Islam and the West… for a better world @
when my neighbor, on the other side of the street, is hungry, thirsty and cold? But why should I help my neighbor? Because we share the same human nature that requires this type of charity. We thus have to understand that we shall never have justice if we do not consider the truth that defines our human condition. So let me address the value of truth. According to many theologians, the two challenges of the 21st century deal with the nature of scientific truth and the nature of religious truth. Both of them are linked to the human condition. Let us look first at the nature of scientific truth. As you probably know, it is difficult to define scientific truth. What we know is the method that leads to the growth of knowledge, the trial-and-error method of scientific experiments and observations. The development of scientific knowledge has been spectacular during the 20th century, and it will still be more dramatic in the 21st century, if the humankind survives the temptation of its own destruction. Probably the most interesting outcome of science of the 20th century is the fact that science has identified its own limits from within science itself. For instance, Gödel’s meta-mathematical theorem states that, within any given formal system, there are more true statements in mathematics than what can be demonstrated. This theorem was like an earthquake in science. It simply means that truth cannot be reduced to demonstrability. This is not a failure for reason, but a great victory for it. However, this intrinsic limit should prompt us to adopt a more humble approach with respect to scientific truth, simply because science discovers that not everything is under its control. Similar earthquakes occurred in other fields of science: Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the existence of phenomena which are not predictable, or the fundamental limits of astronomical observations are examples of the horizons of our scientific knowledge. It is not just a transient stage that will be overcome in the future. We now know that science cannot explore and monitor the whole of reality. It leaves space for
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