Paranormal and Fringe Science Claims
Through its Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), the Center for Inquiry evaluates claims of the paranormal (phenomena allegedly beyond the range of normal scientific explanations), such as psychic phenomena, ghosts, communication with the dead, and alleged extraterrestrial visitations. It also explores the fringes and borderlands of the sciences, attempting to separate promising research from irresponsible pseudosciences, such as "creation science" and astrology.
See a list of CFI's experts and scholars in this research area.
Religion, Ethics, and Society
The Council for Secular Humanism (CSH) promotes naturalism and secular values to the public, and stimulates critical inquiry into the foundations and social effects of the world religions. The Council stands up for the dignity of those who dissent from today's reigning orthodoxies, and assists secular humanist community groups across North America. Different divisions focus on issues specific to the African-American and African experience, and to Islamic societies, with pioneering Koranic criticism and advocacy for separation of mosque and state.
The Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER) is a research division of the Center for Inquiry. Since its 1983 founding in Washington, DC, the Committee has worked to encourage humanistic, critical and non-parochial approaches to the study of religious traditions and institutions and to develop programs which promote the public understanding of religion in an international context.
See a list of CFI's experts and scholars in this research area.
Medicine and Health
Western medicine and mental health practice have advanced alongside the advancements in natural science. Yet the widespread embrace of "alternative and complimentary medicine" and herbal and homeopathic remedies contemporary would sever this anchor to the naturalistic outlook. Meanwhile, dominant substance abuse recovery programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, invoke the reliance on "a Higher Power."
The Center for Inquiry stimulates critical scientific scrutiny of New Age medicine via its Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health (CSMMH), publisher of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and the Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice.
