Upskill with Tech Giants for Free!

Class Central is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

University of Edinburgh

Philosophy, Science and Religion: Philosophy and Religion

University of Edinburgh via Coursera

Go to class Write review

Overview

Class Central Tips
Philosophy, Science and Religion mark three of the most fundamental modes of thinking about the world and our place in it. Are these modes incompatible? Put another way: is the intellectually responsible thing to do to ‘pick sides’ and identify with one of these approaches at the exclusion of others? Or, are they complementary or mutually supportive? As is typical of questions of such magnitude, the devil is in the details. For example, it is important to work out what is really distinctive about each of these ways of inquiring about the world. In order to gain some clarity here, we’ll be investigating what some of the current leading thinkers in philosophy, science and religion are actually doing.

This course, entitled ‘Philosophy and Religion’, is the second of three related courses in our Philosophy, Science and Religion Online series, and in this course we will ask important questions about the age-old debate between science and religion, such as:

• What kind of conflicts are there between religion and science?
• Does current cognitive science of religion effectively explain away God?
• If there is a God who has made us so that we can know him, why do some people not believe?
• Is belief in science also a kind of fundamentalism?
• What makes us good at getting, giving, or sharing, knowledge? Is this different when it is religious knowledge?

The first course in the Philosophy, Science and Religion series, 'Science and Philosophy' was launched early in 2017 and you can sign up to it at any time. The third course —‘Religion and Science’—will be launched early in 2018. Completing all three courses will give you a broader understanding of this fascinating topic. Look for:

• Philosophy, Science and Religion I: Science and Philosophy https://www.coursera.org/learn/philosophy-science-religion-1/
• Philosophy, Science and Religion III: Religion and Science

Upon successful completion of all three courses, students will:

(1) Understand the main parameters at stake in the current debate between science and religion.
(2) Have some familiarity with the relevant areas of science that feature in the debate—including cosmology, evolution, and the neurosciences—and will have begun to engage with them conceptually.
(3) Have encountered key philosophical approaches to the interface between science and religion, and will have had the opportunity to engage them in practice.
(4) Have embarked constructively in cross-disciplinary conversations.
(5) Have demonstrated an openness to personal growth through a commitment to dialogue across intellectual and spiritual boundaries.

You can also follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EdiPhilOnline and you can follow the hashtag #psrmooc

Syllabus

  • Introduction to the course
    • In this module Professor Duncan Pritchard welcomes you to the course and gives you a preview of our journey together over the next six weeks.
  • Mind, Science, and Religion
    • Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie starts us off with a tour of the relationship between the various brain sciences and religious belief.
  • Science and Religion in the Public Realm
    • In this series of lectures, Professor John Evans describes a sociological approach to the question of religion and science that focuses on contemporary society. Using debates about fact claims and morality of human evolution as his continuing example, and with a focus on the relationship with science that religious and other citizens have with science, he describes three types of conflict. Unlike the philosophical and theological debate that focuses upon conflict over knowledge claims about the physical world, Evans shows how the contemporary debate for citizens is more likely to be about morality.
  • Religious Disagreement and Friendly Theism/Atheism
    • In this series of lectures Professor John Greco discusses the topic of religious disagreement. Part One considers two problems that we find in the epistemology of religion: The Problem of Evil (or Suffering) and The Problem of Divine Hiddenness. In these contexts, theists and atheists often accuse each other of irrationality. Even worse, each party of the debate explains that irrationality by positing some moral or intellectual flaw in the other. The basic idea is this: If you don’t see things the way I do, that must be due to some intellectual or moral flaw in you. Part Two introduces resources in social epistemology that help us to understand what is going on here. The main idea is that social location affects epistemic position-- that social location matters, epistemically speaking. This is a central lesson of contemporary social epistemology, and one that can be fruitfully adopted by religious epistemology as well. Part Three explores some further implications of a “social religious epistemology.” Most importantly, we see how moral and practical aspects of the social environment can have epistemic consequences.
  • The Hiddenness Argument and the Contribution of Philosophy
    • In this series of lectures, Professor John Schellenberg introduces and explains a new argument for atheism known as the hiddenness argument. He highlights the self-imposed limitations of this way of reasoning, which is aimed at ruling out just one candidate for the status of a divine reality, the notion of a personal divine. He then clarifies the relations between this approach to the question of God's existence and other features of the contemporary landscape in philosophy and science – including the philosophical problem of evil, certain results of the cognitive science of religion, and recent moral changes suggesting cultural evolution.
  • Religious and Scientific Fundamentalism
    • In this series of lectures Dr. Rik Peels considers religious and scientific fundamentalism. Scientism is the currently popular thesis that only natural science gives rational belief or, alternatively, that there are no principled limits to science. In this lecture, I give several examples of scientism, such as scientism about free will. After that, I present seven reasons that have been given for scientism. Subsequently, I outline three arguments against it. Finally, I explain some crucial similarities and differences between scientism on the one hand and fundamentalism on the other. I argue that, even though some varieties of scientism resemble fundamentalism, most of them are more similar to religions or worldviews.
  • Epistemic Virtues and Vices in Science and Religion
    • In this lecture, Professor Mark Alfano discusses the role of epistemic virtues and vices in science and religion. The lecture has three main sections. First, Alfano distinguishes four types of epistemic virtues and vices. Source virtues such as honesty make someone an excellent primary source of knowledge. Receiver virtues such as intellectual humility make someone an excellent recipient of knowledge provided by sources. Conduit virtues make someone an excellent conveyor of the knowledge they receive from others to third parties; these dispositions might include a willingness to gossip carefully in order to protect others from a sexual predator, as well as the virtues that journalists try to embody. Echo virtues make someone an excellent sounding board for others. Along the way, Alfano mentions various vices that can attach to people in the role of source, receiver, conduit, and echo. In the second part of the lecture, Alfano uses the notions of source, receiver, conduit, and echo virtues to make sense of scientific collaborations and trust in science by laypeople. In section three, he shows that unless we have unreasonably high credence in very long chains of conduit virtues, we should not accept testimony in favour of miracles or divine revelation.

Taught by

Dr J Adam Carter, Dr Orestis Palermos, Dr Mark Harris, Dr Mog Stapleton and Professor Duncan Pritchard

Tags

Reviews

4.4 rating, based on 23 Class Central reviews

4.6 rating at Coursera based on 471 ratings

Start your review of Philosophy, Science and Religion: Philosophy and Religion

  • Anonymous
    This course is sponsored by the Templeton Foundation and is thoroughly infected with the Foundation's ideology exemplified by the 'philosophical' views of Alvin Plantinga who presents a 'strawman' science in order to show Christians that they no lon…
  • Profile image for John Quincy
    John Quincy
    I felt that the course integrated the concepts of philosophy, science and religion in an interesting and heretofore new, at least to me, way. I had fun and learned a lot. What else can I ask for?
  • Anonymous
    The material felt suffering from "false balance" bias, trying to give equal weight to unequal views, by creating weird arguments, that were non-philosophical.

    As if the conclusion was decided, and _then_ the arguments tailored to support said conclusion.

    See 'sophistry'.
  • Profile image for Krishna Menon
    Krishna Menon
    THIS COURSE WAS VERY GOOD ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT IT TOOK ONLY WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION IN ACCOUNT. iN FUTURE YOU SHOULD GIVE A GOOD GLANCE ALSO ON ORIENTAL HERITAGE WHILE MAKING SUCH INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE. i OFFER TO HELP YOU IN THIS.
  • Anonymous
    In my research results I find beyond Einstein "Science With Religion is Natural & Religion With Science is Vision"
  • Anonymous
    Science, religion, and philosophy seek answers to intriguing questions that have occupied the human mind for many centuries. The Course Philosophy, Science and Religion: Philosophy and Religion present important insights for the main debates in this branch of knowledge. So, It is a great course, with professors prepared to offer a comprehensive overview of science, philosophy and religion. Hence, they help us think critically about the key issues in this area. For sure, many questions remain unanswered. In the meantime, the course will help us think adequately about key issues in this area of knowledge.
  • Profile image for Hamid Sain
    Hamid Sain
    great philosophers of the past and present have categorised knowledge into 3 major disciplines; Religion, Philosophy and Science
    from the earliest education to lifelong learning process, all our knowledge can be categorised into these 3 disciplines
    they are historical development of human intellect and to be a balanced human being they should be a complimentary intellectual repertoire
  • Anonymous
    Excellent variety of instructors and topics covered. The teachers specialize in the sections they present, providing students with the foremost research in each field. The overall course is organized to provide an excellent overview of the interactions between Science, Religion, and Philosophy.
  • Anonymous
    I found both the first two courses in philosophy, science and religion fascinating and look forward to completing the third module later this year! Philosophy is a new area of study for me and I appreciated the interesting content and the clarity with which it was presented.
  • Anonymous
    I appreciated the breadth of topics covered in this course. Students not having a background in the physical sciences may find it useful to acquire a grounding in 'philosophy of science' in order to better engage with topics such as 'pseudoscience.'
  • Leonidas
    One of the most interesting and we'll educated course from Coursera. I learn a lot from this open and we'll construction course. Many things from the material I knew it, but this course gave me a new perspective and vision. It worth your time.
  • Anonymous
    Usually I use the MOOCs as online recources along with books, YouTubes and others. That is, I seldom engage myself in class discussions. Regarding this specific course it have been a pleasure listning to openminded view on philosophy and religion
  • Anonymous
    I found the course balanced trying to show in an open way the perspectives and challenges of philosophy, Science and religion. The use of philosophical questions helps to review intersections and conflicts of both views. I recommend the course
  • Anonymous
    It was a pleasure to take the course. By now i have bought the book Philosophy Science and Religion. The advised readings in the book is very interesting too, Secondly, the oneline course is very well organized. Thank you!
  • Anonymous
    The pitfalls of religion and science and their correlation were tastefully taken care of, and the addition of different topics of philosophies used to teach the same was definitely an amazing way to approach it.
  • Anonymous
    The course was extremely excellent. It gives an overview of the major concepts in philosophy and religion with a bit in depth discussion. It also links to the modern science and technology.
  • Profile image for Tyler Johnson
    Tyler Johnson
    This course was very interesting. The lectures were great, easy to understand, yet deep enough to provoke good thought. The forum discussions were fun to engage and enlightening.
  • Anonymous
    It gave the impression that it was objective and impartial but that was merely a facade
    Very disappointing
    I expected a more ballanced look into the various issues
  • Stanislav
    This is a good course. It gave me a stimulus for deeply reconsidering interesting philosophical questions, connections with sciences and religion.
  • Anonymous
    It was an amazing course dealing with controversiol ideas with a great way. Teachers were amazing offerring great information with sources.
Go to class

Never Stop Learning.

Get personalized course recommendations, track subjects and courses with reminders, and more.

Sign up for free