Postgraduate Course: Philosophy, Science and Religion 1: The Physical World (Online) (PHIL11160)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will introduce students, at an advanced level, to key contemporary questions and debates at the intersection of philosophy, science and religion. It provides the necessary background for graduate work in these areas. |
| Course description |
This course (along with its sister course, 'Philosophy, Science and Religion 2: Life and Mind') will explore philosophical aspects in the debate between science and religion, and the ways in which philosophy has mediated. This course will focus on the physical sciences and their metaphysical implications.
The course will focus on three different fields of scientific research (cosmology, quantum physics, and earth sciences) and ask, what metaphysical interpretations-if any-research in these fields has. This will then allow us to compare these metaphysical interpretations of scientific theories to interpretations of religious text as complementary or competing strategies for making sense of the world around us.
Philosophical work on laws of nature, causation, naturalism and related topics will be introduced to help facilitate the discussion and to provide students with advanced tools to engage in debates concerning particular scientific theories.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate good understanding of particular scientific theories and their implications for philosophy and religion
- demonstrate analytical skills and philosophical acumen in written and oral contributions
- engage critically with key textual sources
- engage constructively in cross-disciplinary conversations
- emonstrate an openness to personal growth through a commitment to dialogue across intellectual and cultural differences
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Reading List
Representative Reading list
Baggott, Jim. Beyond measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory, OUP 2004.
Beebee, Helen. The non-governing conception of laws of nature. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61:517-594, 2000.
Bird, Alexander. Philosophy of Science. Routledge, 1998.
Carroll, John, 1990, 'The Humean Tradition,' The Philosophical Review, 99: 185-219.
Cartwright, Nancy.: 1997, 'Where Do the Laws of Nature Come From?' Dialectica 51, 65-78.
De Cruz, Helen. Religion and Science, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017.
Harris, Mark. The nature of creation: examining the bible and science. Acumen, 2013.
Kragh, Helge. Physics and Cosmology, in: Buchwald, J.Z and Fox, R. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics. OUP 2013
Loewer, Barry., 1996, 'Humean Supervenience,' Philosophical Topics, 24: 101-126.
Manson, Neil. The Fine-Tuning Argument. Philosophy Compass. Wiley, 2009.
Northcott, Michael. Eschatology in the Anthropocene. In: Hamilton, C., Gemenne, F. and C. Bonneuil (eds.) The Anthropocene and the Global Environmental Crisis. Routledge, 2015.
Santana, Carlos. Waiting for the Anthropocene. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 70(4), 2019.
Sellars, Wilfrid. Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man, in: Science, Perception, and Reality, 1963.
Smeenk, Chris. Philosophy of Cosmology, in: Battermann, R. (ed) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics. OUP 2013 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will acquire and enhance the following main graduate attributes:
- The ability to read and understand philosophical, religious and scientific texts relevant to issues in science and religion and to engage critically with them.
- The ability to engage in constructive discussion with peers and across disciplinary boundaries.
- The ability to engage philosophically with key areas in the current science-religion interface to show strong analytical skills and philosophical acumen in approaching these debates.
- The ability to engage in independent research.
Students will acquire and enhance the following transferable skills:
- General analytical skills (the ability to construct, reconstruct, recognise and critically assess arguments and evidence).
- Organisational skills (the ability to manage time, to complete a large-scale and complex project)
- Providing constructive criticism to their peers.
- General research skills (the ability to find, recognise and organise information relevant to a project, and to assess the import of it).
- Critical thinking (the ability to select and evaluate relevant data in texts).
Students will acquire and enhance the following professional skills:
- The ability to reconstruct and assess philosophical and theological arguments using the tools of logic and relevant evidence.
- To present complex ideas in different formats.
- The ability to formulate a research goal (of an essay, or dissertation) and to complete a project including large-scale complex projects on time.
- The ability to identify and use the methods and resources necessary for a given project. |
| Keywords | laws of nature,quantum mechanics,cosmology,creation,earth systems,naturalism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jo Wolff
Tel: (0131 6)50 3649
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Sabina Ali
Tel: (0131 6) 50 4400
Email: |
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