Sophia Iberia Web-based Workshop
Interactive participation in thinking the big questions
The Sophia Iberia web-based workshop is the first action oriented to the objectives of the Sophia Iberia in Europe Project. The participation, whether this is by a paper or simply by following the content on-line, is totally free of charge. Access to all the materials on-line on this web site will be open and free of charge, it will not even be necessary to register in order to obtain access.
- In order to understand how to participate and contact the workshop, it is necessary to read the section on this web site: Participate and contact. Here we provide complementary information.
Theme
Human Evolution: in search of our anthropic roots
- The theme of the workshop coincides with the general theme of the Sophia Iberia in Europe Project. In order to understand it, it is necessary to read the section on this web site: Presentation, theme.
- The theme is divided into an introductory session and six basic sessions. Each session is introduced by a "working draft" which is accessed below.
- The objective of these "working drafts" is to present each of the themes from the of the "anthropic roots of human evolution"; that is to say from the focus of the workshop.
- These are always partial documents which do not aspire to completely revise each theme, nor to resolve the questions set, but only to suggest problems, alternatives and stimulating forms of participation and place them in their context, simultaneously providing access to a combined view from different perspectives, which are inevitable considering the multidisciplinary nature of the workshop.
Introductory Session
Conceptual focus of the workshop and guide for the sessions
What is the sense of reflection on human evolution from the focus on "its anthropic roots"? What is the method for an "anthropic" analysis? In what sense is human phenomenology the explicandum of the anthropic analysis? What is the logic of the thematic structure of the workshop?
More information and framework documentFirst Session: Matter
The ontological sense of human evolution
The expectations of science is that the nature of matter will constitute the ontological origin of the universe, life, man and the functions of the mind. Just any type of matter would not have made man possible. This is scientifically obvious and does not necessarily imply an intelligent design in the theist sense: if man exists, this means that a set of conditions have been complied with which makes this possible. What are the anthropic properties of matter?
More information and framework documentSecond Session: Universe
The evolutionary organization of an anthropic world
The properties of matter produce the evolutionary material organization which we call universe. The anthropic nature of matter results in the anthropic nature of the universe. However, are matter and universe really anthropic? Why is the universe anthropic? What do its anthropic properties entail as regards understanding human nature? Can the anthropic conditions of the universe change, be lost, be transformed?
More information and framework documentThird Session: Life
As the proximal anthropic principle
Matter-universe has produced life through evolution. This is the first stage which leads to man. In the living universe forms and structures are configured which are already proximate anthropic principles. What are the anthropic principles of life which prefigure man? In what sense does our anthropic knowledge of life lead to our knowledge of human nature?
More information and framework documentFourth Session: Man-neurology
As the evolutionary emergence explained from the human sciences
As men we are personally and socially installed in our phenomenological experience. The scientific case is that we have arisen from matter-universe-life, as described by paleoanthropology. However, neurological structures have been formed in man and these seem to produce our psychic experience. What causes accessible to science explain the process of hominization? What is the human mind and how does it function from its neuronal support? What is reason as an anthropic principle, which makes man and which produces the future evolution of the human species?
More information and framework documentFifth Session: Formal Sciences
As an anthropic product of human reason
One of the most decisive products of the human mind has been the capacity for abstraction and the imaginative creation of the formal sciences. However, this formalizing capacity is also an anthropic property: with power to produce and model the evolutionary future of humanity. Why does the human mind produce the formal sciences? What does formalization have to tell us about human nature? Where will the formalizations reach and what evolutionary future do they open up for the human species? What are these as anthropic signs?
More information and framework documentSixth Session: Philosophy and theology
The metaphysical knowledge of human evolution
Human evolution is described and understood by science within the framework of considerations opened up by the preceding sessions. However, what philosophical consequences does the image of human evolution have in science, that is to say, for the ultimate, metaphysical knowledge of reality? Is it possible to speak of "God" from the scientific image of man? How does this affect the different models of theology, within the Christian religions and confessions? Does science permit speculation on the possible and ultimate metaphysical dimension in which the human species might conclude?
More information and framework document© Universidad Pontificia Comillas
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