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Phil
313: Science and Religion
Course
Description
Are evolution and creation equally plausible
hypotheses for explaining the origin of apparent design in the
world? Should both be given equal time in the public schools? Are
both equally dogmatic? How does one determine whether something was
designed by an intelligent agent? Just how much can natural
selection explain? Do the claims of science and religion overlap?
Are they necessarily in conflict?
These are some of the questions this course
will address. Designed for students who have taken at least one
course in philosophy and one in a natural science, the course
focuses on the brand new introductory text entitled Evolution vs.
Creationism. Almost all the readings for this course will be
drawn from this book.
The conflict
between evolutionary theory and creationism provides the perfect
focus for an introductory course in science and religion. That
conflict is at the same time one of the most active and one of the
most controversial areas in science and religion today. Besides
being as controversial as it is popular, the subject matter of the
course encourages students to apply their critical faculties to
longstanding philosophical puzzles regarding religious skepticism,
design arguments for God’s existence, the justification of belief,
the nature of scientific explanation, and hierarchical relationships
among the sciences.
Ideally, classroom
discussion and student research projects will mirror the
well-reasoned defense of alternative viewpoints presented in the
text. In the spirit of open discussion that these materials deserve,
the course will be run as a seminar vitally dependent on active
student participation. The semester will culminate in a research
paper that summarizes alternative views as charitably as possible,
while presenting a tightly argued defense of the student’s own
position.
Students will be encouraged to speak candidly
and often in class discussions, and will be expected to prepare each
reading assignment thoroughly and in advance. In order to ensure
candor, minimize bias, and prevent students from knowing who’s
playing devil’s advocate, the instructor will keep his own views in
the background. This course deals with some of the most fundamental
questions of human existence. Its overarching goal is nothing less
than to broaden, if not revolutionize, the student’s view of the
world and his place in it. |
