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Knut-Willy Sæther

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Dr. Knut-Willy Sæther is Professor at Volda University College (VUC), Norway.

His primary research focus is in philosophy of religion, with interdisciplinary interests spanning philosophy, aesthetics, spirituality, religion and theology. In addition to his role at VUC, he is an affiliated professor at the Norwegian School of Leadership and Theology (HLT) in Oslo. He currently leads several research groups, including the international group "Nature, Aesthetics, and Ethics".

After six years as High School principal and teacher, Sæther transistioned to full-time academic work in 2007. He has been a visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary (NJ, USA) on four occations.

For more information, please visit his website: http://knutwillysaether.weebly.com
Address: Volda University College
PO Box 500
N-6101 Volda
Norway

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Papers by Knut-Willy Sæther

Hans-Günter Heimbrock og Jörg Persch (red.): Eco-Theology: Essays in Honor of Sigurd BergmannHans-GünterHeimbrockJörg Persch(red.)Eco-Theology: Essays in Honor of Sigurd BergmannLeiden: Brill/Ferdinand Schöningh, 2021

Teologisk tidsskrift, Apr 13, 2023

Awe experiences, the sublime, and spiritual well-being in Arctic wilderness

Frontiers in Psychology, Aug 22, 2022

Philosophy of Religion as Serious Talk about God

Talking seriously about God, 2016

Når forskningskulturer møtes: Noen prinsipielle avklaringer av interdisiplinær forskning

Møter og mangfold: Religion og kultur i historie, samtid og skole, 2022

This article aims to clarify what we understand by interdisciplinary research and explore some of... more This article aims to clarify what we understand by interdisciplinary research and explore some of the advantages of this way of working. My first strand is to elaborate the differences between multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity. Through this analysis, I identify the characteristics of interdisciplinarity, as well as two ways toward interdisciplinarity: when scholars join together with their expertise to achieve a shared goal, and when a single scholar works cross-disciplinarily in a specific way. Further, I examine the relationship between interdisciplinarity and the traditional branches of science and argue that both disciplinary specialization and interdisciplinarity are critical to the continued advancement of knowledge. Finally, I explore what I describe as interdisciplinarity’s why and how, emphasizing that the fruitfulness of interdisciplinarity is conditioned by a certain consciousness, in terms of how the researcher nourishes some attitudes and virtues in the social and ...

Science and Religion Being Moved by Aesthetics

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2015

The science-religion dialogue is interdisciplinary and recent years we see scholars emphasizing a... more The science-religion dialogue is interdisciplinary and recent years we see scholars emphasizing aesthetics as yet another aspect in the dialogue. Aesthetics, already included in some theological discourses such as theological aesthetics, covers a number of perspectives and sub-disciplines. This article sheds light on how aesthetics contributes to the development of the dialogue. Alejandro Garcia-Rivera is an important contributor to the debate, by addressing aesthetics as an additional element in this interdisciplinary dialogue between natural science and theology. The first part describes his interdisciplinary method, while the second concerns the relevance of aesthetics to the dialogue, where beauty in nature is central. In the third part some critical constructive remarks are raised on the understanding of beauty in nature. Garcia-Rivera’s approach is important and relevant, although his concept of beauty in nature is too narrow. To develop a more profound dialogue between aesthetics, natural science, and theology, we need to expand the concept of beauty in nature and include the phenomena of the sublime and wonder.

A Fallibilist Approach in the Age of COVID-19 and Climate Change

The Grace of Being Fallible in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion, 2020

Against the global backdrop of the current pandemic and imminent reckoning on climate change, edi... more Against the global backdrop of the current pandemic and imminent reckoning on climate change, editors Thomas John Hastings and Knut-Willy Sæther call for a fallibilistic approach to academic inquiry in the sciences and the humanities. They show how fallibilism, as an epistemological approach that supports humility and positive actions, has family resemblances to John Polkinghorne’s “critical realism” and Andreas Losch’s “constructive critical realism.” To illustrate the consequences of a failure to acknowledge the limits of our knowledge and to act on those limits, they report on the case of a certain doctor and a certain president who have responded in radically different ways to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Many Faces of Fallibilism: Exploring Fallibilism in Science, Philosophy, and Theology

The apologetic fruitfulness of a revised natural theology

Theofilos, 2020

This article explores the epistemological locus of a revised natural theology (RNT) and examines ... more This article explores the epistemological locus of a revised natural theology (RNT) and examines the apologetic fruitfulness of this concept. In the current science-religion dialogue, RNT is advocated by scholars such as John Polkinghorne. I argue in this article that RNT partakes of the nature of faith and can be labelled as theological metaphysics. The apologetic output is then mainly seen as a contribution to constructing a coherent philosophical-theological understanding of reality. For being able to do this, we need to acknowledge a wider epistemological framework for RNT. One step is to rephrase the underlying critical realism to a constructive critical realism. This approach takes better into account the complexity of our reality. Thus, the apologetic fruitfulness can be evaluated against other competitive coherent systems at a transdisciplinary level.

Aesthetics at the Intersection of Science and Theology

Our Common Cosmos, 2019

Spor av Gud : John Polkinghornes forståelse av teologiens forhold til naturvitenskap med særlig henblikk på relasjonen mellom kristen skapertro og naturvitenskap i skolen

Forholdet mellom teologi og naturvitenskap har vaert gjenstand for debatt i lang tid, og i den fo... more

Naturen som sted: En eksplorativ studie av økofilosofi, økoteologi og kristen økospiritualitet

Rom og sted: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære bidrag, 2020

In which sense can we make sense of nature as place? This question is discussed in the context of... more In which sense can we make sense of nature as place? This question is discussed in the context of eco-philosophy, eco-theology and Christian eco-spirituality. In particular, the article aims to explore how nature as place can be understood in the context of Christian eco-spirituality. Both eco-philosophy and eco-theology is prior to the latter. They provide resources for how to understand Christian eco-spirituality in general and nature as place in particular. However, Christian eco-spirituality develops its own distinct character by emphasizing the role of aesthetics. The article identifies in two aspects of nature as place for further exploring as they give insight of how to understand nature as home. One aspect is the relational and dynamic character of nature and the another is nature as home. These two aspects echoe in recent theories of place. Underlying both, we find aesthetics as a common ground for coping with nature as place in Christian eco-spirituality where bio-centrism...

Komplekse rom og mangeartede steder: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære kontekster

Rom og sted: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære bidrag, 2020

This article maps out the complexity of the phenomena and concepts space and place, with a specia... more This article maps out the complexity of the phenomena and concepts space and place, with a special focus on religious studies and related disciplines. We start by identifying core elements in the so-called ‘spatial turn’ within the humanities and the social sciences, originating from developments in the field of geography. Next, we identify ontological and epistemological challenges related to space and place, and argue for constructive-critical realism as a point of departure in theory of science. Further, we advocate interdisciplinarity as a way to address such a topic, followed by a short analysis of the ‘spatial turn’ within the context of religion, theology and philosophy. Finally, we offer a presentation of the remaining articles of the volume.

Feeling at Home in the Wilderness: Environmental Conditions, Well-Being and Aesthetic Experience

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

Issues in Science and Theology: What is Life?

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2015

Issues in Science and Theology: Do Emotions Shape the World?

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2016

This series comprises biennial volumes produced by the European Society for the Study of Science ... more This series comprises biennial volumes produced by the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. Each volume will contain approximately 12-15 papers, which are edited by an expert panel. Each volume offers a 'state of play' perspective regarding the area of dialogue between science and religion being considered, looking both at the current situation and at likely further developments within that area. They aim to lay the fruits of current research in specific areas before the wider science-and-religion community, and the general public.

Amos Yong. The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination

Theology and Science, 2014

Steven R. Guthrie, Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of becoming Human (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011). xviii + 222 pp. $24.99

Pneuma, 2012

Issues in Science and Theology: Are We Special?

Friluftsliv: Aesthetic and Psychological Experience of Wilderness Adventure

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2020

Hans-Günter Heimbrock og Jörg Persch (red.): Eco-Theology: Essays in Honor of Sigurd BergmannHans-GünterHeimbrockJörg Persch(red.)Eco-Theology: Essays in Honor of Sigurd BergmannLeiden: Brill/Ferdinand Schöningh, 2021

Teologisk tidsskrift, Apr 13, 2023

Awe experiences, the sublime, and spiritual well-being in Arctic wilderness

Frontiers in Psychology, Aug 22, 2022

Philosophy of Religion as Serious Talk about God

Talking seriously about God, 2016

Når forskningskulturer møtes: Noen prinsipielle avklaringer av interdisiplinær forskning

Møter og mangfold: Religion og kultur i historie, samtid og skole, 2022

This article aims to clarify what we understand by interdisciplinary research and explore some of... more This article aims to clarify what we understand by interdisciplinary research and explore some of the advantages of this way of working. My first strand is to elaborate the differences between multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity. Through this analysis, I identify the characteristics of interdisciplinarity, as well as two ways toward interdisciplinarity: when scholars join together with their expertise to achieve a shared goal, and when a single scholar works cross-disciplinarily in a specific way. Further, I examine the relationship between interdisciplinarity and the traditional branches of science and argue that both disciplinary specialization and interdisciplinarity are critical to the continued advancement of knowledge. Finally, I explore what I describe as interdisciplinarity’s why and how, emphasizing that the fruitfulness of interdisciplinarity is conditioned by a certain consciousness, in terms of how the researcher nourishes some attitudes and virtues in the social and ...

Science and Religion Being Moved by Aesthetics

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2015

The science-religion dialogue is interdisciplinary and recent years we see scholars emphasizing a... more The science-religion dialogue is interdisciplinary and recent years we see scholars emphasizing aesthetics as yet another aspect in the dialogue. Aesthetics, already included in some theological discourses such as theological aesthetics, covers a number of perspectives and sub-disciplines. This article sheds light on how aesthetics contributes to the development of the dialogue. Alejandro Garcia-Rivera is an important contributor to the debate, by addressing aesthetics as an additional element in this interdisciplinary dialogue between natural science and theology. The first part describes his interdisciplinary method, while the second concerns the relevance of aesthetics to the dialogue, where beauty in nature is central. In the third part some critical constructive remarks are raised on the understanding of beauty in nature. Garcia-Rivera’s approach is important and relevant, although his concept of beauty in nature is too narrow. To develop a more profound dialogue between aesthetics, natural science, and theology, we need to expand the concept of beauty in nature and include the phenomena of the sublime and wonder.

A Fallibilist Approach in the Age of COVID-19 and Climate Change

The Grace of Being Fallible in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion, 2020

Against the global backdrop of the current pandemic and imminent reckoning on climate change, edi... more Against the global backdrop of the current pandemic and imminent reckoning on climate change, editors Thomas John Hastings and Knut-Willy Sæther call for a fallibilistic approach to academic inquiry in the sciences and the humanities. They show how fallibilism, as an epistemological approach that supports humility and positive actions, has family resemblances to John Polkinghorne’s “critical realism” and Andreas Losch’s “constructive critical realism.” To illustrate the consequences of a failure to acknowledge the limits of our knowledge and to act on those limits, they report on the case of a certain doctor and a certain president who have responded in radically different ways to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Many Faces of Fallibilism: Exploring Fallibilism in Science, Philosophy, and Theology

The apologetic fruitfulness of a revised natural theology

Theofilos, 2020

This article explores the epistemological locus of a revised natural theology (RNT) and examines ... more This article explores the epistemological locus of a revised natural theology (RNT) and examines the apologetic fruitfulness of this concept. In the current science-religion dialogue, RNT is advocated by scholars such as John Polkinghorne. I argue in this article that RNT partakes of the nature of faith and can be labelled as theological metaphysics. The apologetic output is then mainly seen as a contribution to constructing a coherent philosophical-theological understanding of reality. For being able to do this, we need to acknowledge a wider epistemological framework for RNT. One step is to rephrase the underlying critical realism to a constructive critical realism. This approach takes better into account the complexity of our reality. Thus, the apologetic fruitfulness can be evaluated against other competitive coherent systems at a transdisciplinary level.

Aesthetics at the Intersection of Science and Theology

Our Common Cosmos, 2019

Spor av Gud : John Polkinghornes forståelse av teologiens forhold til naturvitenskap med særlig henblikk på relasjonen mellom kristen skapertro og naturvitenskap i skolen

Forholdet mellom teologi og naturvitenskap har vaert gjenstand for debatt i lang tid, og i den fo... more

Naturen som sted: En eksplorativ studie av økofilosofi, økoteologi og kristen økospiritualitet

Rom og sted: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære bidrag, 2020

In which sense can we make sense of nature as place? This question is discussed in the context of... more In which sense can we make sense of nature as place? This question is discussed in the context of eco-philosophy, eco-theology and Christian eco-spirituality. In particular, the article aims to explore how nature as place can be understood in the context of Christian eco-spirituality. Both eco-philosophy and eco-theology is prior to the latter. They provide resources for how to understand Christian eco-spirituality in general and nature as place in particular. However, Christian eco-spirituality develops its own distinct character by emphasizing the role of aesthetics. The article identifies in two aspects of nature as place for further exploring as they give insight of how to understand nature as home. One aspect is the relational and dynamic character of nature and the another is nature as home. These two aspects echoe in recent theories of place. Underlying both, we find aesthetics as a common ground for coping with nature as place in Christian eco-spirituality where bio-centrism...

Komplekse rom og mangeartede steder: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære kontekster

Rom og sted: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære bidrag, 2020

This article maps out the complexity of the phenomena and concepts space and place, with a specia... more This article maps out the complexity of the phenomena and concepts space and place, with a special focus on religious studies and related disciplines. We start by identifying core elements in the so-called ‘spatial turn’ within the humanities and the social sciences, originating from developments in the field of geography. Next, we identify ontological and epistemological challenges related to space and place, and argue for constructive-critical realism as a point of departure in theory of science. Further, we advocate interdisciplinarity as a way to address such a topic, followed by a short analysis of the ‘spatial turn’ within the context of religion, theology and philosophy. Finally, we offer a presentation of the remaining articles of the volume.

Feeling at Home in the Wilderness: Environmental Conditions, Well-Being and Aesthetic Experience

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

Issues in Science and Theology: What is Life?

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2015

Issues in Science and Theology: Do Emotions Shape the World?

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2016

This series comprises biennial volumes produced by the European Society for the Study of Science ... more This series comprises biennial volumes produced by the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. Each volume will contain approximately 12-15 papers, which are edited by an expert panel. Each volume offers a 'state of play' perspective regarding the area of dialogue between science and religion being considered, looking both at the current situation and at likely further developments within that area. They aim to lay the fruits of current research in specific areas before the wider science-and-religion community, and the general public.

Amos Yong. The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination

Theology and Science, 2014

Steven R. Guthrie, Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of becoming Human (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011). xviii + 222 pp. $24.99

Pneuma, 2012

Issues in Science and Theology: Are We Special?

Friluftsliv: Aesthetic and Psychological Experience of Wilderness Adventure

Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, 2020