PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE AND RELIGION 2: LIFE AND MIND
THET11046
MSc/PGPilp/PGCert
Course Organiser:
Course Lecturers:
Dr. James Collin
Dr. James Collin
Prof. John Evans
Dr. Graeme Finlay
Dr. Michael Fuller
Dr. David Grummet
Prof. Peter Harrison
Prof. Michela Massimi
Dr. Orestis Palermos
Course Secretary:
Learning Technologist:
Ms Roisin O'Fee
Dr. Simon Fokt
COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
This is a level 11 course for students seeking an advanced introduction to contemporary issues in the
intersection of science and religion. This course will provide students with the necessary background to
complete the online MSc programme in Philosophy, Science and Religion. Students will gain an
understanding of the relevant science – including evolutionary biology and psychology – and the
relationship of these with issues in theology and religious belief – including the doctrine of creation, the
existence of the soul, and life after death.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course students should:
1. Be able to demonstrate a good understanding of the key areas in the current science-religion
interface—including cosmology, evolution, and the neurosciences—and will be able to engage
with them philosophically.
2. Be able to demonstrate strong analytical skills and philosophical acumen in approaching debates
between science and theology.
3. Be able to engage critically with key textual sources in the field.
4. Be able to engage constructively in cross-disciplinary conversations.
5. Have demonstrated an openness to personal growth through a commitment to dialogue across
intellectual and cultural boundaries.
REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS
Courses will primarily be assessed through the submission of a summative essay on a question of your
choice (to be agreed in advance with the course organizer) of no more than 2500 words. This will account
for 85% of the student’s course mark. The remaining 15% of the final course mark will be determined by
the student’s postings on the course discussion board. There is also the option to submit a non-graded
formative essay for additional feedback. The deadline for the formative essay is Wednesday 1st March.
Feedback will be provided within 15 working days (i.e. by Wednesday 22nd March). The deadline for the
summative essay is Monday 24th April. Feedback will be provided within 15 working days (i.e. by Monday
15th May).
For details of grading criteria, submission deadlines, penalties for exceeding the word count or for late
submissions, and many other issues please consult the Programme Handbook, available on the
Philosophy Hub Page. It is recommended that all students read the Programme Handbook carefully.
SYLLABUS
MODULE 1: SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN HISTORY
In this module we consider the history of science and religion. Is this a history of conflict, or of concord,
or is the picture more complex than these alternatives would suggest? How did the Scientific Revolution
and the Enlightenment effect religious adherence, and how was Darwinism received by religious groups?
The West today is more secular than in the past – is this the result of scientific progress?
LECTURE 1 (23rd January)
Science and Religion in History – Peter Harrison
Essential reading: Henry, John (2010), ‘Religion and the Scientific Revolution’ in The Cambridge
Companion to Science and Religion. CUP.
Further Reading:
Grant, Edward. 1996. The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious,
Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harrison, Peter (1998), The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science. CUP.
Harrison, Peter (2007), The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science. CUP.
Kaiser, Christopher B. (2012), ‘Early Christian Belief in Creation and the Beliefs Sustaining the Modern
Sciencetific Endeavor’, in The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
Koperski, Jeffrey (2015), The Physics of Theism. Wiley-Blackwell. Ch1.
Multiple Authors (2016), ‘Peter Harrison’s Terrotories of Science and Religion: A Symposium. Zygon:
Journal of Science and Religion 51(3): 684-757.
LECTURE 2 (30th January)
Science and Secularization: The Progress of Science and the Decline of Religion? – Peter Harrison
Essential reading: Hedley Brooke, John (2010), ‘Science and secularization; in The Cambridge
Companion to Science and Religion. CUP.
Further Reading:
Bristow, William (2010), ‘Enlightenment’, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Harrison, Peter (1998), The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science. CUP.
Harrison, Peter (2007), The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science. CUP.
Numbers, Ronald (ed.) (2009), Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religiom.
Harvard University Press.
Taylor, Charles (2007), A Secular Age. Harvard University Press.
MODULE 2: RELIGION AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
In this module we explore the relationship between evolutionary biology and religion. What is
evolutionary biology, what is the evidence for the central claims of neo-Darwinian biology, and
how has it changed in recent times? How have theologians reacted to and appropriated
evolutionary thought? What exactly is supposed to be the conflict between evolution and religion,
and does evolution, as some have claimed, rationally undermine atheism rather than theism?
LECTURE 3 (6th February)
Our Evolutionary History – Graeme Finlay
Essential reading: Finlay, Graeme (2013), Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies. CUP.
Prologue and chapter 1.
Further Reading:
Conway Morris, Simon. Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge, UK, and
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Finlay, Graeme (2013), Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies. CUP.
Koperski, Jeffrey (2015), The Physics of Theism. Wiley-Blackwell. Ch5.
Nelson, Paul A. “The Role of Theology in Current Evolutionary Reasoning.” Biology and Philosophy 11.4
(1996): 493–517.
Scadding, Steven R. “Do ‘Vestigial Organs’ Provide Evidence for Evolution?” Evolutionary Theory 5.3
(May 1981): 173–176.
Sober, Elliott. (2007) “What Is Wrong with Intelligent Design?” Quarterly Review of Biology 82(1): 3–
8.
Sober, Elliott. (2008) Evidence and Evolution: The Logic behind the Science. Cambridge University
Press.
LECTURE 4 (13th February)
Teilhard de Chardin – David Grumett
Essential reading: Grumett, David (2007), ‘Teilhard de Chardin’s Evolutionary Natural Theology’,
Zygon 42(2): 519-534.
Further Reading:
Barbour, Ian (1968), ‘Five Ways of Reading Teilhard’, Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 51(2),
115-145.
Haught, John (2012), ‘Christianity and Human Evolution’, in The Blackwell Companion to Science and
Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
Salmon, James (2012), ‘Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’ in The Blackwell Companion to Science and
Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
LECTURE 5 (20th February)
Evolution and Atheism – Jamie Collin
Essential reading: Plantinga. Alvin (2011), Where the Conflict Really Lies. OUP. Chapter 10.
Further Reading:
Beilby, James, ed. 2002. Naturalism Defeated? Essays on Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument
against Naturalism. Cornell University Press.
Collin, James H. (2013), ‘Semantic Inferentialism and the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism,
Philosophy Compass.
Churchland, Patricia. 1987. Epistemology in the Age of Neuroscience. Journal of Philosophy, 84(10), pp.
544–553.
Nagel, Thomas (2012), Mind and Cosmos. OUP.
Plantinga, Alvin and Tooley, Michael. 2008. Knowledge of God. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Clark, K., and R. Van Arragon (eds.) Evidence and Religious Belief, New York: OUP, 2011.
MODULE 3: RELIGION AND THE HUMAN SCIENCES
In this module we consider how developments in the human sciences can help us to understand
both religion and the relationship between science and religion. What does sociological research
tell us about the interaction between science and religion? One of the goals of cognitive science
is to study the way we form beliefs. What can cognitive science tell us about the formation of
religious beliefs and attitudes? Do developments in cognitive science show that the mind is or
supervenes upon the brain and other physical structures? Does cognitive science, in other words,
undermine any reason to think we have immaterial souls? And, if so, what are the implications for
theological doctrines involving life after death?
LECTURE 6 (27th February)
Social Science and the Relationship between Science and Religion – John Evans
Essential reading: Evans, John (2011), ‘Epistemological and Moral Conflict Between Religion and
Science’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50(4): 707-727.
Further Reading:
Asad, Talal. 1993. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and
Islam. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Comstock, Gary L. 1987. Two Types of Narrative Theology. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion, 55, pp. 687–717.
Evans, John, and Michael S. Evans (2012), ‘Sociology and Christianity’, in The Blackwell Companion to
Science and Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
Nagel, Thomas. “Public Education and Intelligent Design.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 36.2 (Spring
2008): 187–205.
Perkins, Richard. 1987. Looking Both Ways: Exploring the Interface between Christianity and
Sociology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
Taylor, Charles. 2004. Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
LECTURE 7 (6th March)
The Cognitive Science of Religion – Michael Fuller
Essential reading: Barrett, Justin (2012), ‘Towards a Cognitive Science of Christianity’, in The
Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
Further Reading:
Barrett, Justin L. Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds. West
Conshohocken, PA: Templeton, 2011.
Boyer, Pascal. Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origin of Religious Thought. New York: Basic Books,
2001.
Hick, John. The New Frontier of Religion and Science: Religious Experience, Neuroscience, and the
Transcendent. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
van Slyke, James A. The Cognitive Science of Religion. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.
Visala, Aku. Naturalism, Theism, and the Cognitive Study of Religion: Religion Explained? Burlington,
VT: Ashgate, 2011.
LECTURE 8 (13th March)
Do You Have a Soul? – Jamie Collin
Essential reading: Swinburne, Richard (2009), ‘Substance Dualism, Faith and Philosophy 26(5): 50113.
Further Reading:
Adams, Marilyn McCord (2015), ‘What about Hylomorphism?’, in M. Bergmann and J. Brower (eds.),
Reason and Faith: Themes from Richard Swinburne. OUP.
Moreland, J.P (2012), ‘Christianity, Neuroscience, and Dualism’ in The Blackwell Companion to
Science and Christianity. Wiley-Blackwell.
Plantinga, Alvin. 2006. Against Materialism. Faith and Philosophy, 23(1), pp. 3–32.
Plantinga, Alvin and Tooley, Michael. 2008. Knowledge of God. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Swinburne, Richard (2013), Mind, Brain, and Free Will. OUP.
Van Inwagen, Peter (2007), ‘A Materialist Ontology of the Human Person’, in P. van Inwagen and D.
Zimmerman (eds.) Persons: Human and Divine. OUP.
MODULE 4: SCIENCE FROM A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE
In this module we consider two key issues in the philosophy of science: the demarcation between science
and pseudoscience, and scientific perspectivism. There are clear instances of genuine science and clear
instances of quackery, but is it possible to provide criteria to distinguish between science and
pseudoscience, and what are the epistemological implications of this distinction? Science aims at
objectivity, but it is conducted by cognitively limited human beings. How can we best make sense of the
idea that scientific representation and explanation is perspectival in nature?
LECTURE 9 (20th March)
Science and Pseudoscience – Orestis Palermos
Essential reading: Hansson, Sven Ove (2014), ‘Science and Pseudoscience’, in the Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Further Reading
Pigliucci, M. and M. Boudry (eds.) (2013), Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation
Problem. Chicago University Press.
Resnik, David (200), ‘A Pragmatic Approach to the Demarcation Problem’, Studies in the Hisotry and
Philosophy of Science, 31(2): 249-267.
LECTURE 10 (27th March)
Scientific Perspectivalism – Michela Massimi
Essential reading: Massimi, Michela (2016), ‘Four Kinds of Perspectival Truth’, Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research.
Further Reading:
Chakravarty, Anjan (2010), ‘Perspectivism, inconsistent models, and contrastive explanation’, Studies in
the Hisotry and Philosophy of Science 41(4): 405-412.
Giere, Ronald (2006), Scientific Perspectivalism. Chicacgo University Press.
Giere, Ronald (2016), ‘Feyerabend’s Perspectivalism’, Studies in the Hisotry and Philosophy of Science
57: 137-141.
Massimi, Michela (2012), ‘Scientific Perspectivism and its Foes’, Philosophica 84: 25-52.
LECTURE 11 (3rd April)
Summary Week – Jamie Collin