PHIL 3600 -- Philosophy of Religion
Section 001
Spring 2017
Th/Th 5:00-6:15
VAC 1B88

Professor
Chris Heathwood
heathwood@colorado.edu
Office: HLMS 192
Hours: Fridays 9:30-12:00, and by appointment

Course Description
This is a course in analytic philosophy of religion in the Western tradition.  In this area of philosophy, we attempt to answer fundamental questions concerning important doctrines of major world religions, especially the Abrahamic religions, and especially the doctrines concerning God, as God is typically understood in those traditions.  There are far too many such questions worth studying to fit into one course.  We will confine our attention to just a few of them.

After laying out a traditional definition of God, our first main topic will be divine omnipotence.  We'll gain an appreciation for why the notion of omnipotence is problematic, and explore the solution offered centuries ago by the great medieval philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274).  Our second topic will be the dilemma of freedom and foreknowledge, where we investigate whether God's omniscience implies that no one has free will.  Our focus will be on the kind of solution to the dilemma offered centuries ago by the late medieval philosopher William of Ockham (1287–1347) as it is developed by the leading contemporary philosopher of religion Alvin Plantinga.

Then we will move on to arguments for God's existence.  We'll begin with Pascal's wager, due to the pioneering French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).  This argument attempts to show that we should believe in God because it is prudent to do so.  Then we'll study the most famous version of the ontological argument, due to the medieval theologian St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109).  Ontological arguments attempt to prove that God exists simply from the definition of God.  We'll conclude our examination of arguments for God's existence with a fascinating modern version of the argument from design called the fine-tuning argument.  According to this argument, certain remarkable facts about the laws of physics provide evidence that those laws were crafted or selected by an intelligent designer.

Our final topic for the course will be a kind of master argument for atheism, and the many issues this argument raises, such as the different kinds of possible evidence for God's existence, the notion of self-evidence, the problem of divine hiddenness, and the notion of faith.  We will also learn about the best-known argument for atheism – the problem of evil – in a guest lecture, though this will happen earlier in the term.

Further Clarifications
This is a course in the philosophy of religion.  It is not a course in comparative religion, the history of religion, or the sociology of religion.  Though these are important questions, we will not be asking what the religious beliefs of some group are, or how they differ from the beliefs of some other group, or what cultural circumstances might have led them to adopt their religious views.  We will instead be trying to figure out the answers to the questions suggested above (Is the notion of omnipotence really incoherent?, Is divine foreknowledge really incompatible with human freedom?, Is there really evidence for God's existence in certain facts about the laws of physics?, etc.).

This is a challenging course, especially for non-majors.  Much of the reading is difficult and must be read slowly and more than once.  Many of the ideas and arguments presented in lecture and in the readings are unfamiliar, difficult, and technical.  You will be expected to know the material thoroughly, to think about it deeply, and to write clearly and precisely about it.  You should have taken at least two courses in philosophy at the university level to take this course.  If you haven't, but you still think this course is appropriate for you, please talk to me about it.

One interesting feature of philosophy – and indeed one that attracts many of us to it – is a willingness to question everything.  In the context of the philosophy of religion, this means a willingness to entertain the possibility that some of our most cherished beliefs are mistaken.  We thus need to be ok with openly discussing the possibility that God does or does not exist.  This can make some people uneasy, but I hope that my mentioning it now will help to mitigate that.  On the plus side, in this class we get to discuss deeply and honestly some of the most important questions that we as humans face, questions concerning the nature and existence of God.

Course Website
The course website, which you should check regularly, can be found here:

     http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/3600SP17/.

There you will find:

• this syllabus
• course readings
• reading questions
• what we did each day (check this first if you miss a class)
• lecture slides
• handouts
  
• study guides for exams
• paper guidelines and topics
• and more.

Readings
No book is required!  The readings will be supplied via the course website.  Some of these will require a password, which I will give you in class.

Class Mates
So that you will have someone from whom to get the notes and any other pertinent information should you miss class, introduce yourself to two of your classmates, and get their email addresses and phone numbers.

Course Requirements
1. Technology.  You must have an email account and regular access to the internet, and you must check your colorado.edu email address and the course website frequently.

Classrooms should be free from external intrusions.  Accordingly, I would like our classroom to be an internet-free and device-free zone.  To this end, text messaging during class is strictly prohibited.  First-time offenders will be asked to stop; repeat offenders will lose points.  When you get to class, please put your cell phone away.

Also to this end, I prefer that you don't use a computer in class.  Students who use laptops in class do less well in college, as do those who sit near them. (See also.)  If you must use a laptop in class, please sit in the back row, since your screen is distracting to those sitting behind you.

2. Reading Quizzes (20%).  There will be quite a few pop quizzes throughout the semester.  These quizzes are designed to test that you are doing and understanding the readings, and to give you an incentive never to miss class.  For each reading, there will be a set of Reading Questions posted on the website.  All of the questions on the pop quizzes will be taken from these reading questions.  Furthermore, though the quizzes are not "open-reading," they are open-note.  Thus, as you are doing each reading and taking notes on it, you should (a) write down each question in your notes and then (b) write the answer below it, which you can find by reading, studying, re-reading, and thinking about the reading.  Then bring these notes with you to class.  All of the answers to the pop-quiz questions will then be right before you as you take the quiz!  So, yes, there is no reason that you all shouldn't ace all of the reading quizzes.

Quizzes are not restricted to readings that were due on the day of the quiz.  They might cover readings that were due on earlier days.  So bring all of your past reading notes with you to class.

You are permitted to use notes only that you yourself created from doing the reading; using or copying a classmate's notes is cheating (see Academic Integrity section below).  However, it is perfectly ok, and in fact encouraged, for you to discuss – "as equals" – the readings and reading questions with classmates.

There might be a short homework assignment or two.  If there are, they will be lumped in with your quiz grades.

3. Two Papers (30%).  Two papers are required: a short, pre-structured paper, and a longer, more open-ended paper.  The shorter one will be due a third to halfway through the term, the other close to the end of the term.  Exact due dates will eventually be posted on the course schedule below.  For the shorter paper, I'll give you the topic and the structure for the paper.  For the second paper, you can come up with your own topic related to the course (but I'll supply a few paper prompts for those who would like it).  Late papers are penalized 1/3 of a letter grade per day late unless you have a legitimate, documented excuse.  I'll say more about the papers as their due dates approach; in the meantime, check out my Philosophy Paper FAQ.

4. Two Exams (50%).  There will be two exams: a midterm exam and a non-cumulative final exam.  Each exam has two parts, and will take place over two class periods.  The first part of each exam will consist of very-short-answer questions (e.g., multiple choice or true/false questions); the second part will consist of short-answer questions (questions that can usually be answered in a sentence to a paragraph).  For the second part of each exam you'll need to bring a bluebook.  Both parts of both exams will take place in class, and will be closed-note and closed-reading.

To help you prepare, and to give you an idea about the sorts of questions you can expect, a study guide will be made available before each exam.  We will also hold a review/study session before each part of each exam.  You should come prepared for these review sessions by having already written out your own answers to the questions on the study guide.

If you miss any exams during the semester, you will be permitted to take a makeup exam only if you have a legitimate, documented excuse (e.g., non-trivial illness, death in the family, religious obligation).  If you need to miss an exam, you need to let me know in advance, by email.

Grading
Your final grade for the course is determined according to the following scheme: