ABSTRACT

This book explores ways in which Western literature has engaged with themes found within the field of science and religion, both historically and in the present day. It focuses on works of the imagination as important locations at which human arguments, hopes and fears may be played out. The chapters examine a variety of instances where scientific and religious ideas are engaged by novelists, poets and dramatists, casting new light upon those ideas and suggesting constructive ways in which science and religion may interact. The contributors cover a rich variety of authors, including Mary Shelley, Aldous Huxley, R. S. Thomas, Philip Pullman and Margaret Atwood. Together they form a fascinating set of reflections on some of the significant issues encountered within the discourse of science and religion, indicating ways in which the insights of creative artists can make a valuable and important contribution to that discourse.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|18 pages

Science and Religion Themes in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust

Sin and Evolution, Panpsychism, and the Dangers of ‘Single Vision’

chapter 2|15 pages

Weird Tales

The Shifting Role of Science and Religion in Literature's Search for Truth

chapter 3|17 pages

‘Heretical … Dangerous and Potentially Subversive’

The Problem of Science and Religion in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

chapter 4|19 pages

Radical Plurality

Science and Religion in the Writings of Karel Čapek

chapter 6|16 pages

The Wound of Knowledge

R. S. Thomas' Cruciform Poetics of Science and Religion

chapter 7|16 pages

Cosmic Consciousness

Henry James, William James, and the Society for Psychical Research

chapter 8|10 pages

Marie Corelli's Electric Creed

Science, Religion, and Popular Fiction at the end of the Nineteenth Century

chapter |8 pages

Afterword