Deepen your understanding of communities influenced by religious belief and consider fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of human life.
Course
Religion and science
Module information>
This course aims to explore the multiple relationships between religion and science in the light of the cutting-edge developments in science and technology which are reshaping our lives.
Topics covered
Section A
- The relations between religion and science
- Problematic models of these relations: New Atheism and intelligent design
Section B
- A key historical dispute: Galileo
- The idea of scientific method
- Cosmology and the Anthropic Principle
- Teleology and biology
- Neuroscience and the evolutionary psychology of religion
- Religion and technology 1: Robotics
- Religion and technology 2: The ethical implications of life extension
- Faith and the crossing of biological boundaries.
Assessment
Forum participation (5%); a two thousand word essay (45%) and a 1.5-hour unseen written examination (50%).
