Ford Fellow: Drew Walker
Religious Studies 3150
RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND NATURE
Fall 1999
What are religion and science? Are they rival belief systems that can argue with each other about the truth? Are they drastically different ways of seeing the world and managing our affairs, pulling us in opposite directions? Or are they complementary? Can their benefits be compared and weighed against each other? Could religion and science as we know them today be superseded in the future by different pursuits, different attitudes?
What is nature? Is it necessarily perceptible by our bodily senses? Must it be predictable? Must it contain every cause, every power, or are there good reasons to believe in supernatural realities (including perhaps powers of our own)? Is nature good in itself? Should we seek guidance from it? Is it "home"? Is technology alien to nature?
These questions are difficult and many-sided. They have shaped up over a long history in diverse cultural contexts. In late 20th-century America, the phrase "religion and science" conjures up in most people's minds a conflict between certain forms of Abrahamic theism and Darwinian evolution. This particular controversy is quite thorny in its own right, yet it is only one among many expressions of long-standing underlying questions about religion, science, and nature. In this course we will explore these questions from various angles and with reference to a wide cultural and historical range. Our challenge is to attain full awareness of the implications that religious and scientific propositions hold for each other and to discuss these implications intelligently.
Grading will be based on weekly journal writing (25%), a 6-8 pp. historical study (15%), a midterm exam (15%), an 8-10 pp. constructive study (20%), and a final exam (20%).
Readings will be required in handouts and in these books available
in the bookstore:
Ian Barbour, Religion and Science
Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story
P R O J E C T E D S C H E D U L E
Note: Reading and homework assignments will be announced in class. Check with me about them if you miss class. Handouts for an upcoming class can generally be found on the door of CC-11.
Week of
Sept. 1 What might "religion" and "science" be? What relationship
might there be between them? Issues of power and understanding
Sept. 6 What might "nature" be? Chinese and Western approaches
Sept. 13 Axial Age revolutions in religion and rational thinking
Sept. 20 Scientific revolutions in the West and their religious repercussions:
Bacon's agenda
Sept. 27 Galileo and modern physical science
Oct. 4 Darwin and modern biology
Oct. 11 Modern biology, cont. Creationism. HISTORICAL/TEXTUAL STUDY DUE OCT.
15
Oct. 17 20th century physics and cosmology. MIDTERM EXAM DUE OCT. 22
Oct. 25 FALL BREAK Religion and science as cognitive projects: symbols, metaphors,
models, paradigms
Nov. 1 Cognitive projects, cont.
Nov. 8 Religion and science as salvation projects: preservation, liberation,
resurrection, reconciliation
Nov. 15 Salvation projects, cont. Deep ecology
Nov. 22 CONSTRUCTIVE STUDY DUE NOV. 23. THANKSGIVING
Nov. 29 A new synthesis of religion and science: The Universe Story
Dec. 6 The Universe Story, cont. A question of attitude?
FINAL EXAM DUE AT ASSIGNED TIME IN FINALS WEEK.
GUIDELINES FOR THE JOURNAL
For your course notebook, a loose-leaf binder is strongly recommended. This will allow you to hand in just the newest pages of your journal each week, and also to incorporate the course materials that are handed out with your own writings. You have the option of submitting journal assignments by e-mail, but you still might want to keep print copies of these and of the responses you get.
Each week you will be asked to write a page in answer to a particular question, usually bearing on an assigned reading. You will also be expected to turn in before the end of the week another page of semi-independent reflections on what you are observing and learning about religion, science, and nature. I say "semi-independent" because I would like you always to respond to questions that I and other readers pose to you on the basis of your earlier writings. The purpose of the journal requirement is to give you practice in articulating your thoughts and relating them to ideas and arguments that we study in the course.
You can skip two pages of work without penalty--either by not turning in the entire assignment for one week or by leaving out parts of assignments on two separate occasions.
The journal will be graded unsatisfactory - , satisfactory \/ , or very good + depending on the sensitivity and persistence of the thinking it shows.
GUIDELINES FOR THE HISTORICAL/TEXTUAL STUDY
The objective is to appreciate as fully as possible the meaning of a text that has interesting implications for the religion-science-nature relationship. This will be a text that you might choose for a class reading if you were teaching a class like ours. The text might have the historical interest that it actually influenced how people thought and acted; in any case, it will have the significance of reflecting a particular phase or complex in the history of thinking about religion, science, and nature. Be mindful of this historical dimension as you develop a careful interpretation of what the text says and implies.
Focus on a relatively small text or small parts of a text. Look for finer points and less obvious implications. Point to questions or problems that arise when we consider this text in relation to other things we have read and discussed (or that we might read and discuss) in the class.
GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSTRUCTIVE STUDY
1. Definition of the problem. By the end of your introductory paragraph, the reader should know what issue you are addressing in your paper. It should be an issue that you care about, that is personally worth wrestling with. Here are some areas in which specific topics might be defined:
How are religious belief and practice affected by a commitment
to empirical study?
How is scientific practice affected by religious belief?
Is there such a thing as religious "knowledge" or "truth"?
Is there a valid way of distinguishing between religious and scientific knowledge?
What can a religion (or science) be trusted for? What can it not be trusted
for?
What must "salvation" of human beings involve? Can it be ascertained
whether "this world" is our "true home"?
What exactly is the religiously significant aspect of "human nature"?
Should it be conceived as "soul"? Must it be thought of as supernatural?
Must the "sacred" or "divine" be supernatural?
Assuming the reality of God, does God act in the world? If so, how?
Assuming the reality of nirvana, is nirvana accessible in the world? If so,
how?
In what sense can "nature" be damaged or destroyed? What are the
most important religious considerations in human dealings with "nature"?
What does "evolution" mean? (Or "relativity"; "indeterminacy";
etc.)
2. Explanation of the problem. Why is the question you are posing not easy to answer? What are the conflicting points of view, criteria, etc. on it? (Show as best you can the sense of views different from your own.)
3. Solution of the problem. Now work out an acceptable way to
think about the issue and some reasons that support it. Here you may or may
not be helped by other thinkers, but in any case, you are taking responsibility
for the solution.
Remember to be reasonable. Don't preach. Don't dogmatize. Don't simply report
opinions. Don't be totally facetious. A good argumentative essay probes for
convincing justifications.
4. Enjoy. What could be more rewarding than seeing your own thought take shape on a vitally important question? If you turn in your essay on time you will certainly have the opportunity to rewrite it, so don't be too anxious to make it perfect on your first go-round. Care about it, but don't worry about it. The best reasoning often comes out in response to questions and challenges from the reader.