Francisco J. Ayala, a prominent evolutionary geneticist and a professor at the University of California at Irvine, has been named as the recipient of the 2010 Templeton Prize. The award, which is worth more than $1.5-million this year, is given annually for work that affirms "life's spiritual dimension," according to the John Templeton Foundation.
The foundation announced the award at a news conference on Thursday at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington.
Mr. Ayala, a former Dominican priest, holds several professorships at Irvine. He is a university professor and the Donald Bren professor of biological sciences, ecology, and evolutionary biology, and is also a professor of philosophy and of logic and the philosophy of science.
Among other honors, he served on the U.S. President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1994 to 2001, was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2001, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Throughout his career, the Templeton Foundation noted in a written statement, Mr. Ayala has "vigorously opposed the entanglement of science and religion, while also calling for mutual respect between the two."
In remarks quoted in the announcement, Mr. Ayala asserted that if properly understood, science and religion cannot contradict each other because they concern different matters, yet "each is essential to human understanding."
In 1981 he served as an expert witness for a U.S. federal court challenge that overturned an Arkansas law that required creationism to be taught alongside evolution. He has also written several works on the intersection of science and religion, including Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion (Joseph Henry Press, 2007).
As a scientist, Mr. Ayala has made important advances in biology, including discoveries about genetic variation and diversity, and the evolution of the parasites responsible for Chagas disease and malaria.
The prize will be awarded by Prince Philip in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in May.
Comments
1. amnirov - March 25, 2010 at 02:19 pm
Disgraceful. That prize should be turned down whenever offered. Life has NO spiritual dimension whatsoever.
2. lslerner - March 25, 2010 at 04:01 pm
So one Templeton prize goes to Bill Bright, whose Campus Crusade for Christ devotes heaps of energy to denying evolution, and another goes to Ayala, who has devoted quite a lot of time and energy to defending it from idiots like Bright.
In conferring some of his respectability on the Templeton Foundation, I think Prof. Ayala is being underpaid at $1.5 million.
3. lynnbhardin - March 25, 2010 at 04:44 pm
Congratulations to Dr. Ayala. I agree with Dr. Ayala. You can't fully comprehend or appreciate the human condition with acknowledging both its physical and spiritual components.
4. amnirov - March 26, 2010 at 06:00 am
Yes, you can contemplate or appreciate the human condition without acknowledging "spiritual" components. How? Because there are no "spiritual" components. None. The spirit world does not exist. It's all made up crap, and no self-respecting scientist should ever accept an award that merely "bridges the gap between sense and nonsense."
5. tridaddy - March 26, 2010 at 09:17 am
What a tolerant individual amnirov is. He demonstrates exactly what is wrong in many cases with the academia - so condescending, mean in tone, and self-righteous!
6. dank48 - March 26, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Amnirov is merely making the usual mistake of confounding spirituality with religiosity. I hear that sort of confusion several times a week, in AA meetings. Usually it's a matter of some poor soul mistaking a meeting for an opportunity to proselytize, which it ain't, nohow. Spirituality--just one person's opinion--can of course overlap with religion, for the religious, but it needn't. Those of us who get along without belief in God (by whatever name) still live in a world with a considerable need for spirituality.
Divested of the accretion of tradition, imo, spirituality has to do with the things we do without expectation of gain. Altruism, generosity, charity (i.e. caritas), unselfishness, and many other aspects of what makes us human are all part of this. My guess is that Amnirov is as spiritual as I am, if not more so; it's not much of a challenge to be a better human being than I am.
I think the essence of it was expressed by Hillel:
"If I am not for myself, who will be?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?"
Spirituality, in my doubtless naive and unsophisticated formulation, is what makes us humans more than "just" the product of evolution. We evolved, all right, but that's not the whole story. We're far more complicated and interesting than that, and such activities as medicine, law, philosophy, and yes, even theology bear that out. But I certainly don't think religious belief is a necessary component, although many people disagree. I personally think proselytizing has nothing to do with spirituality, but is rather one more expression of the human-all-too-human desire for power and control over the minds and bodies of other people.
Spirituality, then, is about controlling myself, not other people, and trying to serve others, not myself.
7. lexalexander - March 26, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Even religiously observant folks can grant that life has a "spiritual" dimension independent of any particular dogma, creed or text: the human spirit, broadly defined. Certainly most atheists I know readily grant that assertion. So I'm having difficulty understanding amnirov's point.
8. theskeptic - March 26, 2010 at 01:37 pm
If by spiritual one refers to something supernatural, then a scientist should be embarrassed to include that into their belief system. That said, I'd take the money. :D
I guess that's because I don't have a soul .....
9. dank48 - March 26, 2010 at 02:07 pm
If I was unclear, sorry. I don't think spirituality has anything to do with the supernatural, which I don't believe exists. Unselfishness does.
10. crazyfrog - March 26, 2010 at 09:37 pm
Actually, amnirov, spirituality does exist and can be understood within a scientific framework. It is an emergent property that arises from the complex interactions of neurons in the human mind and of the human organisms with their environments. While this is something completely different that "spirits" existing independent of the human mind (which I agree do not exist), to deny that understanding spirituality is not necessary to understand the human condition is folly.
Given the acrimony that exists in many dialogues about relationships between science and religion, I think that this award has an important place in society and Dr. Ayala is deserving of receiving it. Although comment 2 is spot on in pointing out the contradiction of this award with previous ones (assuming the point is valid--I didn't check up on it).
11. aylwin_forbes - March 29, 2010 at 03:47 pm
Perhaps it is jumping the gun to suggest that amnirov is connected with the academy.