o commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Uppsala University hosted an international conference under the title “Linnaeus and Homo Religiosus—Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Biological Roots of Religious Awareness and Human Identity,” held from May 30 to June 1, 2007 in Uppsala, Sweden.
The focus of the conference was on three themes: historical perspectives on Linnaeus and Homo Religiosus; evolutionary, neuroscientific and theological accounts of religious awareness and identity; and theories of human nature and purpose after Darwin. Dr. Mikael Stenmark, professor of philosophy at Uppsala University, was in charge of the event.
How does he define the term “Homo Religiosus”? “The naturalness of religious awareness was taken for granted by Linnaeus and questioned by others during the Enlightenment,” says Stenmark, “but scholars have nevertheless coined the term Homo religiosus referring specifically to religious awareness as one constitutive aspect of humanity distinct from others.”
There were 58 scholars participating in the conference, with six keynote speakers in addition to Stenmark: Gunnar Broberg, Simon Conway Morris, Niels Henrik Gregersen, John Haught, Peter Harrison, and Celia Deane-Drummond. Some ideas were proposed about how theories in cognitive science, especially in evolutionary psychology, might be used to understand the “naturalness” of belief in God.
Theories of human nature and purpose post-Darwin were also aired. “Some of the discussion was concerned with how to relate a Darwinian theory of human nature to, on the one hand, a social constructivist theory of human nature and, on the other hand, a Christian understanding of it,” says Stenmark. “One conclusion was that more attention in the science-religion dialogue needs to be attached to the fact that the scientific community is divided on the issue of how to understand humanity.”
An enduring outcome of the conference will be a new website on science and religion in Swedish, with scholars in Nordic countries being invited to join this network. The Sigtuna Foundation, one of the key centers for promotion of spiritual values in Sweden, will also be involved and the website was anticipated to go online shortly after the Sigtuna conference.
But the focal theme of the Linnaeus conference was the great botanist himself. After 300 years, what assessment can be made of the significance of his work? “His greatest scientific contribution was of course his system of biological classification,” declares Stenmark. “When it comes to science and religion, he treated these as complementary and wanted to integrate them to obtain a ‘whole’ worldview. His approach was in this sense ‘holistic’ rather than ‘atomistic’.”
What is the biggest question with regard to Linnaeus, science, and religion? “For Linnaeus, an integration of science and religion was almost self-evident. However, the way in which Linnaeus integrated science and religion is not possible in a post-Darwinian world. The challenge today is to develop a different model of integration which at the same time respects the autonomy and distinctiveness of each of these two human activities.”