Phil 3454: Philosophy of Religion
CRN: 15263, Major Williams Hall 434
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 1:25-2:15pm

 

Instructor: Ted Parent, PhD
Email: parentt@vt.edu
Office: Major Williams Hall 221
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 10-11am, and by appointment.

 

This course is an introduction to some primary religious controversies, as discussed by philosophers. For most of the course, we will be concerned with the major arguments for and against God’s existence. In the last five weeks, we will then ask to what extent (if any) God’s existence matters to morality and the “meaning of life.”
           
Texts:

Ø      Pojman & Rea, Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology, 5th ed., Belmont, CA:

Thomson, 2008. All readings are from this text unless otherwise indicated.

Ø      Nietzsche, F. The Gay Science, trans. W. Kaufmann, New York: Vintage, 1974.

Ø      Additional materials on Scholar

 

Course Assignments:
(1) Every Friday (with some exceptions; see below), there will be a one-question, open book quiz on the reading for that day. Satisfactory performance is a requirement for the course, meaning that unsatsifactory performance will lower your final grade.

(2) Paper (no min length; max length 5 pages) on Feb 24th worth ⅓ of the final grade.
(3) Paper (no min length; max 5 pages) due Apr 9th worth ⅓ of the final grade.
(4) Paper (no min length; max 5 pages) due May 8th worth ⅓ of the final grade. In lieu of the third paper, you may instead revise and expand an earlier paper (max length 10 pages). However, you MUST approve an outline with me first, before you begin writing.

 

No late assignments accepted, unless you can provide independent evidence of a legitimate emergency. But of course, if you have special needs because of a disability (learning disability, attention deficit disorder, psychological, physical, etc.), we can make different arrangements. Yet please see me in my office as soon as possible.

 

Excellent or poor participation/attendance will also affect your final grade. In extreme cases, poor attendance will result in an automatic ‘F’ for the course, regardless of your performance on the assignments.

 

The Virginia Tech Honor Code http://www.honorsystem.vt.edu/constitution.html is in effect for this class.

 

The grading scale for the course is as follows:

 

 

 

Percentage

Letter Grade

G.P.A. scale

94-100

A

4.0

90-93

A-

3.75

87-89

B+

3.5

83-86

B

3.0

80-82

B-

2.75

77-79

C+

2.5

73-76

C

2.0

70-72

C-

1.75

69-67

D+

1.5

63-66

D

1.0

60-62

D-

0.75

59 & below

F

0

 

 

Tentative Schedule

 

*WEEK ONE
Jan. 18                Introductory session.

Jan. 20                Wittgenstein, “A Lecture on Religious Belief” (on Scholar)

 

WEEK TWO: Fideism
Jan. 23, 25, 27    Wittgenstein (cont’); Martin, “A Critique of Fideism” (on Scholar)

 

WEEK THREE: The Cosmological Argument
Jan. 30                Fideism (cont’)

Feb. 1                 Aquinas, “The Five Ways”

Feb. 3                 Edwards, “Critique of the Cosmological Argument”

 

WEEK FOUR: More Cosmology; Some Teleology

Feb. 6, 8             Edwards (cont’)

Feb. 8                 Paley, “The Watch and the Watchmaker”

Feb. 10               Hume, “Critique of the Design Argument”

 

WEEK FIVE: The Teleological Argument
Feb. 13, 15, 17   Hume (cont’); Swinburne, “The Argument from Design”

 

*WEEK SIX: The Ontological Argument

Feb. 20               Anselm, “The Ontological Argument;” Gaunillo, “Critique of Anselm’s

        Argument” (on Scholar)         

Feb. 22, 24         Kant, “A Critique of the Ontological Argument” [Optional: Plantinga,

        “A Contemporary Modal Ontological Argument” (on Scholar)]

        1st Paper due Feb. 24th

WEEK SEVEN: Pragmatic Arguments
Feb. 27, 29         Pascal, “The Wager”

Mar. 2                 James, “The Will to Believe”

                      

*WEEK EIGHT

Mar. 5, 7, 9         NO CLASS (Spring Break)

 

WEEK NINE: Science vs. Religion

Mar. 12, 14, 16   Worrall, “Science Discredits Religion” (on Scholar)

 

WEEK TEN: Hume on Science vs. Religion, Evil

Mar. 19               Hume, “Against Miracles”     

Mar. 21, 23         Hume, “The Argument from Evil”

 

WEEK ELEVEN: The Problem of Evil
Mar. 26               Leibniz, “Theodicy: A Defense of Theism”

Mar. 28, 30         Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence”                              

 

*WEEK TWELVE: More Evil; Some Morality
Apr. 2, 4             Mackie (cont’)

Apr. 6                 Plato, “Morality and Religion”

 

WEEK THIRTEEN: Religion and Morality

Apr. 9, 11           Idziak, “Divine Commands are the Foundation of Morality” and

        Aquinas, “Ethics and Natural Law” (both on Scholar)

2nd Paper due Apr. 9th

Apr. 13               Sartre, “Ethics without Religion” (on Scholar)      

 

*WEEK FOURTEEN: Religion and the Meaning of Life
Apr. 16               Lois Hope Walker, “Religion Gives Meaning to Life” (on Scholar)

Apr. 18               Reinhardt, “Introduction,” note esp. pp. 7–end (on Scholar)

Apr. 20               Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Book III §§108-154, 158, 173

 

*WEEK FIFTEEN Nietzsche on Meaning and Morality
Apr. 23, 25, 27   Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Book IV §§276-290, 292, 318, 320, 324,

   326-7, 335, 338, 341-2; Book V §§343-347, 353, 359-366, 375-

   377, 381-383.

 

*WEEK SIXTEEN Nietzsche on Meaning and Morality

Apr. 30, May 2   Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Book I, §§1-7, 13-14, 19-21, 24-

        29, 49-53, 56

 

3rd Paper Due at 5:25pm on May 8th in Major Williams Hall 221. .

 

*Indicates a week where there will NOT be a quiz on Friday.