science

Philip Clayton (philosopher)

Philip Clayton (philosopher) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Philip Clayton (philosopher) rather than just read about it. In short: Philip Clayton (born 1956) is an American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society.

Key takeaways

Philip Clayton (philosopher) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect Philip Clayton (philosopher) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Philip Clayton (philosopher) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philip Clayton (born 1956) is an American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society. He currently holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology and serves as an affiliated faculty member at Claremont Graduate University. Clayton specializes in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and philosophy of religion, as well as in comparative theology.

Career As an administrator in higher education, Clayton served as Dean of the Claremont School of Theology, and as Provost and Senior Vice President of Claremont Lincoln University, which at that time was an interreligious university. He was Principal Investigator for the Science and the Spiritual Quest project from 1999 to 2003. Within the natural sciences, Clayton's research has focused on emergent dynamics in biology and on the neural correlates of consciousness in neuroscience. He has co-authored or edited a number of publications with physicists, chemists, and biologists, analyzing emerging natural systems and exploring their significance for the study of religion. He works in particular on the philosophical and religious implications of emergence theory. In this field his books include Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness and In Quest of Freedom:The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World. He was also editor of The Reemergence of Emergence. He has also published extensively in the field of science and religion, and served as the co-editor for The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science. Clayton received a joint PhD from Yale University in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of religion. He has also held a variety of invited guest professorships at other universities, including LMU Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University. As Fulbright Senior Fellow and Humboldt Professor, he studied with Wolfhart Pannenberg in Theology and in Philosophy with Dieter Henrich and Lorenz Puntel. He later co-edited the English Festschrift for Pannenberg and translated Pannenberg's work into English. Philip Clayton has taught at Haverford College, Williams College, and Sonoma State University. His international lectureships include India, Great Britain, France, and China. He speaks and writes extensively on issues at the intersection of science, religion, ethics, and politics.

Authored works Explanation from Physics to Theology, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. God and Contemporary Science, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's, 1998. The Problem of God in Modern Thought, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's, 2000. Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness, Oxford University Press, 2004. In Quest of Freedom: The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2007 (English edition 2009). Adventures in the Spirit: God, World, and Divine Action, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008. Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, and Christian Minimalism, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Selected edited works Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists, London and New York: Routledge, 2002. In Whom We Live and Move and Have our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God's Presence in a Scientific World (with Arthur Peacocke), Eerdman's, 2004. Evolution and Ethics (with Jeff Schloss), Eerdman's 2004. The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion (with Paul Davies), Oxford University Press, 2006. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (with Zachary Simpson), Oxford University Press, 2006. Practicing Science, Living Faith: Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists (with Jim Schaal), New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Panentheism across the World's Traditions (with Loriliai Biernacki), Oxford University Press, 2014.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philip Clayton (philosopher)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philip Clayton (philosopher) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Philip Clayton (philosopher) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Philip Clayton (philosopher) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Philip Clayton (philosopher)

In research: Philip Clayton (philosopher) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Philip Clayton (philosopher) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Philip Clayton (philosopher) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, American Christian theologians, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philip Clayton (philosopher) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Philip Clayton (philosopher) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Philip Clayton (philosopher) means in your own words.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Philip Clayton (philosopher) in simple terms?

Philip Clayton (born 1956) is an American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society.

Why does Philip Clayton (philosopher) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Philip Clayton (philosopher)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Philip Clayton (philosopher).