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136-360 God and the Natural Sciences (Science 3) | |
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Note | Only available at science third year; for other levels, see 136-260, God and the Natural Sciences. Students who have completed 136-260 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. |
Availability | 3rd year |
Credit Points | 12.5 |
HECS Band | 1 |
Coordinator | Dr Neil Thomason |
Prerequisites | Normally two second year HPS subjects. |
Semester | 2 (view timetable) |
Contact | Between 10 and 12 weekly tutorials and between 20 and 24 lectures, normally two lectures per week |
Subject Description | This subject studies the complex relationship between religion, theology, and the natural sciences. Theological concerns guided the science of Kepler, Newton and many other early scientists. They held that studying the universe demonstrated the attributes of God. After Darwin, this view was replaced by radically different ones. To some people, science and religion are necessarily antagonistic. To others, they belong to different realms. We scrutinise the reasoning (good and bad) behind this change and pursue some of the modern debates it has created: 'the Anthropic Principle', multiple universes, and scientific/philosophical issues such as 'Why is there something rather than nothing?' Finally, we explore the relationship between the 'personal God' of religious experience and the more abstract 'philosophers' God.' |
Assessment | Written work totalling 6000 words. As for 136-260, plus an additional 2000 word project on an advanced topic related to the subject but not covered in classroom teaching. |
Prescribed Texts | A subject reader will be available. Other books will be required. |
Status: Official 2002 Last Modified: Tuesday May 07 22:11 SGML to HTML Conversion: Information Technology Services Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email Enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
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