Welcome to Honors 399: Physics, Philosophy and Fundamentalism

8 Jan 2001

Time:	Lecture 11:30-12:25 MWF in Room Optics Bldg, 300A (Conference Room)
Instructor:	Dr. Robert Sheldon
Office Hours:	MWF 9-11, & TBA, Room 348 Optics Bldg
Phone:	UAH:824 2860 NSSTC: 961 7652 MSFC:544 1652 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 two term papers on the reading and the lectures. That is, in place of a midterm or final exam, I will be assigning a term paper on topics related to the class. Both the papers will be 40% of the grade.

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 I said in class were to be 3-5 pages (single-spaced, typed) but in retrospection, 6-10 double-spaced pages would be easier for me to grade. The first paper will be due on Monday, February 12. The second will be due March 9. Follow the instructions below.
Update: Since these instructions were not clear the first time, I am splitting the paper into 2 pieces, the first paper on Feb 12 being considered the first half of the full assignment. See below for the second half of the first assignment.

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 6-10 page 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.

College of Science Complaint Procedure

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 08	SRI1	Introduction
1	Jan 10	SRH1	Medieval Synthesis
1	Jan 12	SRH2	Copernicus	Quiz 01
2	Jan 15		Holiday
2	Jan 17	SRH3	Galileo
2	Jan 19	SRI2	Newton	No Quiz 02
3	Jan 22	SRH4,5	Enlightenment
3	Jan 24	SRH6	Paley
3	Jan 26	SRH7	Darwin	Whoops!
4	Jan 29	SRH8	Neo-Darwin	Quiz 03
4	Jan 31		TBA
4	Feb 02		TBA	NoQuiz
5	Feb 05	(ID)	Neo Darwinism
5	Feb 07	(WT)	Intel. Design
5	Feb 09		Darwin vs Religion	Quiz 05
6	Feb 12	SRH-all	Cath. Epistemology	Essay #1
6	Feb 14	SRI3	Reformation
6	Feb 16	SRI4	Germ. Liberalism	No Quiz
7	Feb 19	SRI5	Naturalism
7	Feb 21	SRI6	Fundamentalism	Quiz 07
7	Feb 23		Creationism
8	Feb 26	SRI7	Positivism
8	Feb 28	SRI8	Process Theology
8	Mar 02	Job		Quiz 08
9	Mar 05	SRI9	Mechanics
9	Mar 07	Job	Thermodynamics	NoQuiz
9	Mar 09	GP1	Atoms	Essay #2
10	Mar 12	GP2,3	Creation
10	Mar 14	GP4,5	Ex Nihilo
10	Mar 16	GP6,7	Contingent	Quiz 10
11	Mar 19	GP8,9	Cosmology
11	Mar 21	GP10,11	Anthropic Principle
11	Mar 23	GP12,13	Escape from Design	Quiz 11
12	Mar 26		HOLIDAY
12	Mar 28		SPRING
12	Mar 30		BREAK
13	Apr 02	GP14,15	QM Physics
13	Apr 04	GP16,17	QM Weirdness
13	Apr 06	FE1	QM Consciousness	No Quiz
14	Apr 09	FE2,3	Miracles
14	Apr 11	FE4,5
14	Apr 13	FE6,7	The End of Deism	No Quiz 14
15	Apr 16	FE8	Self-Reference
15	Apr 18		PARTY/Teacher Evaluations
15	Apr 20		* * Wedding * *
16	Apr 24		Study Day
16	Apr 25		Term Paper Due	11:30
16	Apr 30		No Final Exam	11:30-2:00

Last Modified Apr 17, 2001

Welcome to Honors 399: Physics, Philosophy and Fundamentalism

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