Overview
Background
Peter Harrison was educated at the University of Queensland and Yale University. In 2011 he moved to Queensland from the University of Oxford where he was the Idreos Professor of Science and Religion. At Oxford he was a member of the Faculties of Theology and History, a Fellow of Harris Manchester College, and Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre. He is a Professorial Research Fellow at the Universityof Notre Dame, Australia, and a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford's Ian Ramsey Centre. He has published extensively on the philosophical, scientific and religious thought of the early modern period, and is interested in secularization theory and historical and contemporary relations between science and religion. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Oxford, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Chicago, is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion, and a corresponding member of the International Academy for the History of Science. In 2003, he recieved a Centenary Medal for 'service to Australian Society and the Humanities in the Study of Philosophy and Religion’. In 2011 he delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. He was awarded a DLitt by the University of Oxford in 2013, and delivered the Bampton Lectures at Oxford in 2019. From 2015-20 has was an Australian Laureate Fellow.
His twelve books include, most recently, Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age (Cambridge, 2024), After Science and Religion (Cambridge, 2022), co-edited with John Milbank, and The Territories of Science and Religion (Chicago, 2015), winner of the Aldersgate Prize.
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Peter Harrison is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland
- Masters (Coursework), Yale University
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
- Doctoral Diploma, University of Oxford
- Australian Academy of the Humanities, Australian Academy of the Humanities
Research interests
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Intellectual History, Historical Relations between Science and Religion, History of Science, Religious History, History of Philosophy
Works
Search Professor Peter Harrison’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
The forgotten proof: the existence of God and universal consent
Harrison, Peter (2024). The forgotten proof: the existence of God and universal consent. Journal of Religion, 104 (1), 45-78. doi: 10.1086/727614
2024
Book Chapter
Religion and the Social Legitimation of Science
Harrison, Peter (2024). Religion and the Social Legitimation of Science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. (pp. 61-69) Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-76037-2_7
2023
Journal Article
Review of Paul Tyson, A Christian Theology of Science
Harrison, Peter (2023). Review of Paul Tyson, A Christian Theology of Science. Modern Theology, 40 (3), 697-704. doi: 10.1111/moth.12910
2023
Journal Article
Normativity and the critical functions of genealogy: the case of modern science
Harrison, Peter (2023). Normativity and the critical functions of genealogy: the case of modern science. Modern Theology, 39 (4), 682-707. doi: 10.1111/moth.12857
2023
Journal Article
Naturalism and the categories “science” and “religion”: a response to Josh Reeves
Harrison, Peter (2023). Naturalism and the categories “science” and “religion”: a response to Josh Reeves. Zygon®, 58 (1), 98-108. doi: 10.1111/zygo.12865
2022
Book Chapter
The history of science and theology
Harrison, Peter (2022). The history of science and theology. St Andrews encyclopaedia of theology. (pp. N/A-N/A) edited by Brendan N. Wolfe. St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom: University of St Andrews.
2022
Journal Article
What is natural theology? (And should we dispense with it?)
Harrison, Peter (2022). What is natural theology? (And should we dispense with it?). Zygon®, 57 (1), 114-140. doi: 10.1111/zygo.12767
2022
Book
New Directions in Theology and Science : Beyond Dialogue
Harrison, Peter and Tyson, Paul eds. (2022). New Directions in Theology and Science : Beyond Dialogue. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003240334
2022
Book
After Science and Religion: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology
Peter Harrison and John Milbank eds. (2022). After Science and Religion: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009047968
2022
Book Chapter
Science and religion as historical traditions
Harrison, Peter (2022). Science and religion as historical traditions. After Science and Religion: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. (pp. 15-34) edited by Peter Harrison and John Milbank. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
2021
Journal Article
Defining and defending the humanities: with Peter Harrison, “Defining and Defending the Humanities”; Michael Ruse, “Willem Drees on the Humanities”; Douglas F. Ottati, “Theology among the Human Humanities”; Lisa L. Stenmark, “Who are the Humanities For? Decolonizing the Humanities”; Donald L. Drakeman, “Some Second Thoughts about the Humanities”; and Willem B. Drees, “The Coherence and Character of the Humanities: A Reply to Critics.”
Harrison, Peter (2021). Defining and defending the humanities: with Peter Harrison, “Defining and Defending the Humanities”; Michael Ruse, “Willem Drees on the Humanities”; Douglas F. Ottati, “Theology among the Human Humanities”; Lisa L. Stenmark, “Who are the Humanities For? Decolonizing the Humanities”; Donald L. Drakeman, “Some Second Thoughts about the Humanities”; and Willem B. Drees, “The Coherence and Character of the Humanities: A Reply to Critics.”. Zygon, 56 (3), 678-690. doi: 10.1111/zygo.12729
2021
Journal Article
A historian’s perspective on science‐engaged theology
Harrison, Peter (2021). A historian’s perspective on science‐engaged theology. Modern Theology, 37 (2), 476-482. doi: 10.1111/moth.12693
2020
Book Chapter
What’s in a name? "Physico-theology" in seventeenth-century England
Harrison, Peter (2020). What’s in a name? "Physico-theology" in seventeenth-century England. Physico-theology: religion and science in Europe, 1650-1750. (pp. 39-51) edited by Ann Blair and Kaspar von Greyerz. Baltimore, Maryland, United States: Johns Hopkins University Press.
2020
Book Chapter
The conflict narrative, group identity, and the uses of history
Harrison, Peter (2020). The conflict narrative, group identity, and the uses of history. Identity in a secular age: science, religion, and public perceptions. (pp. 129-140) edited by Fern Elsdon-Baker and Bernard Lightman. Pittsburgh, PA United States: University of Pittsburgh Press.
2020
Book
Πέρα από την Επιστήμη και τη Θρησκεία: νέες φιλοσοφικές και ιστορικές προσεγγίσεις
Sotiris Mitralexis, Paul Tyson and Peter Harrison eds. (2020). Πέρα από την Επιστήμη και τη Θρησκεία: νέες φιλοσοφικές και ιστορικές προσεγγίσεις. Thessaloniki, Greece: Ropi.
2019
Book Chapter
Conflict, complexity, and secularization in the history of science and religion
Harrison, Peter (2019). Conflict, complexity, and secularization in the history of science and religion. Rethinking History, Science, and Religion: an exploration of conflict and the complexity principle. (pp. 221-234) edited by Bernard Lightman. Pittsburgh, PA United States: University of Pittsburgh Press. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvqc6h4s.17
2019
Book
Science Without God? : Rethinking the History of Scientific Naturalism
Harrison, Peter and Roberts, Jon H. eds. (2019). Science Without God? : Rethinking the History of Scientific Naturalism. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198834588.001.0001
2019
Book Chapter
Laws of God or Laws of Nature? : Natural Order in the Early Modern Period
Harrison, Peter (2019). Laws of God or Laws of Nature? : Natural Order in the Early Modern Period. Science Without God?. (pp. 58-76) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198834588.003.0004
2018
Book
Narratives of Secularization
Peter Harrison ed. (2018). Narratives of Secularization. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2018
Journal Article
Naturalism and the success of science
Harrison, Peter (2018). Naturalism and the success of science. Religious Studies, 56 (2), 1-18. doi: 10.1017/S0034412518000574
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Peter Harrison is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
An Investigation into the socio-cultural and/or religious influences on Young Earth Creationism in Queensland in the 1970s and early 1980s
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Ryan Williams, Associate Professor Tom Aechtner
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Doctor Philosophy
The Eternality of the Soul. Philosophical and Religious debates 1500-1800
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Philip Almond
Completed supervision
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Mortalism and the Making of Heterodoxy in Seventeenth-Century England
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Philip Almond, Dr James Lancaster
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Nature, the Fall, and the Secularisation of Early Modern Political Thought
Principal Advisor
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
The Origins of the "Conflict Thesis": Draper, White, and the Protestant Tradition
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Tom Aechtner, Associate Professor Ian Hesketh
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Providence and Natural Causation in Early Modern England
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Philip Almond
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Reading Morals: Charles Darwin and the Descent of Morality
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Ian Hesketh
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Measuring miracles in young-earth creationism
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Tom Aechtner
Media
Enquiries
Contact Emeritus Professor Peter Harrison directly for media enquiries about:
- Early modern intellectual history
- History of science
- Philosophy and religion
- Religion and philosophy
- Religion and science
- Science and religion
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