Topics
to be covered:
-
The
nature of religious language (Logical positivism,
Wittgensteinian Fideism, Foundationalism and non-Foundationalism,
Realism and Non-Realism)
-
The
concept of God (Classical, Process, Pantheism, and Goddess
theology)
-
Relationship
between faith and reason
-
Arguments
for the Existence of God
-
The
Problem of Evil and Theodicy
-
Providence
and Miracles
-
Life
after Death
Rationale for
and goals of the course:
This course
provides the student with an opportunity to think clearly about the
fundamentals of belief; it is a gentle introduction to logical
thinking; and it explores the primary topics in philosophy of
religion.
Learning
Outcomes of the course:
At
the end of the course, the student will:
- Have
explored certain questions using a philosophical approach;
- Grasp
and understand the complexity of belief and the range of options
amongst philosophers;
- Be
able to articulate their own position on these questions.
Method/s
of Delivery:
Each session
will start with lecture input, followed by a discussion of the set
reading for that week.
Method
of Assessment:
Book Review
(one of the following)
Pamela Sue
Anderson, A Feminist Philosophy of Religion: The Rationality and
Myths of Religious Belief (Oxford: Blackwell 1997)
Don Cupitt, Taking
Leave of God (SCM Press 2001)
Keith Ward, God:
A Guide for the Perplexed (Oxford: Oneworld 2002)
Richard
Swinburne, Is there a God? (Oxford: Oxford University Press
1997)
Ian Markham, Truth
and the Reality of God (T&T
Clark 1998)
Paper on a
topic discussed with the Professor.
The two
exercises will evaluate the three learning outcomes.
Session
Breakdown
Session one:
Thinking clearly: the relationship of faith to reason
Session two:
Talk about God: the classical solutions and the modern problems
Session
three: Talk about God: truth, realism, and non-realism
Session four:
Concept of God: Perfection, timelessness, and changelessness
Session five:
Concept of God: Process, creativity, and Goddess theology
Session six:
Omnipotence, omniscience, and freewill
Session
seven: Existence of God: the Ontological Argument
Session
eight: Existence of God: the Cosmological Argument
Session nine:
Existence of God: the Design Argument and the Moral Argument
Session ten:
Providence and Miracles
Session
eleven: Theodicy and the Problem of Evil
Session
twelve: Life after Death.
Session
thirteen: Deciding what we think?
The challenge and the duty.
Preliminary
reading list
Students must
obtain:
Wainwright
and Rowe (eds.) Selected Readings in the Philosophy of Religion
(Oxford: Oxford University Press 1999)
Third Edition. Every
week certain chapters in this book will be discussed.
For the
paper, students will discuss a topic with the Professor and then
will use up to three of the books listed below in that paper:
Alvin Plantinga, God, chance and necessity.
Ann Loades
and Loyal D. Rue, Contemporary classics in philosophy of Religion
B. L.
Hebblethwaite, The Ocean of Truth.
Beverly
Clack and Brian Clack, Philosophy
of Religion. A Critical Introduction.
D. Z.
Phillips, Faith After
Foundationalism.
Don Cupitt, The
Sea of Faith.
Grace Jantzen,
Becoming Divine. Towards a Feminist Philosophy of Religion.
J. C. A.
Gaskin, The Quest for Eternity.
J. L. Mackie,
The Miracle of Theism
John Cobb and
David Griffin, Process theology. An Introductory Exposition.
John Hick, An
Interpretation of Religion.
John Hick, Death
and Eternal Life.
John Hick, Philosophy
of Religion.
John Hick, Evil
and the God of Love.
John
Polkinghorne, Science and theology. An Introduction
Keith Ward, Holding
Fast to God.
Keith Ward,
Rational Theology and the Creativity of God
Kenneth Surin,
Theology and the Problem of Evil.
Maurice
Wiles, God’s Action in the World.
Michael
Peterson, William Hasker, Bruce Reichenback, David Basinger, Reason
and Religious Belief.
Peter Vardy, The
Puzzle of Evil.
Peter Vardy, The
Puzzle of God
R. Douglas
Geivett and Brendan Sweetman (eds.) Contemporary Perspectives on
Religious Epistemology.
Richard Gale,
On the Nature and Existence of God.
Richard Rorty, Objectivity,
Relativism, and Truth. Philosophical papers
1
Richard
Swinburne, Faith and Reason
Richard
Swinburne, Providence and Evil
Richard
Swinburne, The Coherence of Theism
Richard
Swinburne, The Existence of God
Sallie McFague, Models of God
