PHYSICS 190R

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Enemies, Strangers, Friends or Partners

Instructor:

David K. Scott, Professor, Department of Physics;

Visiting Professor, School of Education and Former Chancellor

418 Lederle Graduate Research Center

Telephone: 413-545-2201 Office : 413-323-0059 Home

e-mail: dkscott@chancellor.umass.edu

Web Address: www.dkscott.com

Assisted by:

Theodore Slovin, Former Associate Director,

Undergraduate Advising Center (UAASC)

Telephone: 413-545-2201

e-mail: tslovin@acad.umass.edu

Office Hours

Office Hours will be between 2 and 4 p.m. on Thursdays in 418 Lederle Graduate Research Center, and at other times by appointment.

Website

Materials, announcements, syllabus, including notes for each class, selected readings from non-required texts, as well as procedures and policies for attendance, grading, syllabus, etc. will be made available on the website: www.dkscott.com

In-Class Participation

Depending on the number of students we shall use different methods of class participation. There will be discussion sessions periodically. Also 3”x5” index cards will be provided and during class you will be asked to write something on the card and to turn it in at the end of the class for credit. Thirty cards will be turned over in the course of the semester and you will receive credit for up to twenty-five. If the class is larger, we shall have to rely more heavily on the use of cards.

Requirements and Grading Policy

Attendance: Because this class will periodically involve discussion, regular attendance and participation in class is expected. More than three unexcused absences will result in losing the benefit of the doubt on your final grade; more than six absences will result in one grade reduction; more than nine will result in a failing course grade. If you have valid reasons for missing several classes, such as illness or other conflicting commitments, you should clear these with the instructor.

Grading:

The grades will be determined as follows:

One mid-term essay 100 points (40%)

One final essay 100 points (40%)

In class participation using cards 25 points (10%)

In class participation through discussion 25 points (10%)

Total 250 points (100%)

The scale will be as follows:

	%	Points
A	93 - 100	233 – 250
AB	86 - 92	215 – 232
B	79 - 85	198 – 214
BC	72 - 78	180 – 197
C	65 - 71	161 – 179
CD	57 - 64	145 – 162
D	50 - 56	124 – 140
F	0 - 49	0 – 123

Required Texts

“When Science Meets Religion” -- Ian G. Barbour

“The Marriage of Sense and Soul” -- Ken Wilber

Other Texts

“Religion and Science” -- Ian G. Barbour

“Pythagoras’ Trousers: God, Physics and the Gender Wars” -- Margaret Wertheim

“Forgotten Truth: the Common Vision of the World’s Religion” -- Huston Smith

“The Roots of Science” -- Harold Turner

“Creation Revisited” -- P. W. Atkins

Selections from these and other works and others will be made available through the website or through handouts.

Academic Honesty and Other Responsibilities

All students are expected to adhere scrupulously to the University policy concerning academic honesty, which is found in “Undergraduate Rights and Responsibilities” and at this website: http://www.saris.admin.umass.edu/rights/

Common courtesies extend to the classroom. Classes will begin on time and end on time. Do not come late to class, and do not leave prior to the end of class except for emergency situations. You are encouraged to participate in class discussions, but you should not be talking, reading, or otherwise inattentive. Each person’s conduct in the room contributes to the smooth running of the course.

Changes in the schedule of assignments or exams will be announced in class or posted on the website. You are responsible for finding out about such changes. In addition, always check the syllabus and course website to see when material is to be read, and papers are due.

Course Description

Two of the most powerful forces shaping Western Culture are Science and Religion. This course will explore their relationship including historical and contemporary issues. Over time, the relationship has varied from that of enemies, strangers, friends or partners or, in alternative language, conflict, independence, dialog or integration. A common modern view is that of independence, where science and religion are considered to deal with completely separate realms of human experience. Science deals with matter, truth and reason, and religion with spirit, meaning and faith. While this inter-relation is an advance over the outright hostility that has sometimes characterized the relationship, we shall see that recent work in science and theology raise questions pointing to a deeper level of integration.

Another common view is that there is only one science but many religions. In order to understand the deeper connections of the two realms of experience, it is necessary to examine the common elements of all religions, and the influence this fundamental unitive cosmology had on the development of science. A prerequisite for science was the idea of an orderly universe, which is also a central idea in some, but not all religions. Another common element of almost all religions is the hierarchy of matter, body, mind, soul and spirit. In some religions the realms of matter and spirit separated into a dualism, with spirit more valued than matter, while other religions supported a concept of duality with greater overlap of the material world and the spirit. A reverse dualism developed through science in the western culture, making the material world more real and fundamental than the spirit. This development was significant for the evolution of science in the 17^th century. All of the world’s religions developed from early primal religions in which the Chain of Being from matter to spirit was more unitive. Current ideas in science and theology suggest that more integrative cosmologies are again emerging.

This course will examine this history, and the four views of the relationship in different areas of science, including cosmology and astronomy, modern physics--particularly quantum mechanics and relativity theory which, like religion, are deeply connected to ideas of time and space--evolution and continuing creation, genetics, neuroscience and human nature, and God and nature. Each topic will be studied from the perspective of conflict, independence, dialog and integration. The course will then explore the emerging ideas for a more integral view of science and religion by re-examining what is meant by these two important domains of human experience. Alternative ideas of a universe emerging by chance from absolutely nothing will also be presented. The aim is to understand the open questions with an open mind.

We realize that a course on Science and Religion covers ideas that are controversial by examining perceived different worlds of reason and faith, of intellect and emotion, truth and meaning. We also realize that students will come to the course from many different religious backgrounds, or with no background. The course will not deal with specific religions in any detail, nor try to change students’ beliefs in religion, in atheism or agnosticism. Rather it will explore broader questions in the origins of science and religion.

SCHEDULE

WEEK

CLASS

DATE

TOPICS

READINGS

Jan. 29

Jan. 31

Introductions, Structure, Syllabus,

Exams, Grading

Some modern issues at intersection of

Science and Religion

Feb. 3

Feb. 5

Feb. 7

Belief Systems in Science and Religion

Roots of Modern Science and Religion

Modes of Interaction Between Science

And Religion

Barbour

p. 1 -38

Feb. 10

Feb. 12

Feb. 14

Cosmology and

Creation

Visiting Distinguished Lecturer

Barbour

p. 39-64

Feb. 18

Feb. 19

Feb. 21

Space and Time in Science and

Religion: Modern Physics:

Relativity and Quantum Mechanics

Barbour

p. 65-89

Feb. 24

Feb. 26

Feb. 28

Evolution and Continuous

Creation

Visiting Distinguished Lecturer

Barbour

p. 90-118

Mar. 3

Mar. 5

Mar. 7

Genetics,

Neuroscience

and Human nature

Barbour

p. 119-149

Mar.10

Mar.12

Mar.16

God

And

Nature

Barbour

p. 150-180

S P R I N G R E C E S S

Mar.24

Mar.26

Mar.28

Movies: Mindwalk

and

Religions of the United States

FIRST ESSAY DUE

Mar.31

Apr. 2

Apr. 4

Integrating Science and Religion :

The Problem

Four Quadrants: I, We, It and Its

Wilber

p. 1-76

Apr. 7

Apr. 9

Apr.11

Previous Attempts at Reconciliation:

Romanticism, Idealism and

Postmodernism

Wilber

p. 79-136

Apr.14

Apr.16

Apr.18

A New Reconciliation,

Re-examining Science and Religion

In the Modern World

Wilber

p. 139-184

Apr.21

HOLIDAY – PATRIOT’S DAY

Apr.23

Apr.24

The Path Ahead: the Great Chain of

Being in the Modern World: the

Integral Agenda

Wilber

p. 188-214

Apr.28

Apr.30

May 2

Societal and global issues in the

conflict or integration of modern

Science and Religion

SECOND ESSAY DUE

David K. Scott's Personal Homepage
dkscott@chancellor.umass.edu
Rm. 418 Lederle
Graduate Research Center
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
r413.545.2201