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- Convenors:
-
Katharina Neef
(Leipzig University)
Viktoria Vitanova-Kerber (Université de Fribourg)
Bernadett Bigalke (Leipzig University)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Location:
- Omega room
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 5 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Vilnius
Short Abstract:
The panel asks about the interactions of religions and sciences in the 19th and 20th centuries, understanding these interactions both as conflictual and as convergent or co-evolving.
Long Abstract:
The panel asks about the interactions of religions and sciences in the 19th and 20th centuries, understanding these interactions both as conflictual and as convergent or co-evolving. The question will be discussed on the basis of case studies from different fields of action: What techniques and methods are used to create empirical evidence for and against (Catholic) miracles? Which technologies were to support the popularization of the scientific worldview under socialism? How did scientific (astrophysics, space technology, etc.) and artistic or utopian space ideas and practices converge in the so-called Space Age?
All cases are based on an unbroken technological optimism and a general expectation of progress by their protagonists. They are also permeated with positivist understandings of the world and the promise to answer all possible questions. Although at first glance they seem to be stories of conflict and displacement of religion, a closer look also reveals processes of transformation, adaptation and mythopoesis.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 5 September, 2023, -Paper short abstract:
Naturalistic doctors of the 19th and 20th centuries tried to deal with Catholic claims of miraculous food abstinence using the technical methods at their disposal. They were looking for objectifiable evidence and were driven by the belief in progress cultivated in their scientific networks.
Paper long abstract:
Bodily devotional practices of Catholic women have been closely monitored and controlled since the Enlightenment, both by the clergy, but also by state authorities and of course by medical professionals. Food abstinence was usually integrated into a cluster of other bodily piety practices (stigmata, ecstasies, revelations) and mostly linked to discourses of "holiness" and "miracles". The religious self-understanding of food abstainers has rarely been simply accepted, let alone taken serious. On the contrary, it was regularly challenged by medical experts of different specialization. The paper presents cases that show different types of medical examinations and categorizations: What knowledge constituted medical perspectives? What techniques and methods were used to produce scientific evidence for or against miracles? Furthermore, academically educated physicians became more and more powerful agents in assessing "healthy" and "sick" religiosity as well as authentic and deceptive behavior. Some of these scientists performed as self-confident progressive positivists, while others had difficulties to put their scientific standards into practice as their prior expectations were irritated when encountering their patients in real life and not just through medical case reports. The mass investigation of "exotic" religious practices by experts of various specializations was part of the history of the professionalization of "naturalistic" medicine and technological optimism was a driving force for many of the protagonists involved.
Paper short abstract:
A scientific worldview was popularised in the GDR by means of public education. The paper discusses the structures, materials, and narratives of these approaches and asks for their handling of pre-socialist inheritances: How where they legitimised? And when were they criticised?
Paper long abstract:
Creating a new society in the socialist states of the 20th century also meant bringing a new, distinct worldview to the masses. This worldview was defined in several dimensions: materialistic, scientifically informed or even scientistic, and non- or even anti-religious. There were multiple ways to implement it, among which public or adult education played an important role. Taking the GDR as an example, the paper looks at such popularisation efforts, their structures, their materials, and their narratives. How was the scientific worldview spread? And which technologies were central to the visualisation of scientism?
Another aspect of the paper will be ruptures: The socialist societies had only inherited the idea of a “scientific worldview” from bourgeois predecessors (e.g. freethinkers) and thus, they had to deal with this legacy. The GDR never modelled a consistent way to do so and remained somewhat hesitant: sometimes, the classic critics of religion were accepted and honoured, while at other times they were rejected and criticised for their ‘limited class perspective’.
Socialist societies have been described as ideal examples for the conflict thesis, i.e. for a confrontative setting of religion and science. The popularisation efforts of the GDR illustrate that. But at the same time, they increasingly tried to transgress this opposition – in a tentative or oscillatory movement that will be the third aspect of the paper.
Paper short abstract:
On both sides of the Iron Curtain, the Space Age induced a whole range of perceptions about what is “out there”. Using examples of creative and scientific production of that time, the paper will present a variety of ideas that shaped different notions of progress in the former “Eastern Bloc”.
Paper long abstract:
The title of Lyuben Dilov’s fantasy novel from 1969 introduces us to the ambiguity of intellectual reactions towards the so-called Space Age in socialist countries – a mixture of fascination, anxiety, pride, and concern, which reshaped the concepts of science, art, and religion. The 20th century was a turbulent time but also a time of great discoveries. Men and machines went to outer space and returned to tell the tale. New sciences emerged and the optimism that the cosmos might be mastered with their help was pervasive. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, the Space Age induced a whole range of perceptions in politicians, artists, and scientists about what is “out there” and what it would entail to discover it. Spiritual and material notions of progress entwined with utopic and dystopic scenarios; Cold War competition clashed with ethical concerns. “Who is going to win the Space Race?”, “Is ‘The New Man’ a creature from outer space?”, “If we are entering an intergalactic society, which are its rules?” All this gave new creative impulses for writers and artists but also for natural scientists – suddenly nothing seemed impossible. Using examples of creative and scientific production of that time, the paper will present a variety of ideas that shaped different notions of progress in the former “Eastern Bloc”, and uncover another facet of the ambiguous relationship between religion and science in this context.