Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has won the Templeton Prize:
Taylor has long objected to what many social scientists take for granted, namely that the rational movement that began in the Enlightenment renders such notions as morality and spirituality as simply quaint anachronisms in the age of reason. That narrow, reductive sociological approach, he says, wrongly denies the full account of how and why humans strive for meaning which, in turn, makes it impossible to solve the world’s most intractable problems ranging from mob violence to racism to war.
“The deafness of many philosophers, social scientists and historians to the spiritual dimensions can be remarkable,” Taylor said in remarks prepared for the news conference. “This is the more damaging in that it affects the culture of the media and of educated public opinion in general.”
Also:
The Foundation noted that Taylor’s selection as the 2007 Templeton Prize Laureate will launch a broad, online discussion of the question, “What role does spiritual thinking have in the 21st Century?” at its website, www.templeton.org
Wow. Does he know how to spell e.v.o.l.u.t.i.o.n.a.r.y p.s.y.c.h.o.l.o.g.y ? I mean, if he was looking for a virtual laboratory example, there it is.
By the way, I put up a bunch of stuff recently at the Mindful Hack, which keeps tabs on neuroscience and the mind.