Philosophy, Science and Religion mark three of the most fundamental modes of thinking about the world and our place in it. Are these modes incompatible? Put another way: is the intellectually responsible thing to do to ‘pick sides’ and identify with one of these approaches at the exclusion of others? Or, are they complementary or mutually supportive? As is typical of questions of such magnitude, the devil is in the details. For example, it is important to work out what is really distinctive about each of these ways of inquiring about the world. In order to gain some clarity here, we’ll be investigating what some of the current leading thinkers in philosophy, science and religion are actually doing.
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This course, entitled ‘Science and Philosophy’, will serve as the first of three related courses in our Philosophy, Science and Religion Online series, and in this first course we will ask important questions about the nature of scientific knowledge, its limits and implications for the disciplines of philosophy and religion, as well as for their intersection.
We begin by asking whether scientific claims aspire to absolute truth. For instance, are there any scientific claims that are absolutely true, or are they all true relative to the system of thought that generated them? If we accept the latter, does this also hold true of any claims we might make, including within the domains of philosophy and religion? In this Science and Philosophy course we will also be exploring in some detail current and exciting questions about the relationship between physics and faith, science and pseudoscience, creationism and evolutionary biology.
The second and third courses in the Philosophy, Science and Religion series—‘Philosophy and Religion’ and ‘Religion and Science’—will be launched later in 2017. Completing all three courses will give you a broader understanding of this fascinating topic. Look for:
• Philosophy, Science and Religion II: Philosophy and Religion
• Philosophy, Science and Religion III: Religion and Science
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Philosophy, Science and Religion: Introduction and Overview
In this module, Dr Orestis Palermos provides a short introduction and overview of the key themes that will be discussed in the ‘Science and Philosophy’ course.
WEEK 2
Neuroscience and Free Will
In this module Professor Al Mele presents experiments that purport to show that there is no such thing as free will. He then presents three criticisms of this interpretation of the evidence.
WEEK 3
Are Science and Religion in Conflict?
Guest lecturer: Dr Michael Murray. Are science and religion compatible with one another? Are they incompatible? What do these questions even mean, and how do we go about answering them? Philosophical tools are helpful to make progress with these very important questions. In this module, Dr Michael Murray offers a philosophical analysis of the complex and easily misunderstood issue of the relationship between science and religion.
WEEK 4
Do Scientific Claims Constitute Absolute Truths?
Guest lecturer: Professor Martin Kusch. This module will focus on a central challenge for scientific knowledge: Are there any scientific claims that are absolutely true, or are they all true relative to the system of thought that generated them? If we accept the latter, does this also hold true of any claims we might make, including within the domains of philosophy and religion?
WEEK 5
Evolution and Creationism
This module starts with Dr. Mark Harris presenting the history of creationist views and what is claimed about evolution by different creationist approaches. Professor David de Pomerai then goes on to explain what evolutionary biology is.
