The Vivian J Lamb Lecture Series on Augustinian Thought and the Sciences

http://philipclayton.net/curriculum-vitae/

Philip Clayton, Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology

“The Sciences of Emergent Complexity: Evolutionary Emergence of Body, Mind, and Spirituality”

Science is more than physics and we are more than a “pack of neurons.” This Vivian J. Lamb Lecture explores the new sciences of emergent complexity. A quick trip from the beginnings of the cosmos to birth of consciousness and beyond shows that no single law rules every innovation; each new level calls for a new set of tools and concepts to explain it.

The picture of an evolving universe suggests very different answers to some of humanity’s most enduring questions. Could it be that the emergence of novelty is a deeper insight than reduction? How should we re-conceive thought, mind, culture, and human civilization in relation to religion and spirituality?