Gifford Lectures
Encyclopedia
The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford
(died 1887). They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology
as used by Gifford means theology supported by science and not dependent on the miraculous
. The lectures are given at the Scottish
universities: University of St Andrews
, University of Glasgow
, University of Aberdeen
and University of Edinburgh
.
A Gifford lectures appointment is one of the most prestigious honors in Scottish academia. They are normally presented as a series over an academic year and given with the intent that the edited content be published in book form. A number of these works have become classics in the fields of theology
or philosophy
and their relationship to science.
Adam Gifford
Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford FRSE was a Scottish advocate and judge.He was a Radical in politics, and expected no appointment from Government, until he was made an advocate depute in 1861, under Palmerston; he prosecuted Jessie McLauchlan in the 1863 Sandyford murder case...
(died 1887). They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology
Natural theology
Natural theology is a branch of theology based on reason and ordinary experience. Thus it is distinguished from revealed theology which is based on scripture and religious experiences of various kinds; and also from transcendental theology, theology from a priori reasoning.Marcus Terentius Varro ...
as used by Gifford means theology supported by science and not dependent on the miraculous
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
. The lectures are given at the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
universities: University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
, University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
and University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
.
A Gifford lectures appointment is one of the most prestigious honors in Scottish academia. They are normally presented as a series over an academic year and given with the intent that the edited content be published in book form. A number of these works have become classics in the fields of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
or philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and their relationship to science.
Aberdeen
- 1898–00 Josiah RoyceJosiah RoyceJosiah Royce was an American objective idealist philosopher.-Life:Royce, born in Grass Valley, California, grew up in pioneer California very soon after the California Gold Rush. He received the B.A...
The World and the Individual - 1914–15 William Ritchie SorleyWilliam Ritchie SorleyWilliam Ritchie Sorley was a Scottish philosopher. A Gifford Lecturer, he was one of the British Idealist school of thinkers, with interests in ethics.-Life:...
Moral Values and the Idea of God - 1930–32 Etienne GilsonÉtienne GilsonÉtienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy - 1936–38 Karl BarthKarl BarthKarl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
The Knowledge of God and the Service of God according to the Teaching of the Reformation - 1949–50 Gabriel MarcelGabriel MarcelGabriel Honoré Marcel was a French philosopher, a leading Christian existentialist, and author of about 30 plays.He focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically dehumanizing society...
The Mystery of BeingThe Mystery of BeingThe Mystery of Being is a two-volume book of existential philosophy by Gabriel Marcel. First published in 1951, the book is a collection of Gifford Lectures given by Marcel while at the University of Aberdeen between 1949 and 1950.-External links:...
ISBN 1-890318-85-X , Faith and Reality ISBN 1-890318-86-8 - 1951–52 Michael PolanyiMichael PolanyiMichael Polanyi, FRS was a Hungarian–British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and the theory of knowledge...
Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, ISBN 0-226-67288-3 - 1953–54 Paul TillichPaul TillichPaul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
Systematic Theology (3 vols.): ISBN 0-226-80337-6, ISBN 0-226-80338-4, ISBN 0-226-80339-2 - 1963, 1965 Alister HardyAlister HardySir Alister Clavering Hardy, FRS was an English marine biologist, expert on zooplankton and marine ecosystems...
The Living Stream, The Divine Flame - 1965–1967 Raymond AronRaymond AronRaymond-Claude-Ferdinand Aron was a French philosopher, sociologist, journalist and political scientist.He is best known for his 1955 book The Opium of the Intellectuals, the title of which inverts Karl Marx's claim that religion was the opium of the people -- in contrast, Aron argued that in...
La Conscience historique dans la pensée et dans l'action - 1973 Hannah ArendtHannah ArendtHannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
Life of the Mind - 1982–84 Richard SwinburneRichard SwinburneRichard G. Swinburne is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a very influential proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and...
The Evolution of the Soul, ISBN 0-19-823698-0 - 1984–85 Freeman DysonFreeman DysonFreeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
Infinite In All DirectionsInfinite In All DirectionsInfinite In All Directions is a book on a wide range of subjects, including history, philosophy, research, technology, the origin of life and eschatology, by theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson. Published in 1988, this book is based on the author's Gifford Lectures delivered in Aberdeen in 1985...
, ISBN 0-06-072889-2 - 1989–91 Ian BarbourIan BarbourIan Graeme Barbour, born 5 October 1923, is an American scholar on the relationship between science and religion. According to the Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s Issues in Science and Religion "has been credited with literally creating the contemporary field of science and religion."In...
Religion in an Age of Science, ISBN 0-06-060383-6 - 1992–93 Jaroslav PelikanJaroslav PelikanJaroslav Jan Pelikan was a scholar in the history of Christianity, Christian theology and medieval intellectual history.-Early years:...
Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter With Hellenism, ISBN 0-300-06255-9 - 1994–95 John W. Rogerson Faith and Criticism in the Work of William Robertson Smith, 1846-1894
- 1994–95 M. A. Stewart New Light and Enlightenment
- 1994–95 Peter Jones Science and Religion before and after Hume
- 1994–95 James H. Burns The Order of Nature
- 1994–95 Alexander BroadieAlexander BroadieAlexander Broadie is a Scottish historian of philosophy, specialising in the fields of medieval philosophy and the philosophy of the Enlightenment. He was the first Henry Duncan Prize lecturer in Scottish Studies at the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was the Gifford Lecturer in Natural Theology...
The Shadow of Scotus - 1997–98 Russell StannardRussell StannardRussell Stannard is a retired high-energy particle physicist, who was born in London, England, on December 24, 1931. He currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus of Physics at the Open University...
The God Experiment - 2000–01 John S. HabgoodJohn Habgood, Baron HabgoodJohn Stapylton Habgood, Baron Habgood PC , was Bishop of Durham from 1973 to 1983, and Archbishop of York from 18 November 1983 to 1995....
The Concept of Nature - 2003–04 John HaldaneJohn Joseph HaldaneJohn Joseph Haldane is a leading Scottish philosopher, commentator and broadcaster. He is a Papal Adviser to the Vatican. He is credited with coining the term Analytical Thomism, and is himself a Thomist in the analytic tradition....
Mind, Soul and Deity - 2003 Eleonore Stump Wandering in the Darkness
- 2007 Stephen Pattison Seeing Things: Deepening Relations with Visual Artefacts, ISBN 978-0-33404149-8
- 2009 Alister McGrathAlister McGrathAlister Edgar McGrath is an Anglican priest, theologian, and Christian apologist, currently Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at Kings College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture...
A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology, ISBN 978-0-66423310-5 - 2012 Sarah CoakleySarah CoakleySarah Coakley is an Anglican systematic theologian and philosopher of religion with wide interdisciplinary interests.-Life and work:...
Sacrifice Regained: Evolution, Cooperation and God
Edinburgh
- 1891 George Gabriel StokesGeorge Gabriel StokesSir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
Natural Theology - 1900–02 William JamesWilliam JamesWilliam James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
The Varieties of Religious ExperienceThe Varieties of Religious ExperienceThe Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature is a book by the Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James that comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on "Natural Theology" delivered at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland between 1901 and 1902.These lectures...
, ISBN 0-679-64011-8 (several editions in print) - 1909–10 William Warde FowlerWilliam Warde FowlerWilliam Warde Fowler was an English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on ancient Roman religion....
The Religious Experience of the Roman People, ISBN 0-8154-0372-0 - 1911–12 Bernard BosanquetBernard Bosanquet (philosopher)Bernard Bosanquet was an English philosopher and political theorist, and an influential figure on matters of political and social policy in late 19th and early 20th century Britain...
The Principle of Individuality and Value, ISBN 0-527-10036-6 - 1913–14 Henri BergsonHenri BergsonHenri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
The Problem of Personality - 1915–16 William Mitchell RamsayWilliam Mitchell RamsaySir William Mitchell Ramsay was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. By his death in 1939 he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in the study of the New Testament...
Asianic Elements in Greek Civilization, ISBN 0-89005-173-9 - 1919–21 George StoutGeorge StoutGeorge Frederick Stout was a leading English philosopher and psychologist.Born in South Shields, he studied and later taught philosophy and psychology at Cambridge University....
Mind and Matter pub. 1931 - 1921–23 Andrew Seth Pringle-PattisonAndrew Seth Pringle-PattisonAndrew Seth , who changed his name to Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison to fulfill the terms of a bequest, was a Scottish philosopher....
Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, ISBN 0-404-60474-9 - 1923–25 James George Frazer The Worship of Nature ISBN 1-56459-532-3
- 1926–27 Arthur Eddington The Nature of the Physical World, ISBN 0-472-06015-5
- 1927–28 Alfred North WhiteheadAlfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...
Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology, ISBN 0-02-934570-7 - 1928–29 John DeweyJohn DeweyJohn Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
The Quest for Certainty: A Study of the Relation of Knowledge and Action, ISBN 1-4179-0845-9 - 1934–35 Albert SchweitzerAlbert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
The Problem of Natural Theology and Natural Ethics (unpublished) - 1937–38 Charles Sherrington Man on His Nature, ISBN 0-521-06436-8
- 1938–40 Reinhold NiebuhrReinhold NiebuhrKarl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation , (2 vol set): ISBN 0-664-25709-7 - 1947–49 Christopher DawsonChristopher DawsonChristopher Henry Dawson was a British independent scholar, who wrote many books on cultural history and Christendom. Christopher H. Dawson has been called "the greatest English-speaking Catholic historian of the twentieth century".-Life:...
part 1:Religion and Culture ISBN 0-404-60498-6 part 2: Religion and the Rise of Western Culture ISBN 0-385-42110-9 - 1949–50 Niels BohrNiels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
Causality and Complementarity: Epistemological Lessons of Studies in Atomic Physics, ISBN 1-881987-14-0 - 1952–53 Arnold J. ToynbeeArnold J. ToynbeeArnold Joseph Toynbee CH was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934–1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline, which examined history from a global...
An Historian's Approach to Religion, ISBN 0-19-215260-2 - 1954–55 Rudolf BultmannRudolf BultmannRudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
History and Eschatology: The Presence of Eternity, ISBN 0-8371-8123-2 - 1973–74 Owen ChadwickOwen ChadwickWilliam Owen Chadwick, OM, KBE, FBA, FRSE is a British professor, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. He was also a rugby union player.-Early life and education:Chadwick was born in Bromley in 1916...
The Secularisation of the European Mind in the 19th Century, ISBN 0-521-39829-0 - 1974–76 Stanley JakiStanley JakiStanley L. Jaki, OSB was a Benedictine priest and Distinguished Professor of Physics at Seton Hall University, New Jersey since 1975...
The Road of Science and the Ways to God, ISBN 0-226-39145-0 - 1978–79 Sir John Eccles The Human Mystery, The Human Psyche, ISBN 0-387-09954-9
- 1979-80 Ninian SmartNinian SmartProfessor Roderick Ninian Smart was a Scottish writer and university educator. He was a pioneer in the field of secular religious studies...
"The Varieties of Religious Identity", published as Beyond Ideology: Religion and the Future of Western Civilisation, ISBN 0-06-067402-4 - 1980–81 Seyyed Hossein NasrSeyyed Hossein NasrSeyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, and a prominent Islamic philosopher...
Knowledge and the Sacred, ISBN 0-7914-0177-4 - 1981–82 Iris MurdochIris MurdochDame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, ISBN 0-14-017232-7 - 1984–85 Jurgen MoltmannJürgen MoltmannJürgen Moltmann is a German Reformed theologian. The 2000 recipient of the Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion.-Moltmann's Youth:...
God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God, ISBN 0-8006-2823-3 - 1986–87 John HickJohn HickProfessor John Harwood Hick is a philosopher of religion and theologian. In philosophical theology, he has made contributions in the areas of theodicy, eschatology, and Christology, and in the philosophy of religion he has contributed to the areas of epistemology of religion and religious...
An Interpretation of Religion, (2nd ed.): ISBN 0-300-10668-8 - 1987–88 Alasdair MacIntyreAlasdair MacIntyreAlasdair Chalmers MacIntyre is a British philosopher primarily known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy but known also for his work in history of philosophy and theology...
Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: ISBN 0-7156-2337-0 - 1988–89 Raimon PanikkarRaimon PanikkarRaimon Panikkar-Alemany was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a proponent of inter-religious dialogue. As a scholar, he specialized in comparative religion.-Early life and education:...
Trinity and Theism: ISBN 978-1570758553 - 1989–90 Mary DouglasMary DouglasDame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism....
Claims on God: published (much revised) as In the Wilderness: ISBN 1850754446 - 1993–94 John PolkinghorneJohn PolkinghorneJohn Charlton Polkinghorne KBE FRS is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer, and Anglican priest. He was professor of Mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest...
Science and Christian Belief: Theological Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker, ISBN 0-281-04714-6 - 1995–96 G. A. Cohen If you're an Egalitarian, how come you're so Rich?, published by Harvard University Press under the same title: ISBN 0-674-00693-3
- 1996–97 Richard SorabjiRichard SorabjiRichard Rustom Kharsedji Sorabji CBE, FBA is a British historian of ancient Western philosophy and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at King's College London. He has written his own 'Intellectual Autobiography' in his Festschrift: R. Salles ed., Metaphysics, Soul and Ethics in Ancient Thought , 1-36...
Emotions and How to Cope with Them, published as Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, ISBN 0-19-825005-3 - 1997–98 Holmes Rolston IIIHolmes Rolston IIIHolmes Rolston III is University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. He is best known for his contributions to environmental ethics and science and religion. Among other honors, Rolston won the 2003 Templeton Prize, awarded by Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace...
Genes, Genesis and God, ISBN 0-521-64674-X - 1998–99 Charles TaylorCharles Taylor (philosopher)Charles Margrave Taylor, is a Canadian philosopher from Montreal, Quebec best known for his contributions in political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and in the history of philosophy. His contributions to these fields have earned him both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the...
, Living in a Secular Age, published as A Secular AgeA Secular AgeA Secular Age is a book written by the philosopher Charles Taylor which was published in 2007 by Harvard University Press. The sociologist Robert Bellah has referred to A Secular Age as "one of the most important books to be written in my lifetime."...
: ISBN 0-674-02676-4 - 1999–2000 David Tracy This side of God
- 2000–01 Onora O'Neill Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics
- 2001–02 Mohammed ArkounMohammed ArkounProfessor Mohammed Arkoun was considered at the time of his death to have been one of the most influential scholars in Islamic studies contributing to contemporary islamic reform...
Inaugurating a Critique of Islamic Reason - 2002–03 Michael IgnatieffMichael IgnatieffMichael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
The Lesser Evil - Political Ethics in an Age of Terror, ISBN 0-691-11751-9 - 2003–04 J. Wentzel van Huyssteen Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology, ISBN 0-8028-3246-6
- 2004–05 Dame Margaret AnsteeMargaret AnsteeDame Margaret Joan Anstee, DCMG served at the United Nations for over four decades , rising to the rank of Under-Secretary General in 1987. She worked on operational programmes of economic and social development in all regions of the world, mostly with the United Nations Development Programme...
Stephen ToulminStephen ToulminStephen Edelston Toulmin was a British philosopher, author, and educator. Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Toulmin devoted his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. Throughout his writings, he sought to develop practical arguments which can be used effectively in evaluating the ethics behind...
, and Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, delivering a series of lectures dedicated to Edward SaidEdward SaidEdward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
who was scheduled to give the 2004–05 series before his death in 2003. - 2005–06 Jean Bethke ElshtainJean Bethke Elshtain-Biography:She is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and is a contributing editor for The New Republic. She is, in addition, newly the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at...
Sovereign God, Sovereign State, Sovereign Self - 2006–07 Simon Conway MorrisSimon Conway MorrisSimon Conway Morris FRS is an English paleontologist made known by his detailed and careful study of the Burgess Shale fossils, an exploit celebrated in Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould...
Darwin 's Compass: How Evolution Discovers the Song of Creation and Jonathan Riley-SmithJonathan Riley-SmithJonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith, K.St.J., Ph.D. MA, Litt.D., FRHistS is an historian of the Crusades, and a former Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History...
The Crusades and Christianity - 2007–08 Alexander NehamasAlexander NehamasAlexander Nehamas is Professor of philosophy and Edmund N. Carpenter, II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University. He works on Greek philosophy, aesthetics, Nietzsche, Foucault, and literary theory....
"Because it was he, because it was I": Friendship and Its Place in Life - 2008 Robert M. Veatch, Hipprocratic, Religious and Secular Medical Ethics: The Point of Conflict
- 2008–09 Diana Eck The Age of Pluralism [April–May 2009]
- 2009–10 Michael GazzanigaMichael GazzanigaMichael S. Gazzaniga is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he heads the new SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. He is one of the leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience, the study of the neural basis of mind...
Mental Life [October 2009] - 2009–10 Terry EagletonTerry EagletonTerence Francis Eagleton FBA is a British literary theorist and critic, who is regarded as one of Britain's most influential living literary critics...
The God Debate [March 2010] - 2010–11 Peter HarrisonPeter Harrison (historian)Peter Harrison is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, and a Fellow of Harris Manchester College at Oxford University.-Career:...
Science, Religion and the Modern World [scheduled for February 2011] - 2011–12 Diarmaid MacCullochDiarmaid MacCullochDiarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch FBA, FSA, FR Hist S is Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford...
Holme's Dog: Silence in the History of the Church (announced)
Glasgow
- 1888–92 Friedrich Max Müller 1888: Natural Religion vol. 1 & 2; 1890: Physical Religion; 1891: Anthropological Religion: 1892: Theosophy or Psychological Religion
- 1892–96 John Caird The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity Vol.1&2
- 1896–98 Alexander Balmain BruceAlexander Balmain BruceAlexander Balmain Bruce was a Scottish churchman and theologian. He was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland.He was born at Aberargie near Perth, Scotland....
The Moral Order of the World, The Providential Order of the World - 1910-12 John WatsonJohn Watson (philosopher)-Life:John Watson was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1847. He attended the Free Church School in Kilmarnock, then enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. Within a month, however, he was drawn to the University of Glasgow by the reputations of the brothers John Caird, professor of divinity, and...
The Interpretation of Religious Experience - 1914 Arthur BalfourArthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
Theism and Humanism ISBN 1-58742-005-8 - 1916–18 Samuel AlexanderSamuel AlexanderSamuel Alexander OM was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college.-Early life:...
Space, Time, and Deity, volume one: ISBN 0766187012, volume two: ISBN 0766187020 - 1922 Arthur BalfourArthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
Theism and Thought - 1927–28 J. B. S. HaldaneJ. B. S. HaldaneJohn Burdon Sanderson Haldane FRS , known as Jack , was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. A staunch Marxist, he was critical of Britain's role in the Suez Crisis, and chose to leave Oxford and moved to India and became an Indian citizen...
The Sciences and Philosophy, ISBN 0-404-60479-X - 1932–34 William TempleWilliam Temple (archbishop)William Temple was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Manchester , Archbishop of York , and Archbishop of Canterbury ....
Nature, Man and God - 1952–54 John MacmurrayJohn MacmurrayJohn Macmurray MC was a Scottish philosopher. His thought moved beyond the modern tradition begun by Descartes and continued in Britain by Locke, Berkeley and Hume. He made contributions in the fields of political science, religion, and philosophy of education in a long career of writing,...
The Form of the Personal vol 1: The Self as Agent ISBN 1573923370 vol 2: Persons in Relation ISBN 1573926256 - 1959 Carl Friedrich von WeizsäckerCarl Friedrich von WeizsäckerCarl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
The Relevance of Science - 1970 Richard William Southern The Rise and Fall of the Medieval System of Religious Thought
- 1974-76 Basil MitchellBasil Mitchell (academic)Basil George Mitchell, D.D., FBA was a British philosopher and one-time Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford...
Morality, Religious and Secular - 1985 Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
The Search for Who We Are, published in 2006 as The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, ISBN 1-59420-107-2 - 1988 Don CupittDon CupittDon Cupitt is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He is an Anglican priest, heretic and an emeritus professor of the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and commentator...
Nature and Culture - 1988 Richard DawkinsRichard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
Worlds in Microcosm - 1992 Mary Warnock Imagination and Understanding, published as Imagination and Time, ISBN 0-631-19019-8
- 1993–94 Keith WardKeith WardKeith Ward is a British cleric, philosopher, theologian and scholar. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and an ordained priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford until 2003...
Religion and Revelation ISBN 0-19-826375-9 (ISBN 13: 978-0-19-826375-3) - 1995–96 Geoffrey CantorGeoffrey CantorGeoffrey N. Cantor is emeritus professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Leeds and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Science & Technology Studies at University College, London....
and John Hedley BrookeJohn Hedley BrookeJohn Hedley Brooke is a British Historian of Science specialising in the relationship between science and religion.-Biography:...
Reconstructing Nature - 1997–98 R J (Sam) Berry Gods, Genes, Greens and Everything
- 1999–00 Ralph McInernyRalph McInernyRalph Matthew McInerny was a Roman Catholic, American, philosopher, University professor, and prolific author, including fiction of which some appeared under the pseudonyms of Harry Austin, Matthew FitzRalph, Ernan Mackey, Edward Mackin, and Monica Quill, and mysteries of which his best known is...
Characters in Search of Their Author - 2001 Lynne Baker The Nature and Limits of Human Understanding
- 2003–04 Simon BlackburnSimon BlackburnSimon Blackburn is a British academic philosopher known for his work in quasi-realism and his efforts to popularise philosophy. He recently retired as professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, but remains a distinguished research professor of philosophy at the University of North...
Reason's Empire - 2007–08 David FergussonDavid FergussonDavid A. S. Fergusson is a Scottish theologian. He is Professor of Divinity at New College in the University of Edinburgh. He is a minister of the Church of Scotland.He was born in Glasgow....
Religion and Its Recent Critics published as Faith and Its Critics: A Conversation, ISBN 978-0-19-956938-0 - 2008–09 Charles TaylorCharles Taylor (philosopher)Charles Margrave Taylor, is a Canadian philosopher from Montreal, Quebec best known for his contributions in political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and in the history of philosophy. His contributions to these fields have earned him both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the...
The Necessity of Secularist Regimes [May 2009] - 2009–10 Gianni VattimoGianni VattimoGianteresio Vattimo, also known as Gianni Vattimo is an internationally recognized Italian author, philosopher, and politician. Many of his works have been translated into English.-Biography:...
The End of Reality
St Andrews
- 1902–04 Richard Haldane The Pathway to Reality, ISBN 0-404-60459-5
- 1917–18 William R. Inge The Philosophy of Plotinus, ISBN 1-59244-284-6
- 1919–20 Lewis Richard FarnellLewis Richard FarnellLewis Richard Farnell FBA was a classical scholar and Oxford academic, where he served as Vice-Chancellor from 1920 to 1923.Lewis Farnell was born in Salisbury, southern England, in 1856. He was educated at the City of London School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first class...
Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality - 1921–22 C. Lloyd MorganC. Lloyd MorganConwy Lloyd Morgan, FRS was a British psychologist. He is best remembered for the experimental approach to animal psychology now known as "Morgan's canon"....
Emergent Evolution (1923) ISBN 0-40460468-4, and Life, Mind, and Spirit (1925) - 1936–37 Werner JaegerWerner JaegerWerner Wilhelm Jaeger was a classicist of the 20th century.Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia. He attended school at Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum in Kempen Jaeger studied at the University of Marburg and University of Berlin. He received a Ph.D...
The Theology of the Early Greek Philosophers (1936) - 1955–56 Werner HeisenbergWerner HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science, ISBN 1-57392-694-9 - 1962–64 Henry ChadwickHenry Chadwick (theologian)Henry Chadwick KBE was a British academic and Church of England clergyman. A former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford — and as such also head of Christ Church, Oxford — he also served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, becoming the first person in four centuries to have headed a college at...
Authority in the Early Church - 1964–66 John FindlayJohn Niemeyer FindlayJohn Niemeyer Findlay, known as J. N. Findlay, was a South African philosopher.-Education and Career:...
The Discipline of the Cave (1966), and The Transcendence of the Cave (1967) ISBN 978-0-04-111002-9 - 1967–69 Robert Charles ZaehnerRobert Charles ZaehnerRobert Charles Zaehner was a British academic who specialised in Eastern religions. He was also an intelligence officer.-Life:Born on 8 April 1913 in Sevenoaks, Kent, the son of Swiss immigrants to England, Zaehner was educated nearby at Tonbridge School...
Concordant Discord. The Interdependence of Faiths. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1970. - 1972–73 Alfred AyerAlfred AyerSir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer was a British philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books Language, Truth, and Logic and The Problem of Knowledge ....
The Central Questions of Philosophy, ISBN 0-03-013116-2 - 1975–77 Reijer HooykaasReijer HooykaasReijer Hooykaas was a historian of science. He along with Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis were pioneers in professionalizing the history of science in the Netherlands. H...
Fact, Faith and Fiction in the Development of Science - 1977–78 David Stafford-ClarkDavid Stafford-ClarkDavid Stafford-Clark was an English psychiatrist and author. He was educated at Felsted and University of London.Stafford-Clark did war service in charge of Waterbeach hospital, Cambridgeshire at the home of RAF Bomber Command. He was mentioned in dispatches twice as a result of taking part in raids...
Myth, Magic and Denial - 1980–81 Gregory VlastosGregory VlastosGregory Vlastos was a scholar of ancient philosophy, and author of several works on Plato and Socrates. He was also a Christian and has written on Christian faith as well.-Life and works:...
Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher - 1982–83 Donald Geoffrey Charlton New Images of the Natural, 1750-1800
- 1983–84 John MacquarrieJohn MacquarrieJohn Macquarrie FBA TD was a Scottish theologian and philosopher, the author of Principles of Christian Theology and Jesus Christ in Modern Thought...
In Search of Deity - 1984–85 Adolf GrunbaumAdolf GrünbaumAdolf Grünbaum is a philosopher of science and a critic of psychoanalysis. He is also well-known as a critic of Karl Popper's philosophy of science....
Psychoanalytic Theory and Science - 1986–87 Antony FlewAntony FlewAntony Garrard Newton Flew was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he was notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
The Logic of Mortality - 1988–89 Walter BurkertWalter BurkertWalter Burkert is a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.An emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States...
Tracks of Biology and the Creation of Sense - 1990–91 Hilary PutnamHilary PutnamHilary Whitehall Putnam is an American philosopher, mathematician and computer scientist, who has been a central figure in analytic philosophy since the 1960s, especially in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science...
Renewing Philosophy - 1992–93 Arthur PeacockeArthur PeacockeThe Reverend Canon Arthur Robert Peacocke MBE was a British theologian and biochemist.-Biography:Arthur Robert Peacocke was born at Watford in on 29 November 1924...
Nature, God and Humanity: - 1992–93 Roger PenroseRoger PenroseSir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
The Question of Physical Reality - 1995 Nicholas WolterstorffNicholas WolterstorffNicholas Wolterstorff is an American philosopher and currently the Noah Porter Emeritus Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University...
Thomas Reid and the Story of Epistemology - 1996–97 Michael DummettMichael DummettSir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett FBA D.Litt is a British philosopher. He was, until 1992, Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford...
Thought and Reality - 1999 Robert Merrihew Adams God and Being
- 1999 Marilyn McCord AdamsMarilyn McCord AdamsMarilyn McCord Adams is an American philosopher working in philosophy of religion, philosophical theology and medieval philosophy.-Family:Adams is the daughter of William Clark McCord and Wilmah Brown McCord...
The Coherence of Christology - 2001–02 Stanley HauerwasStanley HauerwasStanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology, ISBN 1-58743-016-9 - 2002–03 Peter van InwagenPeter van InwagenPeter van Inwagen is an American analytic philosopher and the John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He previously taught at Syracuse University and earned his PhD from the University of Rochester under the direction of Richard Taylor and Keith Lehrer...
The Problem of Evil, ISBN 978-0-19-954397-7 - 2004–05 Alvin PlantingaAlvin PlantingaAlvin Carl Plantinga is an American analytic philosopher and the emeritus John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, and Christian apologetics...
Science and Religion: Conflict or Concord - 2007 Martin Rees 21st Century Science: Cosmic Perspective and Terrestrial Challenges
External links
- Gifford Lectures Online presents full text of many series.