This course will cover a variety of issues concerning the relation between science and religion. We will begin by considering some general questions about whether and how scientific truths can conflict with religious truths. The second part of the course will cover issues surrounding the Big Bang, the large-scale structure of the cosmos and what philosophers and other religious thinkers have had to say about the beginning, age and size of the universe. The third part of the course will consider the current controversy between evolutionary theorists and “intelligent design” theorists (i.e., those who claim that organisms and their parts were originally designed by an intelligent being and did not arise through evolution). In addition to the philosophical aspects of this controversy, we will also consider some of the sticky public policy issues it raises. The final part of the course will consider some recently developed theories in the cognitive sciences (e.g., neuroscience, cognitive psychology) that offer explanations of the nature, function and pervasiveness of religious belief.
Dr. Beebe’s primary area of specialization within philosophy is epistemology, the philosophical study of knowledge, truth and rationally justified belief. His past research focused on whether certain traditional philosophical questions about knowledge can now be answered by the cognitive sciences (e.g., neuroscience, cognitive psychology). His current research deals with the nature and limits of skeptical challenges to ordinary claims to knowledge. Dr. Beebe has maintained a lifelong interest in the question of whether religious belief can be rationally justified or whether contemporary science renders it untenable.