Lecture

Science and Religion: Approaches and Methods

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In course

HUM-436: Sciences and religions I

Le but de cet enseignement est de revenir sur les conditions (historiques mais aussi épistémologiques) qui ont permis aux sciences de prendre de l'autonomie par rapport à la religion. ...

Description

This lecture explores the current debate between science and religion, focusing on the concept of 'concordism' and the dangers of instrumentalizing scientific data. It delves into various perspectives such as structural, historical, and epistemological viewpoints, highlighting the risks of conflating scientific and religious beliefs. The lecture also examines the evolution of the relationship between science and religion over time, from conflict to concordism. It discusses the challenges posed by creationism, the importance of critical thinking, and the need to distinguish between scientific knowledge and religious beliefs. Additionally, it addresses the impact of literalism, the resistance to vaccines based on religious arguments, and the complexities of reconciling faith with scientific inquiry.

Instructor

Jean-François Bert

Teaching & PhD Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Alina Volynskaya Courses Anthropology of belief HUM-382 This course is an introduction to the question of conspiracy theories especially in the field of science Darwin, religion and science HUM-365 This course takes the long history of opponents of Darwin and Darwinism (creationists, neo-creationists, supporters of intelligent design) to try to understand their strategies and arguments. Sciences and religions I HU

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Philosophy

Philosophy (love of wisdom in ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions. Historically, many of the individual sciences, like physics and psychology, formed part of philosophy. But they are considered separate academic disciplines in the modern sense of the term.

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.

Old Earth creationism

Old Earth creationism (OEC) is an umbrella of theological views encompassing certain varieties of creationism which may or can include day-age creationism, gap creationism, progressive creationism, and sometimes theistic evolutionism. Broadly speaking, OEC usually occupies a middle ground between young Earth creationism (YEC) and theistic evolution (TE). In contrast to YEC, it is typically more compatible with the scientific consensus on the issues of physics, chemistry, geology, and the age of the Earth.

Young Earth creationism

Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespread version, YEC is based on the religious belief in the inerrancy of certain literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Its primary adherents are Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six literal days.

Neo-creationism

Neo-creationism is a pseudoscientific movement which aims to restate creationism in terms more likely to be well received by the public, by policy makers, by educators and by the scientific community. It aims to re-frame the debate over the origins of life in non-religious terms and without appeals to scripture. This comes in response to the 1987 ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard that creationism is an inherently religious concept and that advocating it as correct or accurate in public-school curricula violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

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