What is science? What are the boundaries between science and philosophy, or science and religion? The answers to these questions have shifted dramatically over time. During the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century, science, religion and philosophy were intertwined in surprising ways — many figures in the scientific revolution took their philosophical and religious views to be crucial for their scientific work. In the twenty-first century, the boundaries between philosophy and science, and science and religion, continue to shift. Must science and religion compete with one another in their views of the universe? Is philosophy an essential part of science, or a mere appendage? We will study these questions by reading seminal works from three centuries of scientific development.
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