When Science Studies Religion: Six Philosophy Lessons for Science Classes
Science and Education 22 (1):49-67 (2013)
| Abstract | It is an unfortunate fact of academic life that there is a sharp divide between science and philosophy, with scientists often being openly dismissive of philosophy, and philosophers being equally contemptuous of the naivete ́ of scientists when it comes to the philosophical underpinnings of their own discipline. In this paper I explore the possibility of reducing the distance between the two sides by introducing science students to some interesting philosophical aspects of research in evolutionary biology, using biological theories of the origin of religion as an example. I show that philosophy is both a discipline in its own right as well as one that has interesting implications for the understanding and practice of science. While the goal is certainly not to turn science students into philoso- phers, the idea is that both disciplines cannot but benefit from a mutual dialogue that starts as soon as possible, in the classroom. | |||||||||
| Keywords | science education philosophy education science of religion | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
  |
| External links | This entry has no external links. Add one. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesTonie L. Stolberg (2009). Student Thinking When Studying Science-and-Religion. Zygon 44 (4):847-858.
Michael Martin (1986). Science Education and Moral Education. Journal of Moral Education 15 (2):99-108.
William Desmond, John Steffen & Koen Decoster (eds.) (2001). Beyond Conflict and Reduction: Between Philosophy, Science, and Religion. Leuven University Press.
Philip Hefner (2010). Embodied Science: Recentering Religion-and-Science. Zygon 45 (1):251-263.
Garth D. Benson (1989). The Misrepresentation of Science by Philosophers and Teachers of Science. Synthese 80 (1):107 - 119.
Michael R. Matthews (1994). Science Teaching: The Role of History and Philosophy of Science. Routledge.
Alvin Plantinga (2010). Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? Oxford University press.
Robert Shaw (forthcoming). The Implications for Science Education of Heidegger's Philosophy of Science. Educational Philosophy and Theory.
Mark Vernon (2007). Science, Religion, and the Meaning of Life. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gilbert Burgh & Kim Nichols (2012). The Parallels Between Philosophical Inquiry and Scientific Inquiry: Implications for Science Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory 44 (10):1045-1059.
Ernest William Barnes (1933). Scientific Theory and Religion: The World Described by Science and its Spiritual Interpretation. Cambridge [Eng.],The University Press.
Massimo Pigliucci, Nonsense on Stilts About Science: Field Adventures of a Scientist- Philosopher. Between Scientists and Citizens.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-04-24Total downloads228 ( #939 of 549,065 )Recent downloads (6 months)131 ( #49 of 549,065 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
