Does the universe have a purpose?

The Templeton Foundation does a much better job of discussing metaphysics that the Drinking and Reading Society, so I thought I should pass along this link to their current project - essays by notable folks addressing a question much like the one we discussed over beers. You probably saw the ads in the NY Times, The Atlantic and other journals of thought.

This is the first in a series of conversations about the “Big Questions” the John Templeton Foundation is conducting among leading scientists and scholars.

A TEMPLETON CONVERSATION
Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

Unlikely. Lawrence M. Krauss, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University.

Yes. David Gelernter, professor of computer science at Yale and a National fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

No. Peter William Atkins, Fellow and professor of chemistry at Lincoln College, Oxford.

Indeed. Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Very Likely. Bruno Guiderdoni, astrophysicist and the Director of the Observatory of Lyon, France.

No. Christian de Duve, biochemist. Winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

Not Sure. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and the Director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

Certainly. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace.

To read their essays, go here: http://www.templeton.org/questions/purpose/