Philosophy 265: Intro to Philosophy of Religion, Spring 2008 Rutgers Philosophy HOME
Mon
/ Thurs, 10:55 am–12:15 pm, RAB
110B, Douglass
Instructor:
Matt Benton
mbenton [at] philosophy [dot] rutgers [dot] edu
126 Davison Hall, Douglass Campus
Office hours: Mondays, 1–2 pm
Textbooks:
Philosophy of Religion: selected readings, 3rd edition, M.
Peterson et al., eds. (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Reason
& Religious Belief,
3rd edition, M. Peterson et al. (Oxford University Press, 2003)
Course
requirements:
assigned readings, 4 short papers (4 – 5 pages each; topics and due dates to
be announced), and mandatory attendance (see below). The essays will be on the readings; no outside research is
expected. This will be
discussed more in class.
The
course will have a lot of discussion, so come well-read and prepared to
talk. While class discussion
doesn’t count toward your grade directly, it will show me how well you
understand the material and can help your grade if you’re on the fence at the
end of term.
Attendance
policy:
due to the difficulty of the subject matter in this course, your presence in
class is required. (I will take
attendance each day!) You will be
allowed no more than 5 (five) absences during the semester, which should be
enough to account for the occasional illness, religious holidays, and unexpected
mishaps. For every absence beyond 5
your final grade drops a half grade – no kidding.
Schedule (subject to change)
Thurs,
Jan. 24 Introduction:
PR: pp. 1-4
Faith and Reason – PR Part 3, RRB chapter 3
Jan.
28, 31
PR: Aquinas, “The Harmony of Reason and Revelation,” pp. 92-5, Flew and Mitchell, “The Falsification Debate,” pp.
430-434, plus R.M. Hare handout
Feb.
4, 7
PR: Pascal, “The Wager,” Clifford, “The Ethics of Belief,”
James, “The Will to Believe,” & Kierkegaard, “Subjectivity is
Truth,” pp. 101-122
Religious Experience – PR Part 2, RRB chapter 2
Feb.
11, 14
PR: James, “Religious Experience as the Root of Religion,”
& Alston, “Religious Experience as Perception of God,” pp. 35-53
Feb.
18, 21
PR: Martin, “Critique of Religious Experience,” pp. 65-77
Theistic Arguments – PR Part 5, RRB chapter 5
Feb. 25, 28 PR: Anselm, “The Classical Ontological Argument,” (just Ch. 2), ( handout ), Gaunilo, “Critique of Anselm’s Argument,” and Plantinga, “Modal Ontological Argument,” pp. 176-193 (focus on pp. 188ff.).
Mar.
3, 6
PR: Reichenbach, “The Cosmological Argument,” pp. 197-209,
Paley, “The Analogical Teleological Argument,” Betty & Cordell, “The
Anthropic Teleological Argument,” pp. 232-241
Knowing God without Arguments – PR Part 6, RRB
chapter 6
Mar.
10, 13
PR: Plantinga, “The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology,”
and Pargetter, “Experience, Proper Basicality, and Belief in God,” pp.
261-279
Mar.
17 – 21
~ Spring Break ~
The Problem of Evil – PR Part 7, RRB chapter 7
Mar.
24, 27
PR: Hume, “Evil Makes A Strong Case…,” Mackie, “Evil and
Omnipotence,” Plantinga, “The Free Will Defense,” 296-340, and Adams,
“An Objection to Middle Knowledge,” pp. 402-406
Mar.
31, Apr. 3 PR:
Hick, “Soul-Making Theodicy,” Rowe, “The Evidential Argument from Evil,”
Adams, “Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God,” pp. 341-375
Miracles – PR Part 10, RRB chapter 9
Apr.
7, 10
PR: Hume, “The Evidence for Miracles is Weak,” Swinburne,
“Miracles and Historical Evidence,” and Mackie, “Miracles and
Testimony,” pp. 473-495
Religion and Science – PR Part 12, RRB chapter 12
Apr.
14, 17
PR: Gould, “Two Separate Domains,” Dawkins, “Science
Discredits Religion,” and Murphy, “Theology and Scientific Methodology,”
pp. 549-579
Religious Diversity – PR Part 13, RRB chapter 13
Apr.
21, 25
PR: Dalai Lama, “Buddhism and Other Religions,”pp. 584-587,
Rahner, “Religious Inclusivism,” and John Hick, “Religious Pluralism,”
pp. 597-616, plus Plantinga handout on Religious Exclusivism
Religion and Morality – PR Part 14, RRB chapter 14
Apr.
28, May 1 PR:
Adams, “Moral Arguments for God’s Existence,” pp. 246-256;
then MacIntyre, “Which God Ought We to Obey?” and Sartre, “Ethics
without Religion,” pp. 621-638
Mon, May 5 Wrap-up