2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HPSC1015 Magic, Science and Religion

10 creditsClass Size: 134

Module manager: Jon Topham
Email: J.R.Topham@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

The module explores interactions among science, magic and religion concentrating on debates over the natural and the supernatural. Many of the most creative and exceptionally brilliant thinkers have pondered the interaction between nature and the supernatural. Their views differ as do responses to their work: some tried to accommodate nature with the supernatural but others tried to eliminate entirely one or the other. The wide diversity of ideas and contexts encourages us to think in interdisciplinary terms. There will be ample scope to analyse a range of magical, philosophical, theological and scientific ideas. Students will be encouraged to think about how certain themes recur in spite of radically different contexts. Issues raised in ancient Greece continued to preoccupy the Renaissance magician, the nineteenth-century naturalist, the radical in the 1960s and the 21st century microbiologist seeking 'intelligent design' in the universe. We will encounter ideas drawn from Plato, St Thomas Aquinas, Francis Bacon, Newton, Voltaire, Alistair Crowley, Timothy Leary and others. The 11 lectures traverse rich historical and intellectual ground, and in the final lecture we explore general conclusions on the natural-supernatural debates.By the end of the module the student will have considered traditional religious and scientific ideas as well as 'occult' subjects such as astrology, alchemy, and natural magic in order to illustrate the rich interplay between ideas of nature and the supernatural.No prior knowledge of science, religion or magic is necessary or assumed. Rather, this module provides an opportunity to explore the development of ideas and intellectual issues.

Objectives

1. To develop students' knowledge of the changing historical relations between magic, science and religion from antiquity to the present.
2. To cultivate students' capacities to critically evaluate claims about 'occult' and scientific and religious knowledge and practices.
3. To nurture students' self-critical skills in handling primary evidence in relation to the history of ideas.

Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1. Understand how in particular historical contexts different views of the world compete and why certain views are adopted over others.
2. Critically assess typical unthinking approaches that contrast irrational magic to either traditional religious piety or enlightened science.
3. Use primary evidence from the works of a wide range of significant figures in critical discussion.

Syllabus

This module looks at how changing relationships among the three major categories of science, magic and religion. Topics typically included are: the emergence of ancient Greek science; medieval discussions of the relationship between nature and the supernatural; the contrast between renaissance humanism and the occult; Enlightenment attitudes to religion; nineteenth-century naturalism and the re-emergence of occult studies; magic, science and religion in the 1960s; and the Intelligent Design movement.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Tutorial	5	1.00	5.00
Private study hours			84.00
Total Contact hours			16.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			100.00

Private study

Reading over and supplementing lecture notes: 11x1hr = 11hrs
Required reading and preparing for/writing up tutorials: 5x5hrs = 25hrs
Reading for and writing essay: 1x24hrs = 24hrs
Revising for comprehension assessment: 1x24hrs = 24hrs

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

The mid-semester comprehension assessment will be returned with written feedback within three weeks. You will also receive feedback informally during the course of tutorials, when your tutor will respond to your observations and questions.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1500 words	70.00
In-course Assessment	Comprehension assessment 500 words	30.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 29/04/2024 16:19:42

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