Varieties of Understanding: New Perspectives from Psychology, Philosophy, and Theology

The Varieties of Understanding project addresses the John Templeton Foundation's interest in bold projects that cross traditional boundaries to seek new answers to big questions. The nature of understanding has recently become the focus of scholarly attention, but only tentative progress has been made. The goal of this project is to examine the various ways in which human beings understand the world, how these various types of understanding might be improved, and how we might deepen our understanding of the world. The project consists of a three-year program based at Fordham University and the University of California, Berkeley. We will sponsor ground-breaking research by the world's leading psychologists, philosophers, and theologians to investigate the nature and varieties of understanding. This project will generate a wide range of new research, including approximately 14 monographs, 1 edited collection, and 48 new articles in philosophy, psychology, and theology. As a direct result of the project, it is expected that there will be a significant new wave of interest in the nature and varieties of human understanding that sets the agenda for work in this area for years to come.