At the Crossroads of Science and Religion: A Sociological Approach

Abstract

The relationship between science and religion has recently become the topic of intense discussions in the public sphere. However, up to now empirical social sciences have neglected qualitative reconstructions of scientists’ worldviews in this area. The material for my analysis is 50 in-depth interviews with biologists and physicists, employees of scientific research institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences and universities in Poland. The largest group of the respondents agreed with the idea that the areas of science and religion do not overlap. Besides, the majority of Polish natural scientists including a little less than half of all non-believers demonstrates aversion to the conflict narrative. My study reconstructs narrative strategies of the respondents that refer to the science-religion interconnection.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2017.v6n2s1p19