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Thursday, Class May 15, 2008 12:35 PM
There's more than the limited and self-limited enlightenment reason Romantic notions helped shape where we are today Spiritualism Despite newtonian synthesis Modern science wasn't quite modern Platform on which modernity is raised Victorians pull it all together It was a more static time, but they faced all these changes All for the greater glory of God (nature) Later on Naturalism vs. theology Pace of scientific discovery Everyday new facts that can't be accomodated in religion
Darwinian Evolution They mange to stuff most sci. ideas into theology But darwinian evolution COULDN'T at all Brit embraced science since 18th c. In 19th they've gotten reward from it They understand science which gives can take religious traditions, aspirations of their soul They're used to synthesis, not dividing, but they can't do it here The boundary natural from supernatural Victorians thought they'd be able to cross boundaries But as SCIENTISTS
Natural Theology Design Direction Teleology and purpose (headed to higher goal) Anthropocentric Metaphoric Harmony, hierarchy and order
But not dynamic and progressive Multiple acts of creation Had to let go of somethings Like when the earth was created Isn't going to try to get a literal reading from the bible Buckland is the one who makes science into religion and bible Teleology Ultimately it'll serve a higher good Progressing In 18th C God created an already perfect order Be content with status quo Charles Darwin 1809-1882 HMS Beagle 1836 explores Galapagos Finches give evidence for speciation "Love of deity is an effect of the brain's organization" Dismisses Lamarck in favor of Mathusian "Natural Selection" Chance variation Struggle for survival among and w/I species
Natural Selection is a Problem God isn't loving and caring "Fit" Is at the time Humanity is the pinnacle of creation Evolution is the price you pay Despite brutal mechanisms, it's to a higher place But it's NOT God's plan It's not a plan
Darwin in context Mother unitarian Progressive version Christianity Father freethinking Already a British intellectual Open, inquiring ind He's actually religious Secretly, he's bummed out about his own theories and what they mean
Looking at his journals from time on the Beagle Island and mainland finches The way their beaks were shaped Responding, adapting to environment Driven by the geological circumstances they found themselves in Closed system not powered by god Even says that religious impulse is part of evolution That means nature made god A Godless universe was floated around But it was in a small faction But atheistics didn't have a workable mechanism Darwin provides that He's not atheist and he's proving their point He's a really sad, depressed guy Most controversial material published anonymously He doesn't publish at first ,sits on it because of politics and views social Ludites angry at losing jobs over machines Wheat prices fixed Economics strange Free market But then he finds out that someone is going to publish the same material Joint presentation But he has all the material, experiment Published Origin of Species in 1859 Receptive crowd in Britain after Newtonian Synthesis Science and religion shouldn't hinder each other, they are separate Scientists in 1830's are able to stand up for themselves Earl, duke, etc. No longer natural theoloigans Darwinists were more excited about it than others Came up with People come from apes Huxley Takes off Exciting to radical French Mainstream scientists are still cautious Wanted to separate theology and science, but didn't want to kill God
Huxley and Bishop Samual Wilberforce face-off at British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860 Looked bad for traditionalist Royal Society's Copley Medal for Darwin in 1864 Contextualizes man and morality in human terms Publishes a second on about Sexual Selection
No hope of moral justice If god didn't make us, no salvation
Victorian Scientific Naturalism (Iron Clad, industrial Cosmos) Context in which Darwin published 40's 50's it was forming Scientific naturalism
Hermann von Helmholtz Laws of Bio-Physics We have sworn to each other to validate the basic truth that In an organism no other forces have any effect than the common physiochemical ones..." Measures the nerve impulse A chemical process, not a vital force Vital heat the product of mechanical forces within the organism Electricity and magnetism 1840's Different phases of same force Exists in surrounding field Mechanical energy converts to electromagnetisms and visa versa First electric generator Induce electricity from magnet First electric motor Harness circular motion of the magnet
Electricity to do MECHANICAL work Treatise on Natural Philosophy 1867 Laws of Thermodynamics First, energy cannot be created or destroyed--converted Second, whenever energy is converted from one form to another a certain amoutn is dissipated in the form of heat
Heat is motion If you can understand the world throught he concept of physical motion, firm grasp Auguste Comte Positivism Progress of mankind into 3 historical stages Theological Supernatural explanaition Metaphysical Abstract but poorly understood "positive" Affirmative, scientific knowledge The religion of humantity John Tyndall Science is trying to put religion in a harness Stepping over the line Religious Reaction Mostly going on in the fringes Anglican bishops are pretty unhappy about it Adam eve Vicotian Institute 1864-65 a group of minor scienists circulated a declaration that science must be conducted in a way that supports religious belief Reforming religion and broad church Liberal irenical Incorportaes new sciences Historical cristicism Low church--evolution is wrong. Fundamentalist reading of bible