Philosophy 1600 - Honors Seminar

Philosophy of Religion


 

Syllabus

Text

Philosophy of Religion, 2nd edition, edited by Louis Pojman

In addition to the above anthology, you will also need to have access to a reliable and accurate version of the Bible - one that contains scholarly translations, rather than paraphrases, of the original texts - since three of the assignments, and two of the topics, involve some readings from the Bible.

Copies of the following additional readings will also be made available:

Walter Kaufmann, sections 57 and 58 of The Faith of a Heretic (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1961).

Walter Kaufmann, sections 54-5 and 58-70 of Critique of Religion and Philosophy (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958).

Andrew Dickson White, Chapter XIII, Section II, Growth of Legends of Healing – The Life of Xavier as a Typical Example, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, (New York: Appleton, 1896).

Course Work

1.  Regular attendance and participation in class discussions are crucial.

2.  The written work for the course will consist of three exercises, two essays, and a three-hour final examination.  (The weight assigned to each of these is indicated below.)

Exercises

Exercise 1:  The Infallibility of the Bible.  (5%)
            Due date:   Monday, September 8

Exercise 2:  Morality and the Bible.  (5%)
            Due date:   Monday, September 15

Exercise 3:  Jesus and the Gospel According to Matthew.  (5%)
            Due date:  Monday, November 24

Essays

First Essay:  A 1000-1200 word essay on an assigned topic.  (30%)
            Due Date:  Monday, October 13

Second Essay:  A 1000-1200 word essay on an assigned topic.  (30%)
            Due Date:  Monday, November 17

Final Exam:  A 3 hour, closed book, essay exam will be held on Thursday, December 18, at 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., in Norlin Library M498.  (25%)

 

Topics and Required Readings

1.  Faith, Rationality, and the Ethics of Belief

Louis Pojman, "Pragmatic Justification of Religious Belief", pages 418-20.

Blaise Pascal, "The Wager", pages 420-2.

W. K. Clifford, "The Ethics of Belief", pages 422-6.

William James, "The Will to Believe", pages 427-35.

2.  Cosmological Arguments for the Existence of God

Louis Pojman, "Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God", pages 2-3.

St. Thomas Aquinas, "The Five Ways", pages 4-6.

Samuel Clarke, "The Argument from Contingency", pages 6-7.

Paul Edwards, "A Critique of the Cosmological Argument", pages 7-16.

William Rowe, "An Examination of the Cosmological Argument", pages 16-25

Richard Taylor, "The Cosmological Argument:  A Defense", pages 25-31.

3.  The Argument from Design

Louis Pojman, "The Teleological Argument for the Existence of God", pages 32-4.

William Paley, "The Watch and the Watchmaker", pages 34-36.

David Hume, "A Critique of the Design Argument", pages 37-43.

Richard Swinburne, "The Argument from Design", pages 43-53.

4.  Are Proofs of the Existence of God Relevant to Religion?

Louis Pojman, "The Relevance to Religion of the 'Proofs'", pages 79-80.

Steven M. Cahn, "The Irrelevance to Religion of Philosophic Proofs for the Existence of God", pages 80-3.

Stephen T. Davis, "What Good Are Theistic Proofs?", pages 84-92

Michael Scriven, "The Presumption of Atheism", pages 403-11.

5.  Miracles and Revelation

Louis Pojman, "Miracles and Revelation", pages 295-99.

David Hume, "Against Miracles", pages 300-9.

Richard Swinburne, "For the Possibility of Miracles", pages 309-15.

John Mackie, "Miracles and Testimony", pages 315-22.

Richard L. Purtill, "Miracles:  What if They Happen?", pages 323-33.

Richard Swinburne, "Miracles and Revelation", pages 333-43.

Genesis chapters 1 through 8.

Louis Rose, Faith Healing, (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1971).

Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith, 1978), chapter 13, section 2.  (The first edition was published in 1896.)

6.  Religious Experience and the Existence of God

Louis Pojman, "The Argument from Religious Experience", pages 95-101.

Selections of Mystic Experiences, pages 102-3.

William James, "Mysticism", pages 103-20.

C. D. Broad, "The Argument from Religious Experience", pages 120-7.

Wallace Matson, "Skepticism on Religious Experience", pages 127-38.

Gary Gutting, "A Modified Version of the Argument from Religious Experience", pages 138-48.

Louis Pojman, "A Critique of Gutting's Argument from Religious Experience", pages 148-53.

William P. Alston, "Religious Experience and Religious Belief", pages 154-60.

7.  Atheism and the Argument from Evil

Louis Pojman, "The Problem of Evil", pages 163-66.

David Hume, "The Argument from Evil", pages 167-72.

Gottfried Leibniz, "Theodicy:  A Defense of Theism", pages 172-76.

John Hick, "Evil and Soul-Making", pages 177-81.

Edward H. Madden and Peter H. Hare, "A Critique of Hick's Theodicy", pages 181-5.

J. L. Mackie, "Evil and Omnipotence", pages 185-193.

Alvin Plantinga, "The Free Will Defense", pages 193-212.

William Rowe, "The Inductive Argument from Evil Against the Existence of God", pages 212-18.

8.  Death and Immortality

Louis Pojman, "Death and Immortality", pages 345-51.

Plato, "Immortality of the Soul", pages 352-56.

David Hume, "Skepticism over Immortality of the Soul", pages 357-60.

Bertrand Russell, "The Finality of Death", pages 361-3.John Hick, "Immortality and Resurrection". pages 363-70.

Antony Flew, "Against Survival", pages 370-8.

Jeffrey Olen, "Personal Survival and Life after Death", pages 379-89.

Peter van Inwagen, "The Possibility of Resurrection". pages 389-92.

9.  Religion and Ethics

Louis Pojman, "Religion and Ethics", pages 555-6.

Plato, "Morality and Religion", pages 557-8.

Patrick Nowell-Smith, "Morality:  Religious and Secular", pages 558-69.

George Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality", pages 569-78.

Readings from the Bible:  Exodus, chapters 20-3; Leviticus, chapters 18-20, Deuteronomy, chapters 21-2; Matthew, chapter 5, verses 27-32; chapter 15, verses 19-20; chapter 19, verses 3-12; Mark, chapter 10, verses 2-12; Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 21-33; Romans, chapter 1, verses 18-32.

10.  Christianity

The Gospel According to Matthew

Walter Kaufmann, sections 57 and 58 of The Faith of a Heretic (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1961).

Walter Kaufmann, sections 54-5 and 58-70 of Critique of Religion and Philosophy (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958).

Andrew Dickson White, Chapter XIII, Section II, Growth of Legends of Healing – The Life of Xavier as a Typical Example, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, (New York: Appleton, 1896).