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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Philosophy, Science and Religion: Science and Philosophy by The University of Edinburgh

4.5
stars
943 ratings

About the Course

Philosophy, Science and Religion mark three of the most fundamental modes of thinking about the world and our place in it. Are these modes incompatible? Put another way: is the intellectually responsible thing to do to ‘pick sides’ and identify with one of these approaches at the exclusion of others? Or, are they complementary or mutually supportive? As is typical of questions of such magnitude, the devil is in the details. For example, it is important to work out what is really distinctive about each of these ways of inquiring about the world. In order to gain some clarity here, we’ll be investigating what some of the current leading thinkers in philosophy, science and religion are actually doing. This course, entitled ‘Science and Philosophy’, is the first of three related courses in our Philosophy, Science and Religion Online series. The first launch is now closed to enrolments. We will launch a new version of the course in July 2018. The course will address four themes each presented by guest lecturers: 1. Are Science and Religion in conflict? (Professor Michael Murray, Franklin & Marshall) 2. Neuroscience and Free Will (Professor Al Mele, Florida State) 3. Creationism and Evolutionary Biology--Science or Pseudo-science? (Dr. Mark Harris and Dr. David de Pomerai, University of Edinburgh) 4. Do Scientific claims constitute absolute truths? (Professor Martin Kusch, University of Vienna) The second and third courses in the Philosophy, Science and Religion series are ‘Philosophy and Religion’ and ‘Religion and Science’. They may be taken in any order and completing all three courses will give you a broader understanding of this fascinating topic. Look for: • Philosophy, Science and Religion II: Philosophy and Religion • Philosophy, Science and Religion III: Religion and Science Check out our trailer to hear more: https://youtu.be/OifqTI5VKek You can also follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EdiPhilOnline and you can follow the hashtag #psrmooc...

Top reviews

SR

Nov 13, 2017

A very interesting course and it has given a great knowleddge to me about the concept of science and religion . just amazed and the professors taught this in a very impressive way . very nyccc .

RR

May 13, 2017

Fine course, nice references for further reading, clear and nice instructors. Only two where a little odd: Statis Psillos, talking too fast, and Conor Cunningham, a bit too theatrical.

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226 - 250 of 253 Reviews for Philosophy, Science and Religion: Science and Philosophy

By Cem Y

Jul 13, 2019

I know it was a beginner level course but I feel the subjects were presented very, very superficially. The recommended readings do flesh out things a bit. The lessons of the last week, those about evolution and creationism, turned out to be simple explanations about what evolution is, and not very much about how it relates to creationism or the philosohy of science.

The structure of the lessons were also odd. There are several 3 to 5 minute lectures followed by a one-question quiz. This breaks concentration. I feel it would have been much more engaging if the subjects were presented in 20-30 minute lectures followed by 5-10 question quizzes.

By LENKA P G B

Oct 2, 2020

This course has design problems. There is no clear thread that gives coherence to the different parts. It is interesting that it addresses different topics, and that there are several teachers who explain them. However, it is clear that there is no joint work between the exhibitors. Despite the quality of some (very remarkable Martin Kusch), the total sum does not manage to present a good quality proposal.

By Nikki W

Mar 13, 2017

I was a little confused because for having a focus on "Science and Philosophy", it seemed to me to mostly talk about science and religion through a philosophical lens. The last module was very scattered and hard to follow. Other than that, very interesting, well-presented material.

By Kim

Aug 31, 2020

The course includes a wide range of topics that are well explained. I don't understand the concept of the course, how the different topics were selected or how they were assigned to the three parts of this course. It seems quite random and unstructured to me.

By Malladi R G K

Jun 17, 2020

philosophy and science relation is great but about science and religion, those facts are already known and nothing new is learnt. Free will is unnecessary topic I guess. Religious part can be developed.

By Francisco L

Jun 4, 2019

The course is somewhat interesting but my expectations were different, perhaps the description of the course should be expanded so that the student would know with greater certainty the content.

By Dorothy H

Feb 11, 2017

2 weeks were balanced and thought-provoking and one was silly, but entertaining... therefore three starts with 2 stars taken out for ending a good course with a week of silliness.

By Joy S

Jun 6, 2017

Interesting stuff. Part of a series that used to be on mega-difficult, hard to unerstand course. The splitting up is a good thing.

By Amitava D

Dec 30, 2021

Expectation on this course was higher on the face of the title.

By Giel B

Feb 6, 2022

Lectures were clear and to the point. However, the lectures on evolution were too short and could have been made much more attractive with examples, pictures etc. The title of the course is misleading: there was hardly any philosophy. Also, the religion part was treated much too simply; I suspect that modern theologians do not devote much of their time to rather trivial matters such as the (biblical) age of the earth ...

By Florinda I

Nov 16, 2020

Somewhat interesting, but I found the last module, which compares evolution through natural selection to young earth creationism, to have deliberately chosen a straw man so that it could be knocked down. There are far more defensible forms of intelligent design than young earth creationism. I was offended by the module.

By Craig S

Feb 11, 2018

If you are a person of faith troubled by science and particularly the theory of evolution, this course will give you comfort. If you believe there is no God, this course offers nothing that might change your mind. If your interest is how religious apologists shape an argument for the transcendent, you will be satisfied.

By Steve L

Feb 11, 2017

Some interesting ideas. Unfortunately some of the presentation was so poor that it was impossible to work out what points, if any, were being presented. And for a course called "Science and Philosophy" there was far too much religious and/or anti-science content.

By Hosh

Feb 5, 2020

The lectures were not very effective. Some were personal ideas of the processor contradicting to actual facts.. Compared to several other courses I have taken, this one definitely had a lot missing!

By Bill Z

Dec 19, 2017

Highly variable quality of lecturers. Some were quite good, many were just spouting quotes, personal beliefs without much evidence or support.

By TM

Feb 28, 2017

Mostly disappointing. I found only one week interesting and non-biased.

By Elena O

May 16, 2020

Boring and basic. Not much learning

By Pedro A F

Apr 27, 2018

Too long for its content.

By Sarah P

Aug 10, 2017

Parts of this course are thought-provoking, but as others have pointed out, it suffers from a lack of balance - scientific concepts are discussed at length without input from practicing experts in the relevant fields, and while some lip service is paid to other faiths, Christianity is heavily concentrated on without much consideration of how other religions might interface with philosophy and science. This course has so much potential, but students should be aware that it is largely funded by a religious studies foundation and this bias is evident in the course material. Not what I would expect of a university endorsed course.

By Philip M

Mar 11, 2017

This course is clearly signposted as being supported by the Templeton Foundation and it shows. The course is short in terms of length and weak in the terms of developing ideas. The designers do not seem to understand properly what science is and what scientists do. This is particularly evident in the final week, an incoherent ramble. The course strengthens my positive opinions of Feynman's view of the philosophy of science.

In general. I enjoy Edinburgh University's Coursera courses, but I shall be wary of any of a similar ilk and certainly won't buy the certificate this time.

By Tãrún K

Jan 18, 2018

The first week of the course about relativism was really interesting. The same can be said about the second week as well with Dr Murray describing about the relationship between science and religion. However the same cannot be said about the fourth week. It was clearly biased towards creationism. I took this course and was looking forward to see how science and religion can co-exist, however in the fourth week there is a clear misinterpretation of science, and most of the content in this week was about "evolutionists vs creationists" rather than "Evolution vs creationism".

By Yair R

Apr 14, 2017

The course poorly understands the scientific method, and its main effort is to wield unconvincing critiques of science so as to elevate the status of religion in general and Creationism in particular. The last set of lectures is also just badly executed, a confusing meandering talk that amounts to nothing. The course did have a few bright points, like the second series of lectures explaining varieties of naturalism, but overall the course was just bad. Avoid this course, you can learn much more from other sources.

By Deleted A

Aug 23, 2017

In my opinion this is a course that is attempting to establish religion and theology (abrahamic based religions of course) as methodologies on par with science for determining truth about reality. When creationism was discussed strangely there were no mentions of other competing creation myths such as hindu myths, norse myths or aboriginal ones. Surely they are just as valid for discussion

By Ian L

Dec 29, 2017

I was disappointed in this course. It starts with false premises about science and seems to have a hidden agenda regarding creationism and intelligent design. I was expecting it to be about science and philosophy. Poor quality of speakers and content.

By Alexander W

Sep 20, 2017

Disappointed by the complete and apparent academic bias presented here. Utter lack of scientific knowledge and favoritism to only one religion by some of the professors. Very dishonest. This university should be ashamed.