There should be no “radical breaks” between science, philosophy and faith: “reality is linked”

Two years ago, the pandemic prevented the eleventh conference of philosophical dialogue organized by the Institute of Ibero-American Thought of the Pontifical University of Salamanca. her father manager Ildefonso MurilloCMF, Professor Emeritus of the Academic Institution and Former Dean of the School of Philosophy, explains the scope of the meeting, which will take place from From 23 to 25 June About the logo Know and think about human reality.

Who are the conferences for?

Our conferences target professors and students of philosophy, natural sciences, humanities, humanities, religion, theology, law, education, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, and anyone interested in philosophy. How The speakers are scientists and philosophersa basic knowledge of a certain vocabulary is required, which the vast majority in our cultural setting possess.

-What will the content be?

-We want to treat An anthropological problem as presented to us in science and philosophy. We will ask ourselves about the limits and possibilities of the natural sciences and the humanities in knowing human reality, and we will think about this reality from different philosophical points of view.

“In our historical setting, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we want to think about what our reason and our experience can contribute to answering the three famous questions of all time: who are we? Where did we come from? where are we going? Questions that have already appeared in ancient myths. Since individuals are aware of themselves and the existence of their cosmic conditions on Earth, these unknowns remain open and various proposals are made to clarify them. In principle, our conference can be of interest to everyone who asks these questions. We all care about solving these basic questions.

» Diversity of the origin of the headphones (See the program here) also means a plurality of viewpoints.

Why the topic: Knowing and thinking about human reality?

– In previous conferences and in many issues of the magazine philosophical dialogueDirectly or indirectly, we deal with human reality from certain points of view. Now when some talk about Transhumanism and transhumanismWe are trying to address the problem as widely as possible. What are the possibilities of knowledge of human reality open to us, sciences and philosophies at the present time? We dare to suggest it Through our thinking we can point out far beyond what is precisely knownwhen we talk about who we are, about our origin and our destiny.

– I was amazed at the figure on the cover of the conference advertisement. What is meant by it?

A variant of the illustrator appears on our advertising cover and folders Maximino Cerezo Baredo about him Architect Unit Le Corbusier.

“I consider it interesting to pay attention to what Cerezo Barredo wanted to express in this difference: man ‘stands before the immensity of that universe of which we are a part and which raises our questions, and from that God’s secret It exists and surrounds us.”

– What is the current level, competence and importance of studying philosophy in our country and in the Ibero-American world in general?

In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, through numerous publications and conferences, I came into contact with many philosophers from Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries of the Ibero-American world. Conferences and publications that reflect the remarkable level, competence and current importance of the study of philosophy among us. This experience allowed me to check it out There is an active and diverse philosophical community in the Ibero-American worldas shown in the thirty-three volumes of Ibero-American Encyclopedia of Philosophywhich was completed in 2017. Several publishers have paid and continue to pay special attention to philosophical publications.

“I find a great variety of philosophical orientations. Alongside the pessimistic and Gnostic reductionists we find others who still ask themselves the last questions in their answers. Beyond the realm of reasonable experiencewho dare to put the ultimate cause of the universe on a personal basis.

What are the most projected and future philosophical issues and disciplines today?

It is often said that the future rests on the knees of the gods. It is very difficult and even impossible to predict exactly what will happen in the future, depending on unforeseen circumstances and decisions. But as a start disruption It influences not only the field of physics, but also dominates, in many cases, in the field of culture there are philosophical issues and disciplines, which are highly cultivated at the present, and which will certainly continue in the future.

“I mean the Various areas of practical philosophy (Applied ethics, philosophy of law, political philosophy, etc.) and to anthropological topics With very different orientations, from extreme biological and technological reductionism, blind to the teleological dimension of human reality, to purely personal concepts. I hope they will not cease to exist and remain, in the future, Non-reductive philosophical proposals, open to science and religion, to Christianity.

What is required today in philosophy?

That philosophers do not lock themselves inside a The scientific or reductionist concept of the mind. We are able to ask ourselves questions and venture with reasonable answers about what is beyond science and technology, the sensitive horizon of our experience.

» the great physicist of the twentieth century, Einstein, in this direction when he stated that “once we accept our limits, we transcend them”. Science and technology have allowed us to improve our health, prevention and treatment of previously insurmountable diseases, perfect our transportation, enrich our memory, but due to the nature of their methodology, They don’t respond to the latest issues It is shaped by human life and the world of which we are a part. It is worth continuing to think about the best way to ask and answer these questions to ourselves.

“But it is not appropriate to draw radical separations between the field of science, philosophy and religion. It is the same reality and the same man who moves in all these areas. Systematically we can perform separation and differentiation operations. However, the truth is always connected. The same man can be thought of from a scientific, philosophical and religious perspective.

» In a recent article published in philosophical dialogue (No. 112, 2022) titled Philosophy and Catholicism. From the nineteenth century to the twenty-first centuryI mention briefly that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and in the first decades of the twenty-first century, there was A Catholic revival of theoretical and practical philosophyI intend to highlight the significance of such an event in the state of philosophy in our present world. We are witnessing a defense of the ability of the human mind to respond honestly to the ultimate problems posed by the experience of the reality of the world and of man.

“our Eleventh Conference for Philosophical Dialogue They will analyze research on man in the field of natural sciences, technologies and the humanities, but we also want to take into account the horizon of final questions that do not fit with the horizon of empirical sciences.