BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Philosophy Carl Gillett has been awarded a John Templeton Foundation Grant to write about his new approach to debates over ‘reduction’ and ‘emergence’ within the sciences and philosophy.

The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the structure of the universe, to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness and creativity.

“My work seeks to widen our understanding of these views and their implications about the world we live in and our own natures,” said Gillett.

Over the last 80 years, science has developed what Gillett calls a “reductionist” point of view, contending that all objects composed can be reduced down to their components, such as atoms. However, at the turn of the 21st century, scientists in a range of disciplines are once again embracing an “emergentist” view that opposes scientific reductionism, accepting that all things, including humans, are thoroughly composed.

“Professor Gillett’s work is unusual in the debate over reduction and emergence in that he begins by taking both “sides” seriously,” said the John Templeton Foundation Director of Life Science Programs Paul Wason. “It is also unusual in its ambition and promise–to produce a serious philosophical work that will also be valued by scientists for their own work.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In the days since al-Qaeda became a household word, Westerners have grappled with the distinction between radical Islam and Islam as practiced in mainstream Muslim culture. To gain insights into the impact of religion on Muslim youth, the first phase of a long-term study has found that social success is strongly linked to religious involvement within the Islamic majority nation of Indonesia, according to the study’s co-author Doran French, professor and chair of psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University.

This study of Muslim 13-year-olds found a correlation between religious involvement across many indices of social competence or success. French and his collaborators found that adolescents with higher degrees of spirituality and religious practice were more popular with peers, had greater academic achievement, displayed more prosocial behavior (being helpful to others), had greater self-esteem, and were more able to regulate their behavior. Those with higher religious involvement were less likely to exhibit deviant behavior or experience negative “internalizing behavior” such as depression or anxiety.

French suggested that a key to interpreting these findings is understanding the context of a homogenously religious culture, where religion permeates society and is a public, community identity rather than a compartmentalized, private experience as in the U.S. For example, he said, the team’s research assistants would stop meetings to observe the call to prayers, for which television shows also are interrupted.

“I think within a homogeneous religious society, being a competent person, being a successful person also means being a religious person,” French said.

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