Research
The Center for Inquiry is the world's foremost not-for-profit organization devoted to the public advocacy of reason, science, secular humanism, and the naturalistic worldview. The CFI Transnational headquarters in Amherst, N.Y., across the street from the University at Buffalo, is also a research institute that is emerging as a nurturing environment for students and scholars working on philosophical naturalism, democratic secularism, and humanist ethics. Questions about CFI's research activities may be directed to John Shook, Vice President for Research, at
RESEARCH at CFI
The Center for Inquiry pursues a variety of research activities, in order to ensure that its naturalistic and secular humanistic positions are fully supported by the latest scientific research, the best philosophical arguments, and the most advanced legal reasoning. CFI's Naturalism Research Project promotes the study of scientific method and philosophical naturalism, defending The CFI Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. defends the values of scientific naturalism and secular humanism in the context of U.S. law and public policy, publishing policy papers of new research and analysis about important topics. CFI publishes several ground-breaking peer-reviewed academic journals, including Philo: A Journal of Philosophy, The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, and The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice.
CFI's new 13,600 square foot research building includes offices and seminar rooms, where the Center's Institute conducts classes and seminars. Additional space for the Libraries and archives, along with study carrels and computing services, is available on the lower level. The three buildings of the Center for Inquiry now total some 35,000 square feet on 7.5 acres. There are additional residences for visitors. The Center's Libraries hold over 160,000 volumes of books, pamphlets, and periodicals, and several collections of philosophers' papers. Major collections include the Jo Ann Boydston Library of American Philosophical Naturalism; the Joseph L. Blau Library on religion and philosophy; John Shook's Pragmatism Archive; the James Hervey Johnson Freethought and Humanist Library; the Humanist Institute Collection; and the John and Mary Frantz Skeptic's Library. Visit www.cfilibraries.org for more information and catalog searches. The CFI Libraries continue to grow through donations (such as the book collections of Paul Kurtz, Paul Edwards, Richard Taylor, Abraham Edel, and Patrick Romanell). The Boydston endowment (around $1,000,000) will be used in the coming years to establish the finest collection on American Philosophical Naturalism in the world and to fund visiting fellowships.
NATURALISM RESEARCH PROJECT
CFI’s Naturalism Research Project is a major new effort to defend philosophical naturalism against anti-science and pro-religion competitors, and to explain naturalism’s valuable practical implications for real-world human problems. Organized in 2006 by Paul Kurtz and John Shook, it will soon be entering its second three-year phase in 2009. Why is support for science and naturalism at CFI so urgent now? The Center for Inquiry is the world’s foremost not-for-profit organization devoted to the defense of reason, science, and freedom of inquiry. The rigorous defense of empirical inquiry and science, and advocacy of philosophical naturalism, has critical importance today. We are witnessing an era when anti-science and anti-naturalism forces are only increasing their energetic attacks through well-funded organizations and publications. The Center for Inquiry is emerging as a leading research institute devoted to the defense of science and naturalism. Our expanding research space will permit a doubling of our library holdings and a tripling of our visiting scholars.
The project’s Advisory Board consists of internationally prominent scholars from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Among them are Arthur Caplan (Penn), Daniel Dennett (Tufts), Marc Hauser (Harvard), Ronald Giere (Minnesota), Philip Kitcher (Columbia), Lawrence Krauss (Arizona State), Hilary Putnam (Harvard), John Searle (UC Berkeley), Stephen Weinberg (Texas), and E. O. Wilson (Harvard).
CFI’s major conference on “The Future of Naturalism” in September 2007 included presentations by Arthur Caplan (Penn), Ronald Giere (Minnesota), Nicholas Rescher (Pittsburgh), Brian Leiter (Chicago), Isaac Levi (Columbia), David Rosenthal (CUNY), and Ernest Sosa (Rutgers). Upcoming events now in the planning stage on various topics including science and religion, emergence and complexity, debates over evolution, and the impact of John Dewey. We’ve had over a dozen visiting scholars and fellows in residence at CFI whose research is expanding naturalism’s frontiers in areas like philosophy of science, cognitive science, and ethics. Our practical workshops and educational forums are bringing accurate information about science and the naturalistic worldview to the public’s attention. Naturalism at CFI has been an exciting and productive project to date, but there is so much more work to do.
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 19-20, 2009: Conference on Pragmatism and Science
This conference will explore how new scientific research supports pragmatism’s views on learning, intelligence, knowledge, and nature, and how pragmatism can assist reflection on scientific method, realist/antirealist debates, and the naturalistic worldview. Join Ron Giere (philosophy of science, Minnesota), John Bickle (philosophy and neuroscience, Cincinnati), and John Shook (pragmatism and naturalism, CFI and Buffalo).
October 22-24, 2009:
John Dewey's 150th Birthday Celebration: An International Conference on Dewey's Impact on America and the World
Invited Speakers include Hilary Putnam (Harvard) and Ruth Anna Putnam (Wellesley); Nadine Strossen, President of the American Civil Liberties Union; Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University; Larry Hickman, Director of the Center for Dewey Studies.
