Reason, faith, and Harvard

A recent proposal to add a "Reason and Faith" requirement to Harvard's core curriculum has generated some controversy. An article by a Christian on the Crimson's website presents some good arguments that non-religious students would benefit from a course about general religion.

Without looking into the full context of the core curriculum revision, I can't offer an informed opinion on the requirement. But it occurs to me that the term is a broad one, and a good course on critical thinking would be very beneficial to students while apparently fitting the requirement. The error of faith is not unique to religion, and not all religions base themselves solely on faith.

A course in "Reason and Faith as Cognitive Approaches" could address not only religion, but faith as demanded by politicians, advertisers, and others. It could deal with the way that beliefs can turn to dogma within a community, perhaps using Harvard's treatment of President Summers as an example. It could talk about the question of how to respond cognitively to something which is beyond one's ability to evaluate, such as a complex scientific theory, as well as the way such theories get simplified and distorted in the popular media.

As it just happens, I'm one of the people who helped to create Harvard's A-Cats site, which archives descriptions of past courses. With a couple of searches, I don't find anything that fits that description. It could be an opportunity for someone to create a valuable course.