Images of Nature and Systems of Belief (Topics in History of Science)
HST 427 / 527 • Winter 2003
Instructor: Richard H. Beyler

Telephone: 503-725-3996 • E-mail: beylerr@pdx.edu
Office hours: TuTh 12:30-1:30 or by appointment • Cramer Hall 441-O
Class meets TuTh 2-3:50 in Cramer 250
Course WebCT site (for registered students) via www.webct.pdx.edu

Themes. Our object of inquiry is the ways in which people’s understanding of nature, in various times and places, has been formed in the context of religious doctrines and practices, social and ethical values, and judgments of meaning. Conventionally, we might say that this course is about the interactions between "science" and "religion." But we must use those terms cautiously. We will examine ways in which the boundaries around "religion" and "science" have been highly permeable, and ways in which those boundaries have been drawn and re-drawn at various times. We cannot unambiguously call one the domain of (value-free) "knowledge" and the other (mere) "belief." We will discover that natural philosophy or natural science–how nature was described, theorized, and analyzed–depended on images and metaphors which embodied prevailing beliefs in that cultural context. Conversely, systems of belief have resonated with changing scientific views of nature. Our main focus will be on Europe and America since the 17th century; however, research projects dealing with other times and places are welcome.

Texts. Three textbooks are available for purchase at the PSU bookstore (corner of 6th and Montgomery):

Brooke, J. H. Science and Religion. Cambridge, 1991.
Lindberg, D. C., and R. L. Numbers, eds. God and Nature. Berkeley, 1986.
Worster, D. Nature’s Economy. 2nd ed. Cambridge, 1994. There are three collections of required readings–mostly primary sources–which you should have access to: • Some texts are compiled into a Reading Packet available for purchase at Clean Copy (corner of Broadway and Mill).
• Some other texts are available in electronic format via the course’s WebCT site (see below). If you prefer, these are also available in a Reading Packet Supplement) at Clean Copy (corner of Broadway and Mill).
• We will also also look at material at two websites; links are noted on the syllabus below and are also posted to the WebCT site. Links to the on-line texts, copies of assignments and handouts, and occasional notes and visual materials will be posted to the course’s WebCT site (www.webct.pdx.edu). If you are registered for the class and you have a PSU computer account (Odin server), you will automatically be registered for the WebCT site. Your login name is the same as your Odin login name, and your initial password is the last four digits of your ID number. Access to WebCT is not a requirement for the class, but it is highly recommended.

Objectives. Members of the class should expect to develop or improve their ability to:

• discern and describe changing historical boundaries around the cultural categories of "knowledge" and "belief"
• identify dominant images of nature in several different historical eras
• identify changes and continuities in the historical relationships between science, religion, and other value systems
• find and analyze relevant information on and interpretations of these themes
• write about and discuss (describe, interpret, compare) these subjects in a critically informed way
ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE!)

Part of the Thursday class each week generally (exceptions TBA) will be devoted to discussion of the assigned article(s), so you should come to class having read that material as well as the background provided in the textbooks.

LN = essays in God and Nature, ed. Lindberg & Numbers
RP = Reading Packet
ET = electronic texts via WebCT (or Reading Packet Supplement)

Week I, 7-9 Jan. Perspectives and approaches in the history of science and religion

ARTICLE FOR DISCUSSION, Th 1/9
ET: Draper, History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874), Preface.

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, introduction.

Week II, 14-16. Thematic introductions

Tu 1/14, video presentation: Galileo.
Th 1/16, guest lecture: Prof. Anne McClanan on images of nature in art.

BACKGROUND READING: Brooke, chaps. 1-3; LN: Westman, Shea, Ashworth, Deason.

Week III, 21-23 Jan. Nature as mechanism: the Cartesian / Newtonian world picture

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 1/23
ET: Descartes, "Sixth Meditation" (French orig. 1641).
ET: Newton, "General Scholium" (Latin orig. 1687).
ET: La Mettrie, Man a Machine, (French orig. 1748), pp. 140-49.

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, chap. 4; LN: Westfall, Jacob, Roger.

Week IV, 28-30 Jan. Nature as design: the natural theology tradition

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 1/30
ET: Paley, Natural Theology, chs. 1-3.
RP: Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy ..., vol. I, pp. 8-33, 50-59, 240-49, 539-47.

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, chaps. 5-6; Worster, chaps. 1-2.

Week V, 4-6 Feb. Nature as the beautiful and the sublime: Romanticism

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Tu 2/4 (note day!)
RP: Coleridge, Aids to Reflection ... (1825), pp. 4-5, 44-46, 67, 84-85, 190-98, 210-14, 329-42.
ET: Carlyle, "Natural Supernaturalism" (1836).
ET: Thoreau, "Ktaadn" (1848), pp. 79-86, 88-94.

BACKGROUND READING. Worster, chaps. 3-6; LN: essays by Hahn, Rudwick.

Th 2/6, Mid-Term Exam

Week VI, 11-13 Feb. Nature as progress and struggle: evolutionary theory and the discovery of deep time

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 2/13
ET: [Chambers,] Vestiges ... (1844), chap. 14, pp. 191-205, 212-235.
RP: Spencer, "Progress" (1857), pp. 8-23, 35-37, 46-62.
ET: Darwin, Descent of Man ... (1871), chap. 21.

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, chap. 7; Worster, chaps. 7-8; LN: Moore, Dupree.

Week VII, 18-20 Feb. Post-Darwinian controversies and syntheses

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 2/20
RP: Tyndall, "Inaugural Address" (1874), pp. 315-19.
RP: Haeckel, Riddle of the Universe ... (German orig. 1899), chaps. 13, 16, 18.
RP: McCosh, Religious Aspect of Evolution (1890), pp. vii-x, 1-18, 47-57.
Scopes Trial website (www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm), excerpts TBA

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, chap. 7; Worster, chap. 9; LN: Gregory, Numbers.

Week VIII, 25-27 Feb. Nature as uncertainty and spontaneity: the 20th-century revolution in physics

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 2/27
RP: Zukav, Dancing Wu Li Masters (1979), pp. 270-86, 295-96.
RP: Polkinghorne, "Quantum World" (1988).

BACKGROUND READING. Brooke, chap. 8; LN: Hiebert, Yandell.

Week IX, 4-6 Mar. Nature as system, organism, and diversity: ecological science and worldview

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 3/6
RP: White, "Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" (1967).
RP: McCobb, "Ecology, Science, and Religion" (1988).

BACKGROUND READING. Worster, chaps. 13-15.

Week X, 11-13 Mar. Nature as system, organism, and diversity (cont’d): a new natural theology?

ARTICLES FOR DISCUSSION, Th 3/13
RP: McFague, Models of God (1987), chap. 1.
Columbia River Pastoral Letter Project website (www.columbiariver.org), excerpts TBA.

BACKGROUND READING. Worster, chaps. 16-17.

Exam Week

Th 3/17, 10:15-12:05 (note time!), Final Exam
Research Projects, Review Essays due

REQUIREMENTS
 Members of the class choose projects from among several options. Undergraduates (HST 427) should choose options totaling 60 points; graduate students (HST 527) choose items totaling 80 points, one of which must be a research project. Attendance and participation contribute an additional 10 points, so that the basis of the grade is 70 or 90 points respectively. If you do more than the required number of assignments, your best efforts count towards your quota of points.

Background report, 10 points
This is a 12-15 minute presentation, together with a 2-3 pp. handout for the class, providing background for the assigned discussion articles. Report topics will be assigned on a "first come, first served" basis, so indicate your preferences as soon as possible. You will turn in your notes for the presentation, including documentation of your sources. Presentations will be given the session before we discuss the material–i.e., generally the Tuesday of each week. The report should provide biographical information on the author, set the document in its historical context, briefly summarize the argument, and highlight and analyze key issues or problems to kick off our discussion. To do a report adequately you must read the item in advance, and also do some additional outside reading. You may do more than one of these. If you do a background report, you cannot do a research paper or reading journal entry on the same topic.

Review essay, 10 points
Choose one of the texts from the "Additional Reading" list (to be provided), and write a critically informed review of the book. The essay (around 5-6 pp.) should not be merely a summary; you should also critique the author’s arguments, evidence, etc., and link the book to material from our other readings, lectures, and discussions. If you do a review essay, you cannot do a research paper on the same topic.

Research project, 20 points
This is an independent study of a topic determined in consultation with me. Topics relating to areas, groups, disciplines, persons, etc., not covered in the syllabus are especially welcome. Regardless of the topic, a clear focus and relevance to the course needs to be established. Conventionally, the final product will be a paper of 10-12 pp. (15-20 pp. for HST 527 students), but I am also open to alternatives–e.g., a website or audio-visual composition–subject to prior arrangement. Research projects should not overlap with background reports or review essays. Required for graduate students.

Reading response journal, 20 points
Each entry or 2-3 pp. covers one of the discussion articles (i.e., not Brooke, Worster, Lindberg & Numbers). You should submit at least eight entries. Entries must be turned in by the date the item appears on the syllabus; you may submit more than one entry in a week. Late entries cannot be accepted. A typical entry might contain: a brief summary or outline of the article; a discussion of how the piece relates to the other material we have read and to the themes of the class; and your personal reaction to the piece–what issues, problems, or answers it raises for you. Entries will be evaluated on a check/plus/minus basis; final evaluation will take into account the timely, consistent completion of entries and their cumulative quality. You should not do a background report and a reading journal entry on the same article.

Mid-term exam, 20 points
The exam will include short answer / identification and essay questions. Generally in each catetory, there will be some choice among several options.

Final exam, 20 points
Similar in format to the mid-term exam. Short answer / identification questions will focus on the latter half of the term; essay questions may be cumulative.

Regular attendance and thoughtful participation, 10 points
"Thoughtful participation" is not synonymous with "talking"–it also includes careful listening, preparation, asking questions, etc. If you have to miss a class, it’s your responsibility to find out what was covered, whether there were any announcements, special assignments, etc.

Other general policies
Written work must be typed and should conform to standards of correct usage–both "content" and "form" will be considered in grading. Papers may be turned in either in "hard copy" or as e-mail attachments (as Word documents). Material taken from other sources must be properly cited, and the sources properly documented. I reserve the right to give just a grade (and no comments) on late papers. They are also subject to a penalty of up to one letter grade, unless there is a compelling reason for their being late.