2023w-apphil2090m-03

AP/PHIL2090 3.0 M: Intro. to the Philosophy of Religion

Offered by: PHIL


(Cross-listed to: AP/RLST2090 3.0M )

 Session

Winter 2023

 Term

W

Format

LECT

Instructor

Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite

Does God exist? Can religious belief be explained away? What is the relationship between faith and reason? Through a selection of classic readings, this course provides a survey of some central topics in the philosophy of religion.


Course Start Up

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    Additional Course Instructor/Contact Details

Professor J. Vernon
jvernon@yorku.ca
Virtual Office Hours:  Tuesdays 1-3 (By appointment not drop in)

    Expanded Course Description

This is not a course on philosophy in religion, i.e. it does not treat any or all of the various world religions and their philosophical viewpoints.  Rather, this course provides a survey of some central topics in the philosophy of religion. In other words, this course deals not with any specific religious tradition or text, but with philosophical questions regarding the general nature of religious belief, experience and practice.

 

Through a selection of classic readings, we will explore four fundamental ‘religious’ questions: 1) Does God exist? 2) What is the relationship between faith and reason? 3) What is the relationship between faith and morality? 4) Can the persistence of religious belief be explained away?

    Required Course Text / Readings

Course kit, edited by the instructor, available at the bookstore

    Weighting of Course

Midterm exam 25%

Term Paper 35%

Take-Home Final Exam 40%

 

    Organization of the Course

Week 1

Course Intro.

Section 1: The Existence of God

Week 2

Anselm ‘God truly exists’; Gaunilo, ‘What someone, on behalf of the fool, replies to these arguments’; Anselm, ‘Reply to Gaunilo’; Aquinas ‘The Existence of God’

Week 3

Aquinas ‘The Existence of God’ (cont.); Hume, selections from Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Week 3

Hume, selections from Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (cont.); Mackie, ‘Evil and Omnipotence’

Week 4

No Class (‘Reading’ Week)

Week 5

Mackie, ‘Evil and Omnipotence’ (cont.)

Week 6

Mid-Term (term paper questions handed out)

Section 2: Faith and/or Reason?

Week 7

Pascal, selections from Pensées; Locke, selections from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Week 8

Kierkegaard, ‘The Knight of Faith and the Knight of Infinite Resignation’

Section 3: Faith and/or Morality?

Week 9

Plato, Euthyphro

Week 10

Kant, selections from Critique of Practical Reason

Section 4: Explaining Faith Away

Week 11

Freud, ‘Future of an Illusion’

Term Paper due (in class and on turnitin.com)!

Week 12

Marx, ‘Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’; Carvaka, selected writings. Take Home Final Exam announced

    Course Learning Objectives

To understand a variety of philosophical debates concerning religious concepts; to sharpen essay writing, as well as editing skills by learning how to give constructive feedback from others and incorporate it oneself; to embed philosophical knowledge in an understanding of its interaction with broader social trends.

    Relevant Links / Resources
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