not what makes it meaningful.

5. Beyond matter: Science studies physical universe; cannot test for supernatural/spiritual.

Where Science Ends and Philosophy Begins

The "God of the Gaps" Problem

Danger: assuming "science can't explain X, so God did it." This is flawed because:

  • Science advances; gaps shrink over time.
  • It misuses both science and religion.

Better approach: Science explains mechanisms ("how"). Religion addresses meaning ("why"). Different questions.

NOMA (Gould)

Science and religion serve different purposes: science=facts; religion=values. They don't overlap, so cannot conflict.

Humanism

Science is best tool for truth. Meaning comes from human flourishing, not supernatural. No need for God.

Can Science Answer It?

How did life evolve? Is there God or spiritual reality? What happens after death? How does the brain produce consciousness? Is it wrong to steal? Why does my life have meaning? How do vaccines work?

SCIENCE CAN ANSWER

SCIENCE CANNOT ANSWER

Essay: Science and Beyond

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Key Concepts

What can science answer well?

Answer: "How" questions about physical world.

What questions does science struggle with?

Answer: "Why" questions about meaning, purpose, morality, consciousness.

What is "God of the Gaps"?

Answer: Assuming God fills in gaps in knowledge; flawed because science advances.

What is NOMA?

Answer: Non-Overlapping Magisteria: science=facts; religion=values. Do not conflict.

Can science and meaning coexist?

Answer: Yes. Science explains mechanisms; meaning is different question.