Topics Atthe Intersection of Scienceandreligion

BORROMEOSEMINARYat

JOHNCARROLL UNIVERSITY

WhatDoesScienceProve?:

Topics atthe Intersection of ScienceandReligion

Fall2016

Philosophy3XX,Section41TimeTBD

PlaceTBD

Prof. Beth A. Rath

440-943-7576

OfficeHours:Byappointment

I.COURSEDESCRIPTION

Onepopularideacirculatinginthemainstreamisthatreligionandsciencearefundamentallyincompatible.JerryCoyneopenshisrecentbook,Faithvs.Fact,withtheremarkthat faith is poisonous to science because “faith is no way to findtruth.” NeildeGrasseTyson, hostingFOX’stelevisionseriesCosmos,likenstheCatholicChurchtoThoughtPoliceresponsibleforsuppressingandexecutinginquisitivescientists.Allofthisseeminglypointstothefollowingdilemma:onecanhaveeitherscienceorreligion,butnotboth. E.O. Wilson captures the dilemma nicely when he says: “I’m notan atheist—I’m ascientist.”

Inthiscourse, wewilltrytoavoidthedilemma.Todothis,wewillfocusonthequestionofwhatscienceactuallyproveswithrespecttotheologicalclaims.Answeringthisquestionrequiresustofocusonthreesmallerquestions.First,whataretherelevanttheologicalclaims?Wecannotsayanythingabouttheincompatibility ofscienceandreligionuntilwegetclearonthetheology.Second,whatarethescientificallyinformedchallengestotherelevanttheologicalclaims?Inwhatwaydoscientificcriticsofreligionconceiveoftheirownposition?Third,whatsortofevidencedoesthelatestscientificdataprovide?Thislastquestionisthecoreofthecourse.Toanswerthescientificchallengetoreligionrequiresfiguringoutwhatclaimsthelatestscientificresearchactuallysupports.

Ofcourse,therelationshipbetweenscienceandreligionisnotalwaysantagonistic.

Sometimesscienceprovidesevidenceforcoretheologicalclaims.Thus,inadditiontoansweringthechallengesposedbysomescientiststoreligion,wewillalsoidentifythoseareasinwhichscienceseemstoprovidestrongevidenceforreligiousclaims.Thiswillprovidethegroundworkforascientificallyinformedfaith.

Wewillapproachtheempiricaldatawithanopenmindandmakeafairevaluationofthedisputebetweenreligionandscience.Beyondevaluatingthecompatibilityofscienceandreligion,thiscourseaimstodevelopbothabetterunderstandingoftheworldthroughstudyingaricharrayofempiricalresearchandabetterunderstandingofkeytheologicalclaims,particularlythosethathaveanempiricalcomponent.

Someofthethemesthatweinvestigateinthiscourseinclude:theoriginsoftheuniverse,cognitivepsychologyofreligiousbelief,humanuniquenessandimmortality,artificialintelligence,moralresponsibilityandneuroscience,andthehistoricalAdam.

II.LEARNINGOBJECTIVES

1.Studentswillbeabletoarticulate whypeoplemightthinkscienceandreligionareincompatible.

2.Studentswillbeabletodefinekeyscientifictermsandrelevanttheologicalclaims.

3.Studentswillbeabletoanalyzeandrespondto theallegedconflictbetweenscienceandreligion,broadlyconstrued,aswellasparticularissuesattheintersectionofscienceandreligion.

4.Studentswillbeabletoillustrateconcretelythewaysinwhichsciencecanenrichtheology.

5.Studentswillbeabletoread,summarize,interpret,andcriticallyanalyzearticlesinreputablesciencepublications,e.g.,Science,Nature,andPLOSONE.

6.Studentswillbeabletocommunicateeffectivelyinwritingandspeechaboutissuesinscienceandreligion.

7.Studentswillcommitthemselvestokeepingupwithcurrentscientificresearch,beyondthedurationofthecourse.

III.TEXTSANDMATERIALS

Iwillprovidecopiesofsupplementaryreadings,butyouwillneedtoacquirethefollowingtextsandmaterials.Noelectroniccopiesmaybeused.See thebibliographyattheendofthesyllabusforsupplementaryreadings.

(1)) Gould,StephenJay.Rocks of Ages:Scienceand Religion in theFullness ofLife.NewYork: Random House, 2002.

(2)Okasha,Samir.Philosophy of Science: AVeryShort Introduction.New York: OxfordUniversity Press,2002.

(3)Three-ring binder(toorganizethesemester’sreadings)

IV.GRADEDREQUIREMENTS

ClassParticipation:Activeandregularparticipationisrequiredofallstudents.Thismeansthatallstudentswill beattentiveandpreparedbothtoaskandanswerquestions.

Homework:Reading responsequestions and reflections are short butseriousexercisesaimedatfostering understanding of thetextand classparticipation.Theymayalsobehelpfulstudyaidsbefore exams.Readingresponsequestions orreflectionprompts will be giventoyou inadvance.All responses shouldbe typewrittenandprinted outbeforetheclass period for whichthey are due and turned induring the class. These assignmentswill be graded on a pass/fail basis,markedwitheither a checkor a noteexplaining whytheassignmentwasunacceptable.Nolatehomeworkassignments will beacceptedfor credit.

Quizzes: Periodicquizzes,eitherannounced orunannounced,will be givenonimportant concepts.Careful reading and attentiveness inclass willprepareyouforquizzes.

ArticleAnalyses: Threearticleanalyseswill be due during thesemester.You mustsubmittwoduring thefirsthalfof theterm(beforeFallBreak)and thethirdanalysisbeforethe final dayofclass.Eachanalysis shouldbe approximately500 words in length(abouttwopages).Pleaseattach a copy oftheoriginalarticletoyour analysis.

TheAssignment

1.Findanarticlein a popular,butreputable,scientific journal,suchasNature,NatureCommunications,PhilosophicalTransactions of theRoyal Society, PLOSONE, Proceedings of theNationalAcademy of Sciences,Proceedings of theRoyalSociety,Science,andScientificReports.If you wish touseanarticleoutside ofone of these publications,please sendthearticleto me for reviewfirst.

2.Identifythecentral hypothesis orclaimthat theauthor(s)make.

3.Identifythemethodsusedtogainevidence for theclaim.

4.Summarizethecentral pieces of evidenceused tosupport theclaim.

5.Offer your ownanalysisof theconclusions theauthors/investigatorswish todrawfrom thestudy.

Op-EdEssay:Yourtaskistocomposeanop-edessayaddressingoneofthefollowingtwotopics:1)Doesscienceprovethatreligionandreligiousbeliefisfalse?OR2)Pickaparticulartopicinwhichscienceandreligionseemtoconflict:Doesthescientificclaimxshowthatreligiousbeliefyisfalse?Iwillprovidespecificationsastheduedateforthefirstdraftapproaches(Nov.10).

Exams:Therewillbe twoexams:amid-termandafinal.Thefinalexamwillbecumulative,althoughtherewillbeanemphasisonmaterialfromthesecondhalfofthecourse.Examswillconsistmainlyofshortandlongessayquestions.

V.GRADING

ClassParticipation,Homework,andQuizzes:15%Mid-termExam:20%

ArticleAnalyses:15%

Op-EdEssay:25%

FinalExam:25%

VI.ACADEMICHONESTY

Studentsinvolvedinunethicalpracticessuchascheating,plagiarism,etc.inconnection with any work forthe course is subject to a grade of ‘F’(Failure)forthecourse.Formoreinformation,seethe2013-2015JCUUndergraduateBulletin.Anyinstanceofacademicdishonestyconcerningseminariansisalsoconsideredaformationissueandmaysubjectthestudenttodismissalfromtheseminary.

VII.STATEMENTABOUTSTUDENTSWITHDISABILITIES

Inaccordancewithfederallaw,ifyouhaveadocumenteddisability(learning,psychological,sensory,physical,ormedical)youmaybeeligibletorequestaccommodationsfromtheOfficeofServicesforStudentswithDisabilities(SSD).Pleasecontactthemat(216)397-4967orvisittheofficelocatedinroomA-7intheGardenLeveloftheAdministrationBuilding.Pleasekeepinmindthataccommodationsarenotretroactive,soitisbesttoregisteratthebeginningofeachsemester.OnlyaccommodationsapprovedbySSDwillberecognizedintheclassroom.PleasecontactSSDwithfurtherquestions.

VIII.CLASSPROTOCOLPunctualityisrequired

Cellphonesaretobesilencedandstowed

IX.COURSEOUTLINE

A.ScienceandScientific Methods

B.Universe:CreatedorUncreated?

ScientificClaim1:Theuniverseisnotcreated.Ithasexistedforinfinitetime.

ScientificClaim2:Theuniverseisnotcreated.Itisarandomoutcome.

ReligiousClaim:Godintentionallycreatedtheuniverseintime.

C.CognitivePsychologyandReligiousBelief

ScientificClaim:Peoplehavereligiousbeliefssolelyasaresultofevolutionaryprocesses.

ReligiousClaim:Peoplehavereligiousbeliefsbecauseofspiritualrealities.

D.HumanUniquenessandImmortality?

ScientificClaim:Humanshavebeenproducedbythesamemechanismsaseveryotherorganicorganismand,likethem,arestrictlymaterial.

ReligiousClaim:Godcreatedhumanbeingswithcorruptiblebodiesandimmortalsouls.

E.HumanIntelligenceandArtificialIntelligence

ScientificClaim:Humansarebiologicalcomputers.

ReligiousClaim:HumanrationalitymakesusuniquelylikeGod.

F.ResponsibilityandNeuroscience

ScientificClaim:Allhumanbehaviorisaresultofeitherrandomordeterministiccausalinfluencesthatoperatebelowthelevelofconsciousawareness.Thus,humansarenotmorallyresponsibleforanythingtheydo.ReligiousClaim:Humansarecapableofmoralresponsibility;theyareabletosinandcansuffereternaldamnationasaconsequenceofsin.

G.TheHistoricalAdam

ScientificClaim:Thereisnouniquehistoricalperson(orcouple)thatisacommon ancestorforthe humanrace(and, hence, no unique ‘entrancepoint’forsin,asPaulclaims).

ReligiousClaim:Allhumansdescendedthroughacommonancestor.“Thereforeassincameintotheworldthroughonemananddeaththroughsin, […] so deathspreadto all men because all men sinned.”(Romans5:12).

X.COURSESCHEDULE

Date / Assignment / Topic
30-Aug / Gould,Rocks of AgesSelections / Science and Religion:Settingup theProblem
1-Sep / Godfrey-Smith,Theoryand Reality,Ch.1;Okasha,PhilosophyofScienceSelections / Science and Scientific Methods
6-Sep / Rosenberg(2011),pp.20-28;Feser (2014),pp.10-30 / Science and Scientific Methods
8-Sep / GuestSpeaker 1 / Science and Scientific Methods
13-Sep / Carroll,"Does theUniverseNeed God?" / Universe:Created or Uncreated?
15-Sep / Craig,"TheUltimate Question of Origins:God and theBeginningof theUniverse" / Universe:Created or Uncreated?
20-Sep / Greene(2005) Selections;Collins,"TheFine-Tuningof theCosmos" / Universe:Created or Uncreated?
22-Sep / GuestSpeaker 2 / Universe:Created or Uncreated?
27-Sep / Bloom,"Religious Belief as an Evolutionary Accident" / Cognitive Psych and ReligiousBelief
29-Sep / Murray and Goldberg,"EvolutionaryAccounts of Religion" / Cognitive Psych and ReligiousBelief
4-Oct / GuestSpeaker 3 / Cognitive Psych and ReligiousBelief
6-Oct / Exam
11-Oct / Dennett (1996) Selections / Human Uniqueness and Immortality?
13-Oct / Gazzaniga (2008) Selections (N.B. Last day tosubmit first twoanalyses) / Human Uniqueness and Immortality?
18-Oct / Fischer and Mitchell-Yellon(forthcoming) Selections / Human Uniqueness and Immortality?
20-Oct / GuestSpeaker 4 / Human Uniqueness and Immortality?
25-Oct / Thagard,"CognitiveArchitectures" / Human and ArtificialIntelligence
27-Oct / Boden,"GOFAI" / Human and ArtificialIntelligence
1-Nov / Searle,"Minds,Brains and Programs" / Human and ArtificialIntelligence
3-Nov / GuestSpeaker 5 / Human and ArtificialIntelligence
8-Nov / Fischer and Ravizza,"Introduction" (1994)Selections / Responsibilityand Neuroscience
10-Nov / Libet et al., "Time of Conscious Intention to Act";Op-Ed EssayDue(first draft) / Responsibilityand Neuroscience
15-Nov / Schlegel et al.,"HypnotizingLibet";Alexanderet al.,"Dissectingthe Readiness Potential" / Responsibilityand Neuroscience
17-Nov / Nahmias, "Is Free Will an Illusion?";Misirlisoy and Haggard, "A Neuroscientific Account" / Responsibilityand Neuroscience
22-Nov / No Class -'JCU Friday'
24-Nov / No Class - ThanksgivingBreak
29-Nov / GuestSpeaker 6 / Responsibilityand Neuroscience
1-Dec / Beharet al.,"TheDawn of Human MatrilinealDiversity";Hawks,"Population Bottlenecks" / TheHistoricalAdam
6-Dec / Wright,"Do We Need a HistoricalAdam?";Natureessay,"Genetic Adamand Eve" / TheHistoricalAdam
8-Dec / ReviewDay / TheHistoricalAdam

XI.BIBLIOGRAPHY

Behar,DoronM.,etal. “The Dawnof Human MatrilinealDiversity.”The AmericanJournalOfHumanGenetics82(2008):Pp.1130-1140.

Bloom,Paul."ReligiousBeliefasanEvolutionaryAccident."TheBelievingPrimate:Science,Philosophical,andTheologicalReflectionsontheOriginofReligion.EditedbyMichaelMurrayandJeffreySchloss.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2010:Pp.118-127.

Boden,MargaretA."GOFAI." TheCambridgeHandbookofArtificial Intelligence.EditedbyKeithFrankishandWilliamM.Ramsey.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2014:Pp.89-107.

Callaway, Ewen.“GeneticAdam andEve DidNot Live Too Far Apart inTime.”Nature

(6August2013).

Carroll,Sean."DoestheUniverseNeedGod?"TheBlackwellCompaniontoScienceandChristianity.EditedbyJ.B.StumpandAlanG. Padgett. Wiley-Blackwell,2012:Pp.185-197.

Collins,Robin."TheFine-TuningoftheCosmos:AFreshLookatItsImplications."TheBlackwellCompaniontoScienceandChristianity.EditedbyJ.B.StumpandAlanG.Padgett.Wiley-Blackwell,2012:Pp.207-219.

Craig,WilliamLane."TheUltimateQuestionofOrigins:GodandtheBeginningoftheUniverse."Availableat question-of-origins-god-and-the-beginning-of-the-universe

Dennett,Daniel.Darwin'sDangerousIdea:EvolutionandtheMeaningsofLife.NewYork:SimonandSchuster,1996.

Feser,Edward.ScholasticMetaphysics:AContemporaryIntroduction.EditionesScholasticaeVol.39.Piscataway,NJ:TransationBooks,2014.

Fischer,JohnMartinandBenjaminMitchell-Yellin. NoProofofHeaven:TheSignificanceofNear-DeathExperiences.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,forthcoming2016.

Fischer,John Martin andMarkRavizza,“Introduction."Perspectives onMoralResponsibility.EditedbyJohnMartinFischerandMarkRavizza.Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversityPress,1994:Pp.1-43.

Gazzaniga,MichaelS. Human:TheScienceBehindWhatMakesYourBrainUnique.

NewYork:HarperPerennial,2008.

Godfrey-Smith,Peter.TheoryandReality:AnIntroductiontothePhilosophyofScience.Chicago:TheUniversityofChicagoPress,2003.

Greene,Brian.TheFabricoftheCosmos:Space,Time,andtheTextureofReality.NewYork:RandomHouseLLC,2005.

Hawks,John,et al.“Population BottlenecksandPleistoceneHumanEvolution.”

MolecularBiologyandEvolution 17:1(2000):Pp.2-22.

Libet, Benjamin,etal.“Time of Conscious Intention to Act in Relationto OnsetofCerebralActivity(Readiness-potential):TheUnconsciousInitiationofaFreelyVoluntaryAct.” Brain106(1983):Pp.623-642.

Misirlisoy, Erman and PatrickHaggard. “ANeuroscientificAccount oftheHumanWill.”MoralPsychology:FreeWillandMoralResponsibility.Volume4.EditedbyWalterSinnott-Armstrong.Boston:MITPress,2014):Pp.37-42.

Murray,MichaelandAndrewGoldberg."EvolutionaryAccountsofReligion:ExplainingandExplaining Away."The BelievingPrimate: Science,Philosophical,andTheologicalReflectionsontheOriginofReligion.EditedbyMichaelMurrayandJeffreySchloss.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2010:Pp.179-199.

Nahmias,Eddy. “IsFreeWillanIllusion?ConfrontingChallengesfromtheModernMindSciences.” MoralPsychology:FreeWillandMoralResponsibility.Volume

4.EditedbyWalterSinnott-Armstrong.Boston:MITPress,2014:Pp.1-26.

Okasha,Samir. PhilosophyofScience:AVeryShort Introduction.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2002.

Rosenberg,Alexander.TheAtheist'sGuidetoReality:EnjoyingLifeWithouttheIllusions.NewYork:W.W.NortonandCompany,2012.

Schlegel,Alexander,etal.“Hypnotizing Libet:Readiness Potentials with Non-consciousVolition.”ConsciousnessandCognition33(2015):Pp.196-203.

Searle,John."Minds,BrainsandPrograms."BehavioralandBrainSciences 3(1980):Pp.417-457.

Thagard,Paul."CognitiveArchitectures."TheCambridgeHandbookofCognitiveScience.EditedbyKeithFrankishandWilliamM.Ramsey.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2012:Pp.50-72.

Wright, N.T. “DoWeNeedaHistoricalAdam?”SurprisedbyScripture.NewYork:HarperCollins,2014.Pp.26-40.

XII.LISTOFPOTENTIALGUESTSPEAKERS

Guest Speaker1:

EdwardFeser,AssociateProfessorofPhilosophy,PasadenaCityCollege

*ArdLouis,ProfessorofTheoreticalPhysics,UniversityofOxford

MarkWaner,AssociateProfessorofPhysicalChemistry,JohnCarrollUniversity

GuestSpeaker2:

RobinCollins,DistinguishedProfessorofPhilosophy,MessiahCollegeHansHalvorson,ProfessorofPhilosophy,PrincetonUniversity

*HudHudson,ProfessorofPhilosophy,WesternWashingtonUniversityKlaasKraay,ProfessorofPhilosophy,RyersonUniversity

GuestSpeaker 3:

JustinBarrett,DirectoroftheThriveCenterforHumanDevelopmentNanceyMurphy,SeniorProfessorofChristianPhilosophy

DelRatzsch,ProfessorofPhilosophy,CalvinCollege

*JeffSchloss,DistinguishedProfessorofBiology,Westmont

GuestSpeaker4:

*JohnMartinFischer,DistinguishedProfessorofPhilosophy,UC-RiversidePimVanLommel,MD,authorConsciousnessBeyondLife

JeffreyLong,MD,NearDeathExperienceResearchFoundationSamParnia,AssistantProfessorofMedicine,SUNY-StonyBrook

GuestSpeaker5:

*TimothyO’Connor,ProfessorofPhilosophy,IndianaUniversityBloomingtonEleonoreStump,ProfessorofPhilosophy,SaintLouisUniversity

GuestSpeaker6:

*WilliamNewsome,ProfessorofNeurobiology,StanfordUniversity AdinaRoskies,AssociateProfessorofPhilosophy,DartmouthCollegePeterUlricTse,ProfessorofPsychologicalandBrainSciences,Dartmouth

College

*Denotesfirstpreference