1) Required readings
* NeildeGrasseTyson (2016 August 7) Reflections onRationalia Retrieved fromhttps://www.facebook.com/notes/neil-degrasse-tyson/reflections-on-rationalia/10154399608556613
* JeffreyGuhin(2016 July 5) A Nation Ruled by Science Is a Terrible Idea Retrieved from:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/07/neil_degrasse_tyson_wants_a_nation_ruled_by_evidence_but_evidence_explains.html
* Stephen Jay Gould (1997) NonoverlappingMagisteria Natural History 106: 16-22 (reproduced here:http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html)
2) Reflection essay (minimum of 400 words)
NeildeGrasseTyson the famousastrophysicistand science communicator (perhaps best known for the 2014 science documentary ‘Cosmos: ASpacetimeOdyssey’ he presented) has recently suggested on Twitter that Earth needs a virtual country: #Rationalia with a one-line Constitution: All policy shall be based on the weight of evidences. The Tyson article is a further elaboration on the idea ofRationalia and theGuhinpiece is a sociologist’s response. This debate brings up some questions relevant to our course:What role should science play in our societies? How do we define science or religion? Does eachhave their own legitimatemagisterium that does not (or should not) overlap?If we are worried about preventing religious ideas and beliefs from interveninginscientific activities and public policies how should we drawboundaries between science and religion?
Imagine yourself writing a short opinion piecefor a newspaperaboutNeildeGrasseTyson’s’Rationalia’proposal. In your piece please (1) begin by briefly summarizing what the’Rationalia’proposal is about (2) move to a discussion of 2-3 aspects of the’Rationalia’proposal that you find valuable interesting unjustified or problematic and (3) end with a brief note on the public debate onscience and religion (byusing insights fromStephen Jay Gould’s article on’nonoverlappingmagisteria’).