Though often denigrated, science has played an important role in the development of Western (and now Global) society. It has become esteemed, at least by some, as superior to other forms of inquiry and types of knowledge ("ways of knowing") including such things as astrology, parapsychology, and various occult studies. Periodically, there have been strong reactions against the methods and results of science.

This course investigates, in a critical manner, the differences and similarities between science and pseudoscience broadly defined (or, to use the alternate term, "marginal knowledge systems"). It also seeks to determine whether the value placed on science as a form of knowledge is justified, by examining not only ways in which scientists have drawn boundaries between "orthodox" and "unorthodox" science, but also by examining "orthodoxies" and "unorthodoxies" and "pseudo-sciences" within science itself.

Some of the central concerns of the course will include:

• the historical examination of several theories that have been included within science and later rejected as marginal or pseudo-science;
  

the distinguishing of science, pseudo-science, proto-science, failed science and marginal knowledge systems; this will focus specifically on the methodology of science as contrasted with the methodology of other knowledge systems;

debates about history vs. pseudo-history; whether history can be scientific, and how we know what we know about history and science;

various ways in which ideas and theories arising outside of science are assessed and either incorporated into science or excluded from it;

the reasons various of the pseudo-sciences are taken to be competitors to the sciences;

the social organization of science and other knowledge systems sometimes confused with science; this section will focus on how the social organization of knowledge systems affects the content of the knowledge system.

Through an investigation of such topics we will attempt to determine what, if anything, is unique about science and what makes it valuable, both as an intellectual and social enterprise.

This course will NOT teach you how to cast or interpret horoscopes, construct biorhythms, or check your psychic abilities. But it will also NOT NECESSARILY support or deny the validity any of the theories we will examine. It DOES seek to provide a framework for understanding and critically assessing such phenomena in both their intellectual and social aspects. The course uses both rhetorical and critical analysis models to analyze such phenomena.

The course is intended for non-science majors and presupposes no technical scientific background or knowledge. Relevant scientific materials will be explained in non-technical terms.

In order to clarify and deal with the various issues which constitute the course, we will use materials from several disciplines, including the history of science, anthropology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, and philosophy, as well as material from various of the "pseudo-sciences". In order to examine the material in some depth, the lectures will focus on a relatively small number of topics. These will include historical occult sciences in the Scientific Revolution, historical and scientific mistakes/hoaxes, astrology, parapsychology, UFO's, the Bermuda Triangle, the Velikovsky affair, the ancient astronaut hypothesis, the creationist/evolutionist dispute, eugenics, sociobiology, the Rushdon affair and its antecedents.

In addition to the actual content of the course, one of the central aims of the course is to encourage students to develop their critical abilities by providing examples and models of critical reasoning (that is, non-dogmatic skepticism). This will include the critical assessment of various theories both within and on the margins of accepted science.

A further aim is to provide an understanding of the nature and role of science, both historically and in contemporary perspective, and to provide a foundation for understanding and assessing science in contemporary society.

Your course grade will be based upon 3 tests (worth 25% each) and one bibliographical essay due Friday 9 July (worth 25%; see handout).

Tests will be 1 (generous) hour long, multiple choice and some short answer on test 3 (and perhaps test 2).

The course runs from 28 June to 5 August, giving us 6 weeks to cover these topics, less 3 days off for various reasons (i.e. a total of 26 meetings).

Depending on class interest and or rate of coverage, topics may slip across weekends, as needed.

Week of	Topics
28 June	Scientific "Science": Introduction, Ideas of "Science", Scientific Revolutions, Historical Occult Sciences
5 July	Astronomical "Science" I: Astrology, Velikovsky, Bermuda Triangle BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY DUE FRIDAY 9 JULY
12 July	Astronomical "Science" II: UFOs, Aliens TEST MONDAY 12 JULY
19 July	Biological "Science": Evolution, Creationism, and Eugenics, Sociobiology, Rushdon Affair, and "Geneticism"
26 July	Historical "Sciences": revisionism, hoaxes TEST MONDAY 26 JULY
2 August	Psychological "Science": ESP, parapsychology TEST THURSDAY 5 AUGUST