Welcome to Honors 399, Spring 2002: Physics, Philosophy and Fundamentalism

Time:	Lecture 12:40-1:35 MWF in Room Optics Bldg, 300A (Conference Room)
Instructor:	Dr. Robert Sheldon
Office Hours:	MWF 9-11, & TBA, Room 2006 NSSTC (OB 348 too)
Phone:	NSSTC: 961 7652 MSFC:544 1652 UAH:824 2860 E-mail: sheldonr@uah.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to examine the interface between physics, philosophy and fundamentalism. I use the word "fundamentalism" intentionally, because we are not going to discuss other religions than historical Christianity. And since many versions of modern liberal Protestantism fail to qualify as orthodox historical Christianity, I wanted to focus this course on the tension between those who worry both about their salvation and their science simultaneously. The discussion has three centers, and I wanted to give each discipline its own emphasis. For examples of a question posed from these three viewpoints, we have: "Can a Scientist permit his religion to affect his science?", or "Can a Fundamentalist accept science as a legitimate disciple?" or "Can either science or religion provide legitimate Truth?"

The syllabus is rather tentative, since my views on how to present these three threads alternates between a desire to present it topically, chronologically, and pedagogically. As the course progresses, I may find it appropriate to rearrange the syllabus to indicate a change in emphasis. For this reason, it is necessary for you to have WWW access, and look at the assigned readings for the coming week. As all of us know from long experience, keeping up with the readings is the most difficult part of a course like this. To encourage you to keep up, as well as use the WWW, I have decided to put quizzes on the WWW covering the weeks reading which will account for 20% of the grade. In addition, there will be a three term papers on the reading and the lectures. That is, in place of a midterm or final exam, I will be assigning term papers on topics related to the class. The papers will be 80% of the grade as described below.

The course naturally will divide up into 3 sections of unequal length. The first section will cover the history and philosophy of the science vs. religion interaction, with emphasis on the paradigm of modern naturalism from Newton to Darwin. My plan is to intertwine this history with the philosophy that informs these debates. The second section will discuss the religious and philosophical response to these challenges of the faith. It is difficult to identify a single response, so we will look at several: "process theology", "creationism" and "intelligent design". Finally, the third section will discuss the new physics of Einstein and Bohr and its impact on both science and religion. As we will see, it profoundly changes the nature of the debate.

GRADING:

The final grade will be derived from:

MidTerm Paper #1------20%
MidTerm Paper #2------20%
Final Paper #2-----------40%
Quizzes------------------20%

Mid-Term Paper #1

The term papers are expected to be a researched paper (with endnotes) which are to be 6-10 double-spaced pages. The first paper will be due on Monday, February 12. The second will be due March 9. Follow the instructions below.
Paper #1
Electronic submittal is encouraged as well, though not essential. Several approaches can be taken on this first assignment:

The philosophy of Darwinism and its impact on organized religion
The science (or mathematics) of Darwinism and its defense as religion
The social/political/business impact of Darwinism and its religious implications

For example, one student asked if they could discuss the impact of evolution or Darwinism on business theory. I responded that I wanted to see either a philosophical or religious application, and would like to see in such an analysis some discussion of ethics or morality that tie the business theory into religion. In other words, I want to see a discussion that matters to you, not a dry academic treatment.
Several books on the reading list that address Darwinism are: SRH,SRI,ST,WT,C,GN, and of course, you are free to use other sources as well.

Paper #2
I would like this second assignment to consider the inverse of the first assignment, namely, the impact of religion on science. Here are several options for the second 3-5 page assignment:

The impact of religious debate (Fundamentalism, Catholicism etc.) on modern science
The significance of religious metaphysics on the development of science during the 17th/18th/19th/20th century
A redeveloped 1st essay.

The third option is to take the essay from the first assignment, respond to my comments and recast it into a longer paper (with endnotes) that develops the themes further. That is, I will be looking for improvements in the arguments and conclusions that show how your thinking is changing during this course. It would also be appropriate to bring in explicitly religious arguments into this second revision, e.g. why business ethics are different in Protestant vs. Catholic countries.

Paper #3
Electronic submittal is encouraged. This paper should be 8-12 pages (with endnotes) and reference at least GNP or FE. It should discuss the impact of the New Physics on Theology or Culture. One could write about, say, the impact of New Physics on Philosophy, but there should be a tie in to "the common man". The handout from GHC gives a nice summary of topics that are suitable for the paper. The due date is 11:30am on April 25.

Texts:

The texts are available in OB400L with a sign-out sheet, Mon-Fri 8-5.

[SRI] Science & Religion: an Introduction Alister E. McGrath, Blackwell Pub., Oxford, 1999.
[SRH] Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives John Hedley Brook, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1991.
[GNP] God and the New Physics Paul Davies, Simon and Schuster, NY, 1984.
[FE] The Fire in the Equations: Science, Religion and the Search for God Kitty Ferguson, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, 1994.

Additional Resources

[GN] God & Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science Edited by David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, Univ. of CA Press, Berkeley, 1986.
[GHC] God, Humanity and the Cosmos: A Textbook in Science and Religion. Christopher Southgate and the Contributors, Trinity Press Int'l, Harrisburg, 1999.
[ST] Science & Theology: an Introduction John Polkinghorne, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1998.
[WT] The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism Phillip E. Johnson, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2000.
[BHT] A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes Stephen W. Hawking, G.K.Hall & Co., Boston, 1989.
[C] The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism Ronald L. Numbers, U.of CA Press, 1992.
[RS] Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues Ian G. Barbour, HarperSanFrancisco, SanFrancisco, 1997.
the first edition of this book had a slightly different title Religion in an Age of Science Ian G. Barbour
[NU] The Non-Local Universe: the new Physics and Matters of the Mind Robert Nadeau and Menas Kafatos, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford,1999.
[ID] Intelligent Design: The Bridge between Scienced & Theology William A. Dembski, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1999.
[QM] Quantum Mind: the edge between physics and psychology Arnold Mindell, LaoTse Press, Portland, 2000.
[IE] Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Jonathon Wells, Regnery Pub. Inc., Washington DC., 2000.
[NC] Not by Chance!: Shattering the modern theory of evolution Lee Spetner, The Judaica Press, Inc., New York, 1998.
[B] The Bible New International Version, 1990.
[SS] The Savior of Science Stanley Jaki, W.B. Eerdmans Pub Co, Grand Rapids, 2000.
[MM] Means to Message: a treatise on truth Stanley Jaki, W.B. Eerdmans Pub Co, Grand Rapids, 1999.
Hill Roberts Web Site: Lord I Believe
Robert Sheldon's Job Site: JOB Site
William Dembski's ID Site: ID Coming Clean

TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE:

WEEK	DATE	CHAP	TOPIC	QUIZ
1	Jan 07	SRI1	Introduction
1	Jan 09	SRH1	Medieval Synthesis
1	Jan 11	SRH2	Copernicus	Quiz 01
2	Jan 14	SRH3	Galileo
2	Jan 16	SRI2	Newton
2	Jan 18	SRH4,5	Enlightenment	Quiz 02
3	Jan 21		Holiday
3	Jan 23	SRH6	Paley
3	Jan 25	SRH7	Darwin	Quiz 03
4	Jan 28	SRH8	Busman's Holiday
4	Jan 30	(ID)	Neo Darwinism
4	Feb 01	(WT)	Intel. Design
5	Feb 04		I.D.	Quiz 04
5	Feb 06		Another Break
5	Feb 08		Darwin vs Religion	No Quiz
6	Feb 11	SRH-all	Hill Roberts	Essay #1
6	Feb 13	SRI3	Cath.+Reformed Epistem.
6	Feb 15	SRI4	Day off
7	Feb 18	SRI5	Religious Epistemology	Quiz 05
7	Feb 20	SRI6	Fundamentalism
7	Feb 22		Creationism	Quiz 07
8	Feb 25	SRI7	Day Off
8	Feb 27	SRI8	Positivism
8	Mar 01	Job	Process Theology	No Quiz
9	Mar 04	SRI9	Personal Knowledge
9	Mar 06	Job	Intro to 20th Century
9	Mar 08	GP1	Thermodynamics & Atoms	Quiz 08
10	Mar 11	GP2,3	Creation	Essay #2
10	Mar 13	GP4,5	Ex Nihilo
10	Mar 15	GP6,7	Contingent	Quiz 10
11	Mar 18	GP8,9	Cosmology
11	Mar 20	GP10,11	Anthropic Principle
11	Mar 22	GP12,13	Escape from Design	Quiz 11
12	Mar 25		HOLIDAY
12	Mar 27		SPRING
12	Mar 29		BREAK
13	Apr 01	GP14,15	QM Physics
13	Apr 03	GP16,17	QM Weirdness
13	Apr 05	FE1	QM Consciousness	Quiz 13
14	Apr 08	FE2,3	Miracles
14	Apr 10	FE4,5
14	Apr 12	FE6,7	The End of Deism	Quiz 14
15	Apr 15	FE8	Self-Reference
15	Apr 17			Quiz 15
15	Apr 19		PARTY/Teacher Evaluations
16	Apr 24		Study Day
16	Apr 25		Term Paper Due
16	Apr 29		Final Exam??	11:30-2:00

The Fine Print

Attendance:
As stated in the UAH catalog:

"Students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have the following academic responsibilities: (2). To attend all meetings of each class in which they are enrolled. Instructors will announce at the beginning of the semester if they consider attendance in computing final grades." It is a well know fact that students who skip class do poorly on exams and quizzes and therefore receive bad grades.

Academic Honesty:
Again the UAH catalog states:

"Students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have the following academic responsibilities: (6) To maintain the integrity of the classroom by practicing academic honesty. Students should refer to the student handbook for details regarding academic dishonesty. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are subject to penalties as outlined in the student handbook." Complaint Procedure:
If you have difficulties or complaints related to this course, your first action usually should be to discuss them with me. If such a discussion would be uncomfortable for you or fails to resolve your difficulties, you might contact Professor Hillman, Chair of the Department of Physics. Professor Hillman's office is OB300C. His telephone number is 824-2481. However, it would probably be more appropriate in the honors program to contact Dr. Richard F. Modlin, Director, Honors Program Morton Hall 336 Telephone: (256) 824-6451, FAX (256) 824-7339. If you still are unsatisfied, you might discuss the matter with Dr. Debra Moriarity, Associate Dean of the College of Science. Dean Moriarity's office is C207 Materials Science Building. However the Dean of College of Liberal Arts, Sue Kirkpatrick, Ph. D. (256) 824-6200 (Internet kirkpas@email.uah.edu) may be more appropriate.

Students with Disabilities.
I would like to hear from anyone who has a disability that may require a modification of seating, testing, or other class procedures. Please see me after class or during my office hours to discuss appropriate modifications.

Short biography of instructor:
Professor Sheldon was born in S. Korea and emigrated to the United States when he was 4. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wheaton College, and obtained a masters in religion from Westminster Seminary, and a doctorate in physics from the University of Maryland. He has worked/taught physics at the University of Berne, Switzerland and Boston University before coming to UAH. He is married with 8.5 children, and attends the Church of the Messiah Episcopal Church in Pulaski, Tennessee.

http://bex.nsstc.uah.edu/H399/H399.html
Last Modified Jan 6, 2002

Welcome to Honors 399, Spring 2002: Physics, Philosophy and Fundamentalism

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