, who directs the Center of Faith, Ethics and Life Sciences and is T.B. Walker professor in the natural and behavioral sciences at 蜜桃传媒, will explore the science of belief in a lecture, 鈥淣ew Discoveries in Science and Religion: Are We Built to Flourish with Faith?鈥� on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. at , 1332 Santa Barbara St. The 蜜桃传媒 Downtown lecture, sponsored by the 蜜桃传媒 Foundation, is free and open to the public. No tickets are required; the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.
Schloss, internationally known for his scholarship on interactions between evolutionary theory and religious faith, examines whether humans are naturally wired for faith. 鈥淓veryone is aware of the centuries-old debate about science and the truth of religious belief: does science debunk or support belief in a Creator?鈥� Schloss asks. 鈥淏ut an explosion of more recent work focuses not so much on the truth, but on the casual origin and role of religion: might it be a unique, adaptive human endowment?鈥�
The lecture describes new discoveries and explores current debates over whether faith is a 鈥減athology鈥� or an important element of individual health, personal fulfillment, and social flourishing. And it suggests the either/or polarity is too simplistic.
Schloss has co-edited several major books: 鈥淯nderstanding Moral Sentiments: Darwinian Perspectives?鈥�; 鈥淭he Believing Primate: Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives on the Origin of Religion鈥�; 鈥淓volution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective鈥�; and 鈥淎ltruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue,鈥� which all won Templeton Science-Religion Books of Distinction Awards.
Schloss, who has been teaching at 蜜桃传媒 since 1981, has lectured and held fellowships in programs at Wheaton, Michigan, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Notre Dame. He graduated from Wheaton College and earned a doctorate in ecology/evolutionary biology from Washington University in Saint Louis.