bsmall2
> "Science tries to record and explain the factual character of the natural world, whereas religion struggles with spiritual and ethical questions about the meaning and proper conduct of our lives. The facts of nature simply cannot dictate correct moral behavior or spiritual meaning." He cites J. B. Russel's 1991 Inventing the Flat Earth as showing that some supporters of the science vs. religion model misrepresent historical religious advocates.... 🧵
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog,_the_Fox,_and_the_Magister's_Pox
#StephenJayGould #ScienceAndReligion
The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox - Wikipedia

May 15, 2025 at 5:45amWeb
Show threadbsmall2May 15, 2025

🧵
> One example is the caricatures of Spanish scholars as theologians arguing against Columbus that the world was flat, when in reality they were arguing actually that the circumference of the known spherical world was much larger than Columbus was assuming. Gould also refers to the misrepresentation of Galileo's trial as unjust though it was a result of Galileo's conscious undiplomatic ridiculing of the Pope's position in the Copernican debate.

Camus is tough on Galileo too
@bsmall2

Show threadbsmall2May 15, 2025

> Galileo, who held a scientific truth of great importance, abjured it with the greatest ease as soon as it endangered his life. In a certain sense, he did right.That truth was not worth the stake. Whether the earth or the sun revolves around the other is a matter of profound indifference... From the point of view of the relative value of truth. On the other hand, from the point of view of virile behavior, this scholar’s fragility may well make us smile..

#CamusOnGalileo #CamusGalileo
#MythOfSisyphus
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Show threadbsmall2May 15, 2025
> ... 19th century anti-Christians invented.. the falsehood that educated people in the Middle Ages believed.. the earth was flat... "Russell.. examined.. textbooks.. those written before 1870 usually included the correct account, but most textbooks written after 1880 uncritically repeated the erroneous claims in #WashingtonIrving, John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White.. the main writers responsible for introducing the erroneous #FlatEarthMyth.."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Burton_Russell
@bsmall2
Jeffrey Burton Russell - Wikipedia