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| Updated March 23, 2008
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Dr. Christina Puchalski, Founder and Director of The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health will offer insights and practical advice for addressing the pressing spiritual needs of those who are sick or dying. She will address some of the challenges presented by Dr. Sloan in September
Dr.Christina Puchalski is an Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Health Care Sciences at The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C. She is also the Founder and Director of The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish), a center that develops educational, clinical, and research programs for physicians and other healthcare professionals regarding the role of spirituality and health in medicine.
For more details on Dr. Puchalski go to her BIO
Note: the series of Tuesday discussions has now been completed
| No Program Scheduled in February |
Daoism and Parallels with Modern Science |
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Was Daoism in some sense responsible for--or did it at least further--the development of the sciences in China? Whether there was some such relationship will concern anyone trying to understand religion or thought about nature in China. The character of this influence may also cast light on why the technical subcultures of China and Western Europe diverged so decisively in early modern times The view of Daoism and its evolution prevalent among historians until the 1970's gave rise to a good many hypotheses and opinions about the relations of Daoism and science. As the old conventional wisdom has been replaced by a fundamentally different understanding of Daoism, a reassessment is taking place about the link with the religion and science.
Alan David Fox, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Delaware and a hugely popular one who draws large audiences at his approachable presentations. He was recently named 2006 Delaware Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. If you have not seen a Fox presentation, make a point to do so. If you have, tell a friend.
Note: the series of Tuesday discussions has now been completed
Neuroscience and the Soul |
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If humans are purely physical and if it is the brain that does the work formerly assigned to the mind or soul, then how can it fail to be the case that all our thoughts and actions are determined by the laws of neurobiology? If this is the case then free will, moral responsibility, and indeed reason itself would appear to be in jeopardy. We can show how humans are (sometimes) the authors of their own thoughts and actions, using a three way interaction among philosophy, science, and common experience.
Nancey Murphy joined the faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1989, where 
she now serves as Professor of Christian Philosophy. Her first book, Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning (1990) won the American Academy of Religion award for excellence and a Templeton Prize for outstanding books in science and theology. She is author of seven other books and co-editor of seven volumes, including Neuroscience and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action. Her most recent book is: Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. Professor Murphy will draw upon this new work to explore the themes of moral responsibility and free will.
Note: the series of Tuesday discussions has now been completed
Delaware Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (D-DoSER) is one of 200 Local Societies around the world sponsored by the Metanexus Institute (www.metanexus.net) to explore issues in and between science and religion. Recently D-DoSER won a $15,000 grant (over 3 years) from non-profit Metanexus Institute of Philadelphia to sponsor lectures and dialogues on the interaction of Science, Ethics and Religion. First Unitarian took the lead. A joint team will host on-going dialogues with local speakers and also seek nationally-known speakers for periodic major public events.
For more information contact Parry Norling at 302-652-5377, Patti Emmons at First Unitarian Church 302-478-2384 or send an email message to
All Sunday presentations: 4:30 - 6 PM
All presentations are hosted by First Unitarian at 730 Halstead Road, Wilmington DE (intersection of route 202, just behind the old New Castle County library). For directions, see www.firstu.org.
Or open this link for a Google map.
