10:10A-12:05P     R     BH018

Topic: The Substance of the World: Science and Religion in Early
Modern Europe
A portion of the above section reserved for majors
Above section COAS intensive writing section and also
requires registration in COAS W333

It is one of the truisms of our modern secular culture that religion
and science are irrevocably opposed.  At the same time, however,
events in recent history-from the Kansas creationism struggle to the
apocalyptic vision of Y2K-indicate that the relationship between them
is undoubtedly more complex than most imagine.  This course will
investigate religion and science at the moment when they seem most
intertwined, namely in the period 1500-1750.  Specifically, we will
focus our attention on the problem of matter-bodies, stuff,
material-and the difficulty that Early Modern scientists and
theologians alike faced in defining its essence.  We will be looking
at the problem ranging from those of invisible substances, angels, and
incorporeal beings, to the nature of the universe and humanity's place
within it.  In doing so, we will move beyond the simple story of
science's emancipation from religious superstition and build instead a
new and historically nuanced vision of religion and science on the
cusp of modernity.

Primary readings will include:  Bruce, Calvin, Copernicus, Osiander,
Loyola, Galileo, Agrippa, Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, More, Cudworth,
Boyle, Bayle, Le Mettrie, and Haller.