The New Approach in Western Science Towards Understanding the Nature of Life and Mind in Terrence Deacon’s ‘Incomplete Nature’: An Analysis from Islamic Perspectives

Abstract

Current developments in the scientific discourse have given rise to astringent critics of modern science especially on its reductionist approach. Among others, the seminal work of Terrence Deacon entitled Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter stands out. This is evident with a number of reviews that provide commentaries. With his encyclopaedic scientific knowledge including classical mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical physics, quantum mechanics, genetics, neuroscience and linguistics, Deacon launches his strong critiques on the modern reductive science, which has failed to elucidate the phenomena of life, sentience, mind, purpose, meaning and values. It is highly significant that his analyses suggest in their end conclusions that life forms trend towards a planned endpoint or direction (teleodynamics), which is in conformity with Islamic perspectives on life and creation. This article attempts to analyse his critiques of modern science by referring to Deacon’s own selected themes encompassing the ententional process, constraints, absentials, emergent process and his alternative to duality within the purviews of al-Qur’an, al-Sunnah, as well as classical and contemporary Muslim scholars. Moreover, it is proposed that such an assessment might be deemed as a stepping stone in the pursuit of integration between the physical and biological sciences with those of the humanities, philosophy and even religious traditions, so as to offer an Islamic alternative for the holistic understanding of the universe and its creation.