Friday and Monday

For Friday:

• 37. The Ethics of Belief , W. K. Clifford , p. 195 in Cahn’s Exploring Philosophy of Religion

· Vaughn:

o Ch. 1, How to Read Philosophy;

o Ch. 2, How to Read an Argument;

o Ch. 5, Avoiding Fallacious Reasoning

o Basic Logic handout: http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/arguments.pdf

For Monday, we will start thinking about some questions about the traditional concept of God. Here is the writing assignment about the readings:

1. “OPS” (Outline, Paraphrase, &/or Summarize the Argument) writing assignments: 25% of grade

The absolute most important thing you can do to succeed in this class is to do the reading and do the reading well. A (tentative) schedule of readings is below and will be announced in class. To encourage you do the readings well and so be prepared for class discussion, you will be required to write 1-3 page outlines, paraphrases &/or summaries of the arguments of nearly all of the readings or selections of them. Vaughn’s Writing Philosophy, Ch. 1 provides instruction on how to do this. What most important for these assignments is that you (a) identify the author’s main conclusions, and (b) explain the reasons he or she gives in favor of these conclusions and (c) explain whether these reasons are a valid and sound argument for that conclusion or not. Merely copying a writing’s Introduction will result in a zero for the assignment, as will any other kind of plagiarism.

Part I: The Concept of God: If God exists, then what is God like?

1. God and Goodness , James Rachels, p. 5, in Cahn’s Exploring Philosophy of Religion

2. God's Omnipotence , George Mavrodes , p. 8 in Cahn’s Exploring Philosophy of Religion