Philosophy, Science and Religion: Philosophy and Religion

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.

In this course, you will explore questions 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? 

This course is a great choice for anyone interested in finding out more about ways of looking and thinking about the world, through the fundamental perspectives of Philosophy, Science and Religion. 

Introductory: No previous knowledge required