Religion and Science

Theology and philosophy have long been battlefields of continued debates and questions about the (in)compatibility of religion and science. But how about sociology? For the sociological classics, modernisation, rationalisation and arguably the ‘disenchantment of the world’ would result in the gradual replacement of religion by science. Thus, religion came ‘adrift from its former points of anchorage’ in sociology and science became its undisputed rival. Robert Merton, the founding leader of the sociology of science, recognised four significant scientific norms (universalism, disinterestedness, communism and organised scepticism) which stood against the characteristics of religion (as well as race and nationality). But it was left to the modern sociologists of science and religion, such as Michael Mulkey and James Beckford, to argue that the question of the relationship between ‘science’ and ‘religion’, and indeed any ‘norm’ whether ‘scientific’ or ‘religious’, depends on their meanings in various social contexts in which they are used. In other words, the meanings of ‘religion’, ‘science’ and ‘norm’ are not single, fixed and generic. They change across time and space. This session focuses on the investigation of the usages of the meaning of ‘science’ and ‘religion’ and their relationship, whether consistently or inconsistently, in various social settings, such as biological labs, operating theatres, hospitals and universities, in various societal contexts across the countries of the ‘global north’ and ‘global south’.