“The
ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at
times of challenge and controversy.”
- Martin Luther King Jr. ,‘48
- Martin Luther King Jr. ,‘48
AVAILABLE IN
PDF here:
Philosophy 410, Philosophy
of Religion - 42843 - HPHI 410 - 01 Fall 2012
10-10:50 MWF, Sale Hall 107
www.Turnitin.com ; class ID= 5385670,
password is philosophy: written work should
be submitted through Turnitin and in
hardcopy, in class.
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Preferred Email: nathan.nobis@gmail.com
(preferred email); nnobis@morehouse.edu
Telephone: 404-215-2607
office; 404-825-1740 cell
Office: Sale Hall 113, Philosophy & Religion Department
Office Hours: Monday 2- 4, Friday 1:50 to 2:30 and by appointment
on Tuesdays and Thursdays: please email!
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Course blog and syllabus: http://philosophy410.blogspot.com
Email announcement group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/morehouse-philosophy-of-religion
Catalogue Description:
Examination of philosophical
questions involved in religion and religious beliefs. Prerequisite: PHI 201 or
consent of the instructor.
Extended course description:
Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black
Experience, the author claims that:
While religion has been at the center of the African-American experience, substantive philosophical questions and issues about theodicy, the epistemological nature of religious beliefs, and even creationism have been avoided.[1]
“epistemological nature” of religious beliefs, i.e., seek to understand whether religious beliefs – theistic and Christian beliefs, in particular – are supported by strong evidence, good reasons and sound arguments or not. We will evaluate “theodicies,” attempts to explain what (if anything) might justify an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good being in permitting certain kinds of evil, especially the evils of racism, slavery, lynchings, and discrimination: we will read many African American thinkers who address this issue and evaluate arguments for the view that the existence of evils like these give good reason to believe that God does not exist. We will discuss many other philosophical issues that arise from religious belief and practice, such as the existence of hell, the nature of reason and faith, surviving death, and how we should respond to religious diversity and disagreements, whether religious belief is “important” in various senses, and many other issues. In summary, our concern is whether rationality requires that we be theists, atheists, agnostics or hold some other view about the nature and existence of God(s) or other divine beings.
Throughout the course our main methods involve (A) getting very clear on what exact claims we are evaluating (e.g., what is meant by ‘God’?) and (B) patiently, carefully and thoroughly finding and evaluating the reasons given for and against the claim in question (as well as the reasons that might be given in response to those reasons). Philosophy courses require questioning assumptions, seeking reasons and evidence and demand intellectual responsibility, i.e., being careful with what you believe because you wish to believe the truth and effectively pursue it, even if this requires changing your own beliefs. This course offers the opportunity to develop these intellectual skills in identifying and evaluating arguments and cultivating an intellectually virtuous outlook based in the requirement for good reasons for belief and action that can be beneficial for everything you do and who you are.
Three required texts:
- A Thinker's Guide to the Philosophy of Religion, Allen Stairs and Christopher Bernard, Longman, 2006)
Topics
Featured in A Thinker’s Guide to the Philosophy of Religion
·
Concepts of God
·
The Design
Argument
·
The Cosmological
Argument
·
The Ontological
Argument
·
Miracles
·
Religious
Experience
·
Reformed
Epistemology
·
Faith and
Pragmatic Reasons for Belief
·
The Argument from
Evil
·
God and Morality
·
Religious
Diversity
·
God and Language
·
Life after Death
- Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris, Knopf, 2006. http://www.samharris.org/ A short book by one of “The New Atheists.”
- Writing Philosophy: A Student's Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays, Lewis Vaughn, Oxford, 2005
- A number of articles and handouts will be distributed in class and/or online. The topics of these articles will include:
o
Divine Hiddenness
(if God exists and it’s important that people believe in him, why doesn’t he make himself more obvious?),
o
the
Problem of Hell (if God exists and
is all loving, could he send anyone to
Hell?), religious pluralism (What
should we think of people whose
religious beliefs differ from our’s? Can their
beliefs be true or rational? Can they
be mistaken? Should recognition of their
beliefs give us reason to lose
confidence in our beliefs?) and more readings on the
Problem of Evil (If God exists, then why is there
so much evil? Does the existence of so much evil – undeserved, unjust pain and suffering, etc.)
give some reason to think there
is not a God?) and more, including some writings
on African and African-American philosophy of religion.
Always
bring your materials to class.
Prerequisites:
Introduction to Philosophy, or a previous philosophy course, is a prerequisite
for this course, but is not
essential. Students will benefit most from the
course when they enter it with the
abilities to:
a.
read critically
and identify the
structure
and components of an argumentative
essay or passage, i.e., the
conclusion(s), the premises(s) or
supporting elements, and so forth;
b.
write clear, concise and simple grammatical, spelling-error-free sentences
and well-organized expository and
argumentative
essays, as taught in Introductory English courses;
c.
speak clearly, concisely, and
grammatically.
·
Basic mathematical
and scientific literacy is desirable.
·
Familiarity
with commons reasons given for and
against religious belief, including belief that God exists, belief that
particular religions are true (e.g., that Christianity is true, that Islam is
correct) is desirable, since we will build on any previous understanding.
·
Intellectual
and moral virtues, such as curiosity, patience,
and openness to the possibility
of error and the need for change,
are desirable as well.
Objectives: Upon successfully completing this
course, students
will be able to use the set
of argument analysis skills below to
identify
and evaluate philosophical arguments
for and against various conclusions concerning religious belief and practice:
a. identify
whether any presentation (“text”) is
argumentative or not, i.e., whether it
presents an argument or not;
b. identify
conclusions of argumentative presentations, evaluate
these conclusions for clarity and precision, and (if needed) reconstruct /
restate
the conclusion in clear and precise terms;
c. identify
stated
premises or reasons in argumentative presentations, evaluate
these conclusions for clarity and precision, and (if needed) reconstruct /
restate
these premises in clear and precise terms;
d. identify
(if needed) unstated premises in argumentative presentations that are logically essential
to the
structure
of an argument and state them as part
of the argument
in clear and precise terms;
e. identify
and distinguish factual/empirical/scientific
and moral/philosophical premises in moral arguments;
f. evaluate
arguments as (1) logically valid or
invalid (or otherwise
logically cogent) and (2) sound or unsound (or otherwise strong);
g. identify
and explain reasons given to think an argument
is sound, reasons to think it
is unsound, and responses to these
reasons: that is, to explain the dialect of discussion.
Students will be able to
accurately explain historically influential philosophical positions and
arguments and common arguments for
and against them, in light of their
implications, explanatory power and theoretical virtues
and vices.
Responsibilities:
To succeed in this class, you
must be disciplined: are responsible to understand and meet the requirements
outlined below and discussed in class:
- Attendance: Always come to class, as Morehouse College policy requires. Sign the role sheet: if it is not passed to you, then you need to find it. An absence is excused only if you get the instructor an official Morehouse excuse in writing that he can keep.
- Punctuality: Come to class on time. Lateness will be penalized on your final grade.
- Preparation: Bring all your books, handouts and other materials – including materials that you must print off from the internet – and have them out on your desk and ready to discuss at the beginning of class.
- Students who do not bring their materials may be asked to leave, as they are not prepared for class.
- Doing the Reading: For every hour spent in class, spend at least two hours doing the reading and writing outlines, paraphrases &/or summaries of the readings.
- Preparation for engaged, production discussion, not passive lectures:
- Morehouse College is a liberal arts college, not a university. Classes are small and thus we are able to discuss issues and arguments and have a more interactive learning environment. The instructor, therefore, will rarely “lecture” in any traditional sense, since lecturing encourages student passivity, disengagement, and not doing the reading.
- For a critique of the educational value of lecturing see, “To Lecture or Not to Lecture, an Age-Old Question” at http://www.morehouse.edu/news/archives/001176.html
- Honesty: Any plagiarism or cheating on any assignment – including any extra credit assignments – will immediately result in failing the course: no exceptions, no excuses.
- “Help me help you”:
- The instructor should be informed of medical, family, or other problems that necessitate missing class or that interfere with your work. In addition, students are encouraged to visit with the instructor during his office hours if they are having difficulty reading or understanding the materials presented in class. If you ever have any questions about anything, please just ask!
Assignments and grading:
- 12 weekly short writing assignments, often on the readings, usually due Monday at the time of class in hardcopy – no work will be accepted late -- and submitted to the Turnitin.com system, with a print out of your submission receipt attached the assignment (see above for the Course ID and password): 5 points each, 60 points total.
- 2 Quizzes: In class. 20 points each, 40 points total.
- 2 Argumentative essays (approx 5 pages), including rough drafts, peer and instructor review and revisions: 20 points each, 40 points total.
- 1 small group project and class presentation. Groups of three students will create a webpage or blog (e.g., on Google pages, blogger or some other online forum) concerning some issue in philosophy of religion and some of the arguments concerning that issue, and present this page to the class (and the planet, via the internet). 20 points.
- Final research paper and presentation, on a topic developed in consultation with the professor and the philosophy and religion librarian, Mr. Bradley Ost. 20 points.
- Attendance and participation is required. Each unexcused absence after 4 will result in a 2% reduction from students overall grade. Unexcused tardiness will result in 1% reduction.
- EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS. There likely will be many extra credit opportunities, including this assignment related to finding your “calling” through your career(s): https://docs.google.com/open?id=1TKXEcQS1D5AJ_PwKf8T3UWgHdXtOkNcNTrSmlrdQ_U2vP7FXdpXwmTLAHDW0
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Note: A syllabus is not
a contract, but rather a guide to course procedures. The instructor reserves
the right to alter the course requirements and/or assignments based on new
materials, class discussions, or other legitimate pedagogical objectives.
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EXACT READINGS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN CLASS, THE EMAIL
GROUP AND ON THE BLOG
Your first assignments are to get the books,
sign up for the email groups and to start reading the Vaughn and Harris books.
The Harris book is really brief. Google him!
[1] Stephen Ferguson, II, “Teaching
Hurricane Katrina: Understanding Divine Racism and Theodicy,” Newsletter
on Philosophy and the Black
Experience, Fall 2007, Volume 07, Number 1, at http://web.apa.udel.edu/publications/newsletters/v07n1_Black_02.aspx
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