SCHC 386 H01 13569

SocBehavSci, GSS

Notes:

There are many myths associated with religion and science, and perhaps the most prevalent is that they are locked in mortal combat. This course will address that question and many more, from the origins of modern science up to the present. Part one of the course surveys the major topics in the academic dialogue between religion and science, and address the preeminent myths that have built up around the historical relationshipbetween religion and science. The second part of the class will focus on the nature of scientific knowledge and address questions such as: what do we expect a scientific theory to tell us about ultimate Reality, how do the methods we use affect the answers we receive, what is the nature of proof and evidence in science, and can science gives us certain knowledge? The last part of the class will focus on the concept of a transcendent God and how that affects the relation with science. Some of the questions asked will be whether it is an error in logic to consider God as a hypothesis within science and whether reference to a transcendent is possibly a more rational explanation of existence than naturalism? The class will focus on the relation between science and Christianity because it is simply a fact of history that modern science arose in the Christian European West, and it is therethat the vast majority of the interaction and debates occur. However, references to other traditions will also be included with a special emphasis on the Christian East.