Non-Overlapping Magisteria
From RationalWiki
The Non-Overlapping Magisteria concept (often abbreviated to NOMA) was proposed by Stephen Jay Gould in his book Rocks of Ages. Gould hoped it would be a way to eliminate the conflict between science and religion by suggesting that both contribute to different areas of human existence and give meaning to life in different ways. At root it puts forth the idea that science is based on "methodological naturalism" and offers no insight into issues of what is morally "right." He suggested that although science automatically assumes a lack of supernatural causation or existence in its methods, the possibility of supernatural or theological explanations could still exist side-by-side with science.
He suggested that the two "Magisteria" were so different that they could not inform, comment on or criticize each either.
This system has met with some resistance from figures such as Richard Dawkins who states that questions such as the existence of God can be tested like any other hypothesis. Furthermore, individuals sympathetic to ideas such as logical positivism ask if our best system of knowledge assumes that something does not exist, then why propose that it does?
Meanwhile religious individuals often feel that statements of empirical reality, such as the theory of evolution, that conflict with literal readings of religious work are overstepping the "bounds".
