A new research initiative located in the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, directed by Professor Mark Harris, has secured a significant new grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
The grant will support The Quantum Worldviews Project, which explores how quantum mechanics is influencing contemporary worldviews, identity, agency and meaning by drawing humanities and sciences into dialogue. The project brings together physicists, theologians, philosophers and social scientists to interpret quantum science in theological, ethical and philosophical terms.
The project's funder, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, was set up in 1996 by the late Sir John Marks Templeton, an investor and philanthropist; It funds interdisciplinary research and innovations on questions relating to what it means to be human.
Professor Harris holds the position of Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University’s Faculty of Theology and Religion, and is a Professorial Fellow at Harris Manchester.
He commented: “Quantum mechanics has transformed how we understand the natural world, yet its implications for human self-understanding have barely been explored. Many religious people already turn to quantum ideas to address existential or spiritual concerns, but these interpretations often overlook the deeper challenges and opportunities posed by the science itself. Our project seeks to clarify what it means for human beings to inhabit a universe that may be ‘quantum all the way up,’ and to understand how this shapes the beliefs, values, and worldviews through which people make sense of their lives.”
> View the full press release on the Faculty of Theology and Religion's website
