Class web page: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/1600.html
What this course is about
Introduction to philosophical thinking about some of the principal issues arising from the theological traditions of the West. Topics will include: the existence of God, the foundations of morality, the meaning of life, the problem of evil, the possibility of miracles, mystical experience, life after death, the challenge of religious diversity, and the relation between faith and reason.
This is not a survey course in world religions or in the history of religion. Nor does it presuppose extensive knowledge about the religions of the world. It is designed to be a first course in philosophy - but one that is of special interest to students who care about religious issues. The course will stress the analysis of concepts and the critical evaluation of arguments. It is addressed primarily to those who are trying either to decide what to believe about the claims made by religious people, or perhaps to justify what they already believe. It should also be of interest to anyone seeking a better understanding of what they (or other people) believe about the place of human beings in the world.
Instructor
Wes Morriston
(Please call me "Wes.")
Office: Hellems 280
Hours: Tu 12:00pm – 1:30pm, Fri 1:30pm – 3:00pm, and
by appt. (You can usually catch me after class as well.)
Mailbox: Hellems 269
Email: Wes.Morriston@colorado.edu
Home Page: http://spot.colorado.edu/~morristo/Home.html
Teaching Assistants
Blake Andrews (gary.andrews@colorado.edu)
Sec. 102 W 1200PM-1250PM (CLUB 4)
Sec. 104 W 1100AM-1150AM (HLMS 185)
Annette Bryson (annette.bryson@colorado.edu)
Sec. 103 W 1000AM-1050AM (ATLS 1B25)
Sec. 105 W 1200PM-1250PM (HLMS 181)
Martin Eyestone (martin.eyestone@colorado.edu)
Sec. 101 W 0800AM-0850AM (HLMS 191)
Sec. 106 W 1000AM-1050AM (HLMS 271)
The TAs will be leading weekly recitation sections and grading
your work. They will announce their own office hours.
Required texts
Louis
Pojman and Michael Rea, eds., Philosophy of
Religion: An Anthology, fifth edition
Several additional readings online.
(See below for the URLs. To access some of them, you will need a name and
password. These will be provided in class.)
Class format
Two lectures a week and one recitation. Recitation sections will be devoted to discussion of the material covered in lecture. Students should come to recitation prepared to think and talk about the concepts/issues/arguments presented in the lectures and readings of the previous week.
Course requirements
Two four to six page papers on a choice of assigned topics. (25%)
Midterm exam. Short answer and essay. (25%)
Final exam. Short answer and essay. (40%) For more information about the exams, see http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/final-what.html.
Recitation work. (10%) The recitation part of your grade
will be based on attendance, participation, and frequent short quizzes at the
beginning of class.
Important dates
First paper: Due in recitation on Wed., Feb. 6. (Topics will be posted on our class website soon.)
Midterm exam: in class, Th., Mar. 13.
Second paper: Due in recitation on Wed., Apr. 16.
Final examination: Mon., May 5, 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Please plan on taking the exams at the times indicated above.
Unless otherwise indicated, page references are to the Pojman and Rea anthology. Assignments will be made several weeks in advance. Notice of the current reading assignment can always be found at
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/this-week.html
I. IS THERE A GOD?
A. The Ontological Argument
St. Anselm (pp. 3-5)
B. Cosmological Arguments
1. An Eighteenth Century century version
William Rowe, "An Examination of the Cosmological Argument" (pp. 24-33)
2. The Kalām Cosmological Argument
William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland (pp. 33-45, but stressing the kalām argument, starting on p. 36)
C. Design Arguments
1. The Eighteenth Century version
Paley, "The Watch and the Watchmaker" (pp. 54-56)
Hume, Critique of the argument (pp. 56-63)
2. The "fine-tuning" argument
Robin Collins, “A Scientific Argument for the Existence of God” (pp. 74-84. You don't have to read the Appendix.)
D. Moral Arguments
Is the existence of God required for objective moral truth?
A debate on this topic between William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong can be found here:
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/lad/craig-sinnott-armstrong.pdf
Plato, selection from the Euthyphro (pp. 556-557)
The story of the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22). You can find it here: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/GENESIS22.html.
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20-23). You can find it here: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/EXODUS20-24.html.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). You can find it here: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/MATTHEW5-7.html.
II. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
A. Arguments against God
David Hume, "The Argument from Evil" (pp. 147-152)
William Rowe, "The Inductive Argument from Evil Against the Existence of God" (pp. 200-207)
B.
Theodicies
No reading from Augustine - but read Genesis, chs. 1-4, which you can find here: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/GENESIS1-4.html.
John Hick, "Evil and Soul-Making (pp. 165-169)
III. LIFE AFTER DEATH?
A. Can the consciousness of an individual person survive the death of the brain?
Bertrand Russell, "The Finality of Death" (pp. 336-338)
A couple of additional readings on near death experiences and on the phenomena of mental mediumship can be found at
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/lad/lad.html.
For copyright reasons, you will need a username and password to access them. These will be given to you in class.
B. Would it really be me? The problem of personal identity
John Hick, "Immortality and Resurrection" (pp. 339-345)
Jeffrey
Olen: “Personal Identity and Life After Death” (pp. 345-355)
IV. THE PLURALITY OF APPARENTLY CONFLICTING RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS
A.
Early Buddhism
The Four Noble Truths
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/wes/lad/buddha.html
We’ll also view a movie, “The Footprint of the Buddha”, from the seventies series, The Long Search, narrated by Ronald McIntyre.
B.
Religious pluralism
John
Hick, "Religious Pluralism and Ultimate Reality" (pp. 509-516)
V. RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
OMITTED: James, selection from The Varieties of Religious Experience (pp. 98-114)
Broad,
"The Argument from Religious Experience" (pp. 119-126)
Freud, selection from The Future of an Illusion (pp. 114-119)
VI. MIRACLES?
A.
David Hume's classic attack on miracle stories
Hume, "Against Miracles" (pp. 276-285)
Recommended, but not required Peter van Inwagen, Against Hume (pp. 285-295)
B.
What about the resurrection of Jesus?
William
Lane Craig, "Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ" (http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth22.html)
VII. FAITH AND REASON
Pascal, "The Wager" (pp. 364-366)
"The Ethics of Belief" Clifford (pp. 366-370)
William James, "The Will to Believe" (pp. 370-379)
ADDENDA
Classroom deportment statement (adapted from Jason Hyde's Fall 07 Ethics syllabus)
I don’t like rules, but there are several things that I like even less. The following rules prohibit some of those. First, let me give you my rationale for the rules so that you can reasonably interpret them and understand where I am coming from. My chief concern in this class—by far—is to care for the students who take the class seriously and who are trying hard to learn. The rules for the class are designed to produce the best possible learning environment for these students. I am normally pretty easy going, but any behavior that is likely to distract other students will change that in a hurry. When you are in class, you should either pay attention or do a passable imitation of a student who is paying attention.
Here, then, are the rules:
All mobile phones, game players, etc. must be OFF and PUT AWAY.
Laptops may be used to take notes. They may not be used to check your email or play games or do instant messaging. (It's a dead giveaway when more than one student is looking at the same laptop, or when a student is sporting an earbud.)
No talking, whispering, passing notes, etc.
No newspapers, crossword puzzles, etc.
No
feeble excuses.
Number 5 means that if you want to be excused for missing some assignment or deadline, you had better have a great story and the documentation to back it up.
A
student who is noticed violating rules 1 – 4 may be asked to leave the room.
Cheating statement
The midterm and final will be closed book exams. No cheat
sheets of any kind are permitted. Peeking at other people's answers is
forbidden. The penalty for cheating is quite serious.
Plagiarism statement
Plagiarism is copying someone else's work and turning it
in under your own name without adequate citation of the source(s). It is often
relatively easy to detect, and the consequences for the plagiarist are quite
serious.
Disabilities statement
Any student eligible for and needing academic adjustments
or accommodations because of a disability should speak to me about it as early as
possible in the semester. Please note that to be eligible for such adjustments
or accommodations you will need to provide documentation of your disability to
the Disability Services Office in Willard 322 (tel:
303-492-8671).
Religious observances statement
Any student needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a religious holiday or other religious obligation should speak to me about it as early as possible in the semester.