Varieties of Scientific Experience: Mary Baker Eddy, William James, and Other Honest Investigators of the 19th Century

Roberts, Jon. Varieties of Scientific Experience: Mary Baker Eddy, William James, and Other Honest Investigators of the 19^th Century. [YouTube] 2008.

Jon Roberts, Tomorrow Foundation Professor of American Intellectual History at Boston University, spoke on a panel presented by the Mary Baker Eddy Library, titled “Varieties of scientific experience.” The one-minute clip of Robert’s 27-minute portion of the panel summarizes his argument—that “Eddy endorsed a more or less classical view of the meaning of science and held that science, rightly conceived, simply referred to genuine knowledge and pure truth.” From that perspective, Roberts contends, Eddy concluded that the term ‘science’ should be applied to “the laws of God and His government of the universe, inclusive of man” (Science and Health, 128). Eddy also argued that her views qualified as science, because the truth of her claims could be established through an appeal to empirical evidence, namely the healing of human bodies. In his full presentation, Roberts also points out that prior to 1750, discussion of the natural world had been wound up entirely in the conversation about God. The natural world was rarely a topic of study by natural historians, and scientists comfortably referred to the divine role in events when no other explanations were available.

For more, see:

The one-minute video of Professor Jon Roberts on Mary Baker Eddy and science and religion:
https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/project/jon-roberts-mary-baker-eddy-and-science-and-religion/

A longer excerpt from Roberts’s survey of science and religion in the 19th century (00:09:23):
https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/project/varieties-of-scientific-experience/

The entire panel presentation (01:32:15):
https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/project/varieties-of-scientific-experience/