Video: Introduction to Philosophy Online Class Session: Science and Religion

The following is a video recording of my recent Introduction to Philosophy online class session on science and religion See below for a list of topics covered in this online class session.

Introduction to Philosophy Online Class Session — Science and Religion

Date

May 5, 2020

Instructor

Zachary Fruhling, College of Eastern Idaho

Topic Covered:

• Attendance Question: How is it possible for God to interact with creation if the universe also operates according to its own natural laws?

• Beyond Creation vs. Evolution

• The Problem of Divine Action:

  • How to account for God’s action in a world that seems governed by natural laws?

    • Miracles

    • Revelation

    • Prayer

    • The Christ Event

  • The goal should be to avoid capriciousness, God’s violating His own laws of nature.

• Comparison to the Problem of Causal Exclusion in Philosophy of Mind

• Options for Reconciling Divine Action with the Natural Sciences:

  • Quantum Physics

  • The Emergence of Spirit / Top-Down Causation

  • Cosmology

  • Divinely-Directed Evolution

• The Disenchantment (and Reenchantment) of Science:

  • Science and a Disenchanted Worldview:

    • Reductionism

    • Materialism / Physicalism

    • Mechanistic Explanations

    • Steady State Theory vs. Big Bang Theory

    • Biological Evolution

    • Origins of Humanity / Human Evolution

    • Astronomy / Cosmology

  • Reversing the Disenchantment:

    • The Nature of Science Itself

    • The Origin of Modern Science

    • Recent Developments in Science

      • Quantum Mechanics

      • Systems Biology

      • Top-Down Causation

    • Relationship Between Mind and Matter

    • Coherence Theory

• “The Cosmic Creation Story” by Brian Swimme

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