Human Flourishing Scientific insight and spiritual wisdom in uncertain times

'A careful and thoughtful provocation' (Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury)

b Ambitiously placed at the intersection of scientific insights and spiritual wisdom, iHuman Flourishing/i prompts us to reflect on what constitutes a good life and the choices that can help achieve it. /b


For thousands of years, humans have asked 'Why we are here?' and 'What makes for a good life?' At different times, different answers have held sway. Nowadays, there are more answers proposed than ever. Much of humanity still finds the ultimate answers to such questions in religion. But in countries across the globe, secular views are widely held. In any event, whether religious or secular, individuals, communities and governments still have to make decisions about what people get from life.

This book therefore examines what is meant by human flourishing and see what it has to offer for those seeking after truth, meaning and purpose. This is a book written for anyone who wants a future for themselves, their children, and their fellow humans - a future that enables flourishing, pays due consideration to issues of truth and helps us find meaning and purpose in our lives.

At a time when most of us are bombarded with messages about what we should or should not do to live healthily, attain a work-life balance and find meaning, a careful consideration of the contributions of both scientific insight and spiritual wisdom provides a new angle. This is therefore a book that not only helps readers clarify their views and see things afresh but also help them improve their own well-being in an age of AI and other new technologies.

Andrew Briggs, Professor of Nanomaterials, Department of Materials, University of Oxford,Michael J. Reiss, Professor of Science Education, University College of London

Professor Andrew Briggs was elected in 2002 as the first holder of the Chair in Nanomaterials at the University of Oxford. His scientific research focuses on materials and techniques for quantum technologies, in which non-classical superposition and entanglement are harnessed for future applications
such as quantum computers, using machine learning to run the experiments. His book with Roger Wagner, The Penultimate Curiosity: How Science Swims in the Slipstream of Ultimate Questions, has been widely reviewed internationally, and formed the basis for a documentary film and a series for children.
His subsequent book, It Keeps Me Seeking: The Invitation from Science, Philosophy, and Religion, written with Hans Halvorson and Andrew Steane, was chosen by Times Higher Education as Book of the Week for the first issue of 2019.

Reverend Professor Michael J. Reiss holds the Chair of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, visiting professor at the University of York and the Royal Veterinary College, a priest in the Church of England, and
president of the International Society for Science and Religion. The former Director of Education at the Royal Society, he is a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and has written extensively about curricula, pedagogy, and assessment in science education and has directed a very large number
of research, evaluation, and consultancy projects over the past twenty-five years funded by UK research councils, government departments, charities, and international agencies.