“Science, Philosophy and Theology in Latin America” is a three-year Templeton-funded project, led by a team at the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford, which will stimulate world-class research and dissemination of ideas in the region on questions at the intersection of science, philosophy and theology, building regional capabilities to address such questions in dialogue with leading researchers and institutions elsewhere in the world. The main themes of the project will be:

  • The Origin and Concept of Life: What is natural, human, and divine life, how do we recognise life, and what do we know or could we know of the origins of life?
  • The Brain, the Mind, and the Human Person: Are persons their brains and, if not, how can contemporary science, philosophy and theology promote a more adequate understanding?
  • The Place of the Person in the Cosmos: Are persons irreducible in the cosmos, and are persons irreducibly important?

A list of suggested research questions within each of these topics can be found here.

See our International Assessors Committee.

The project activities include three workshops and a conference, electronic and print media; ten Research Grants, ten Oxford Templeton Visiting Fellowships to Latin America, and ten Oxford Templeton Latin America Scholarships. Through these activities the project will provide outstanding opportunities for at least 150 participants across the region to engage directly with leading international academics and to develop ideas and publications addressing these challenges.

Over the longer term, the expectation is that these outcomes will help deepen and extend throughout Latin America the capabilities required for advanced, scientifically-informed engagement with key philosophical, religious and theological questions.

You can download the Project’s Poster for dissemination at your own university.

Photo credits:
1) Marta Minujín, Pausa transformacional, 1982, plaster, 39.3 x 39.5 x 31.8 cm – Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Ricardo Pau-Llosa, 1986 – Photo: Milli Apelgren
2) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Panorama – ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)