6aanb025 philosophy of religion - king's college … · 6aanb025 philosophy of religion course...

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1 6AANB025 Philosophy of Religion Course title Philosophy of Religion Course code 6AANB025 Value 15 Credits Course convenor Name: Dr Chris Hughes Room: Room 709, Philosophy Building [email protected] KCL Tel: (020 7848) 2228 Teaching tutors: Carlo Rossi ([email protected] ); Aims and learning outcomes Aims The aim of this course is to give students an understanding of the contemporary debate in the philosophy of religion. Religious beliefs raise many distinctive philosophical issues which relate to central areas of philosophy, especially epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. For example, Philosophy of Religion deals with the rationality of religious belief, proofs of God‘s existence, the possibility of miracles, the problem of evil, divine command theories of ethics, and religious language. This module covers a selection of such issues. It intends to encourage students to think critically about different approaches to central questions in the philosophy of religion, and to show how contemporary philosophy of religion relates to traditions of philosophical thought about God and religious truth. Learning outcomes Generic skills By the end of the course the student will be able to demonstrate an advanced ability:- to analyse texts and arguments to summarise and present arguments to research, plan and present essays to specified deadlines Course specific skills Students should become familiar with some key thinkers in contemporary philosophy of religion; understand contemporary theories on religious belief; understand the main strengths and weaknesses of contemporary arguments in philosophy of religion in the light of past philosophical traditions. Teaching arrangements This level 6 module is taught in Semester II with 1 hour weekly lectures and 1 hour weekly seminars.

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6AANB025 Philosophy of Religion

Course title Philosophy of Religion

Course code 6AANB025

Value 15 Credits

Course

convenor

Name: Dr Chris Hughes

Room: Room 709, Philosophy Building

[email protected]

KCL Tel: (020 7848) 2228

Teaching tutors: Carlo Rossi ([email protected]);

Aims and learning outcomes

Aims

The aim of this course is to give students an understanding of the contemporary debate in the

philosophy of religion. Religious beliefs raise many distinctive philosophical issues which relate

to central areas of philosophy, especially epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. For example,

Philosophy of Religion deals with the rationality of religious belief, proofs of God‘s existence,

the possibility of miracles, the problem of evil, divine command theories of ethics, and religious

language. This module covers a selection of such issues. It intends to encourage students to think

critically about different approaches to central questions in the philosophy of religion, and to

show how contemporary philosophy of religion relates to traditions of philosophical thought

about God and religious truth.

Learning outcomes

Generic skills

By the end of the course the student will be able to demonstrate an advanced ability:-

to analyse texts and arguments

to summarise and present arguments

to research, plan and present essays to specified deadlines

Course specific skills

Students should become familiar with some key thinkers in contemporary philosophy of religion;

understand contemporary theories on religious belief; understand the main strengths and

weaknesses of contemporary arguments in philosophy of religion in the light of past

philosophical traditions.

Teaching arrangements

This level 6 module is taught in Semester II with 1 hour weekly lectures and 1 hour weekly

seminars.

2

Course description and teaching plan

In the first five weeks of the course we will be looking at natural atheology. We will be

considering what might be called "arguments via naturalism" against the existence of God, along

with traditional "arguments from evil". (Arguments via naturalism arrive at the nonexistence of

God via some version of the premise that all there are, are atoms and the void). Although

reference will be made to some historical sources (e.g. Aquinas), for the most part, readings will

be taken from contemporary sources (e.g. Mackie, Sainsbury, Plantinga, Shalkowski). The last

five weeks of the course will focus on contemporary religious epistemology (e.g. Alston, Hick,

Plantinga, Swinburne). Students will gain an understanding of the contemporary debate on

religious epistemology through an analytical survey of some of the most important answers to

the question of how, if at all, belief in God can be rationally justified.

The course will be taught over 10 weeks (exclusive of reading week).

First part of the course

Week 1: Atheism and the Burden of Proof

N. R. Hanson, "What I Don't Believe", in Hanson, Norwood Russell. 1971. ―What I Don‘t

Believe.‖ In S. Toulmin and H. Woolf (eds.), What I Do Not Believe and Other Essays, pp.

309–31. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company.

Scott Shalkowski, "Atheological Apologetics", American Philosophical Quarterly 26, 1,

1989.

Week 2: Atheism and Naturalism

Armstrong, "Naturalism, Materialism, and First Philosophy", Philosophia 8 (2-3):261-

276

Week 3: The Logical Argument from Evil and the Free Will Defence

Mackie, "Evil and Omnipotence", Mind 64, 254 (1955)

Plantinga, ―The Free Will Defence‖. In God, Freedom, and Evil, Wm. B. Eerdmans

Publishing, 1974

Week 4: The Logical Argument from Evil and Redeeming Goods

R. M. Sainsbury, ―Benevolence and Evil‖, Australasian Journal of Philosophy 58, Issue

2, 1980

Week 5: The Evidential Argument from Evil and "Skeptical Theism"

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William Rowe, "The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism", in Adams and

Adams, eds. The Problem of Evil (Oxford University Press)

S. Wykstra, ―Rowe‘s Noseeum Arguments from Evil" (in Howard-Snyder ed., The

Evidential Argument from Evil, John Wiley and Sons, 1996).

W. Alston, ―Some (Temporarily) Final Thoughts on the Evidential Arguments from Evil"

(in The Evidential Argument from Evil)

Second part of the course

Week 6

Introduction: the rational justification of religious belief.

Natural Theology. Richard Swinburne.

‗Introduction‘ in R. Douglas Geivett and Brendan Sweetman (eds.), Contemporary

Perspectives on Religious Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press,

2004, ch. 1.

Week 7

The epistemology of religious experience I (Richard Swinburne and John Hick).

Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2005, pp. v-vi; 1-3 (‗Preface‘ and ‗Introduction‘).

Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God, ch. 13: ‗the argument from religious

experience‘ (esp. pp. 303-327 ‗the principle of credulity and the principle of testimony‘).

John Hick, ‗The Rationality of Religious Belief‘, ch. 22 in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology or ch. 13 in John Hick, An

Interpretation of Religion. Second edition, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion, Second edition, pp. 1-17.

Week 8

The epistemology of religious experience II (William Alston).

William Alston, ‗Religious Experience and Religious Belief‘ in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

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William Alston, Perceiving God: the Epistemology of Religious Experience. Ithaca:

Cornell University Press, 1991, ‗Introduction‘, pp. 1-8; pp. 194-7 (in ch. 5); ch. 8 (pp.

286-307).

Week 9

Reformed epistemology I (Alvin Plantinga: The ‗proper basicality‘ of religious beliefs).

Alvin Plantinga, ‗Is Belief in God Properly Basic?‘, ch. 9 in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

N. Kretzmann. ‗Evidence and Religious Belief‘ ch. 5 in B. Davies, B. Philosophy of

Religion: a Guide and Anthology. New York - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Week 10

Reformed epistemology II (Alvin Plantinga: the notion of ‗warrant‘).

Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief, pp. vii-xvi (‗Preface‘) and ch. 6 (pp. 167-

198).

Richard Swinburne, ‗Review of Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief‘ in

Religious Studies 37 (2001): 203-214.

Second part of the course

Week 6

Introduction: the rational justification of religious belief.

Natural Theology. Richard Swinburne.

‗Introduction‘ in R. Douglas Geivett and Brendan Sweetman (eds.), Contemporary

Perspectives on Religious Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press,

2004, ch. 1.

Week 7

The epistemology of religious experience I (Richard Swinburne and John Hick).

Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2005, pp. v-vi; 1-3 (‗Preface‘ and ‗Introduction‘).

5

Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God, ch. 13: ‗the argument from religious

experience‘ (esp. pp. 303-327 ‗the principle of credulity and the principle of testimony‘).

John Hick, ‗The Rationality of Religious Belief‘, ch. 22 in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology or ch. 13 in John Hick, An

Interpretation of Religion. Second edition, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion, Second edition, pp. 1-17.

Week 8

The epistemology of religious experience II (William Alston).

William Alston, ‗Religious Experience and Religious Belief‘ in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

William Alston, Perceiving God: the Epistemology of Religious Experience. Ithaca:

Cornell University Press, 1991, ‗Introduction‘, pp. 1-8; pp. 194-7 (in ch. 5); ch. 8 (pp.

286-307).

Week 9

Reformed epistemology I (Alvin Plantinga: The ‗proper basicality‘ of religious beliefs).

Alvin Plantinga, ‗Is Belief in God Properly Basic?‘, ch. 9 in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

N. Kretzmann. ‗Evidence and Religious Belief‘ ch. 5 in B. Davies, B. Philosophy of

Religion: a Guide and Anthology. New York - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Week 10

Reformed epistemology II (Alvin Plantinga: the notion of ‗warrant‘).

Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief, pp. vii-xvi (‗Preface‘) and ch. 6 (pp. 167-

198).

Richard Swinburne, ‗Review of Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief‘ in

Religious Studies 37 (2001): 203-214.

Seminars: weekly meetings for 10 weeks (excluding reading week). See above for weekly

reading.

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Assessment

The assessment consists of two parts:

1. Summative assessment: 1 x 2-hour exam in May/June (Period II).

2. Formative assessment: 2 x 1,000-word essays, to be submitted to your teaching tutor.

1. Exam:

The course will be assessed through one 2-hour unseen written examination (100% of final

grade).

2. Formative Essays:

The mark does not count toward the final grade. However, students MUST submit two

formative essays (1,000 words each) by the deadlines indicated below. Students who do not

submit their essays will fail the module. Extensions can be granted only by the course

convenor, Dr Hughes, and only in exceptional circumstances (e.g. illness). If you need an

extension present your reasons to your teaching tutor who will contact Dr Hughes.

First Essay (1000 words) to be emailed to your teaching tutor by Monday 27 February.

Second Essay (1000 words) to be emailed to your teaching tutor by Friday 6 April.

Essay Titles

Atheism, Broad and Narrow

(1) What is naturalism? Does it imply atheism? Are there (on-balance) good reasons to be an

atheit?

(2) What is the strongest argument against the coherence of the concept of God? How good is it?

(3) Why, if at all, should one think that, even though there are no reasons to disbelieve in God,

there are reasons to disbelieve in a perfect (i.e. all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful, and entirely

practically rational) God?

Religious Experience and the Justification of Religious Belief

(1) Are there good (sola ratione) arguments for supernaturalism—that is, the view that reality

does not consist exclusively of things in nature (together with, perhaps, abstract entities)? If so,

are there good (sola ratione) arguments for the existence of God?

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(2) What is the principle of credulity? Does it play an essential role in the justification of

religious beliefs?

(3) What is ―epistemic circularity‖ (as Alston understands it)? Do attempts to justify religious

belief sooner or later exhibit epistemic circularity? If so, what implications, if any, does that have

for the justification of religious belief?

(4) ―Attempts to settle the question of the reasonability of belief in God, while leaving open the

question of its truth, are bound to fail.‖ Discuss.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SECOND PART OF THE COURSE

Introductions and surveys

Brief introductions:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/: Religion, epistemology of [by

Peter Forrest].

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (available on line: see University of London databases):

Religion and epistemology [A. Plantinga]; Internalism and externalism in epistemology [by W.

Alston].

Linda T. Zagzebski, Philosophy of Religion: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell,

2007 (esp. ch. 3 and 10).

More advanced:

Quinn, P. L., "Epistemology in Philosophy of Religion" in The Oxford Handbook of

Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 513-38

Nicholas Wolterstorff, ‗Religious Epistemology‘ (especially relevant for reformed epistemology

and Wittgensteinian fideism) in William J. Wainwright (ed) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy

of Religion, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005. See also ch. 13: C. Stephen Evans ‗Faith

and Revelation‘.

A. Plantinga, "Reformed Epistemology" in (ed.) P. L. Quinn & C. Taliaferro, A Companion to

the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1997), p.383-9

Anthologies

A number of papers which will be read during seminars are included in R. Douglas Geivett and

Brendan Sweetman (eds.), Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 1993.

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Brian Davies, Brian (ed.) Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2000.

Paul Helm (ed.) Faith and Reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Michael Peterson, et al. (eds.) Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2007.

J. Hick, (ed) Classical and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Religion, Prentice Hall,

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990.

Chad Meister (ed) The Philosophy of Religion Reader, Routledge, New York and Abingdon,

2008.

Journals

Some of the most important journals in the philosophy of religion are: International Journal for

Philosophy of Religion, Faith and Philosophy, Religious Studies and Sophia. JSTOR is

particularly useful for finding journal articles.

1) Natural theology

R. Swinburne, The Existence of God, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004 (esp. chaps

1-6).

Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005

(amongst other things Swinburne engages with Plantinga and Hick‘s positions).

William P. Alston, ‗Swinburne and Christian Theology.‘ International Journal for Philosophy of

Religion 41/1 (1997): 35-57.

William Hasker. ‗Is Christianity Probable? Swinburne's Apologetic Programme.‘ Religious

Studies 38/3 (2002): 253-264.

John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion. Second edition. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan,

2004, pp. 104-110 (‗Swinburne‘s probability argument‘).

T. Penelhum, Problems of Religious Knowledge, London: Macmillan, 1971 (Ch. 3 ‗Not being

Able to Prove the Existence of God‘).

Steven M. Cahn ‗The Irrelevance to Religion of Philosophic Proofs for the Existence of God‘ in

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology, ch. 17.

2) The Epistemology of Religious Experience

John Hick, Faith and Knowledge, 2nd ed., Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.

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John Hick, ‗The Rationality of Religious Belief‘, ch. 22 in Geivett – Sweetman, Contemporary

Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion. First edition, 1989. Second edition, Houndmills:

Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. (NB: the ‗Introduction to the second edition‘, pp. xvii-xlii

considers/replies to various criticisms).

R. Swinburne, The Existence of God, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004 (esp. pp.

303-327).

William Alston, ‗Religious Experience and Religious Belief‘ in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

William Alston, Perceiving God: the Epistemology of Religious Experience. Ithaca: Cornell

University Press, 1991.

William Alston, Epistemic Justification. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989.

Jerome I. Gelman, Experience of God and the Rationality of Theistic Belief. Ithaca: Cornell

University Press, 1997.

Keith Yandell, The Epistemology of Religious Experience, Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1993.

3) Reformed epistemology

A. Plantinga, ‗Is Belief in God Properly Basic?‘, ch. 9 in Geivett – Sweetman, Contemporary

Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

P. L. Quinn, P. L., "In Search of the Foundations of Theism" in Faith and Philosophy 2 October

1985, p.469-86

A. Plantinga, "The Foundations of Theism: A Reply" in Faith and Philosophy 3 July 1986,

p.298-313

N. Kretzmann. ‗Evidence and Religious Belief‘ ch. 5 in B. Davies, B. Philosophy of Religion: a

Guide and Anthology. New York - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

A. Plantinga, Warrant and Proper Function, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

A. Plantinga, Warrant: The Current Debate, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

A. Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. [Electronic

Resource].

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Richard Swinburne, ‗Review of Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief‘ in Religious

Studies 37 (2001): 203-214.

Alvin Plantinga, ‗Rationality and Public Evidence: A Reply to Richard Swinburne‘. Religious

Studies 37/2 (2001): 215-222.

Nicholas Wolterstorff, ‗Is Reason Enough?‘, ch. 10 in Geivett – Sweetman, Contemporary

Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

Stewart C. Goetz, ‗Belief in God Is Not Properly Basic,‘ ch. 12 in Geivett – Sweetman,

Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology.

L. Zagzebski (ed.), Rational Faith: Catholic Responses to Reformed Epistemology, Notre: Dame:

Notre Dame University Press, 1993.

Mark McLeod, Rationality and Theistic Belief: an Essay on Reformed Epistemology, Ithaca, N.

Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993.

A. Plantinga and N. Wolterstorff (eds.), Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God, Notre

Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 1983.

W. P. Alston, W. P., "Plantinga's Epistemology of Religous Belief" in J. E. Tomberlin & P. Van

Inwagen (ed.), Alvin Plantinga (Dordrecht: D Reidel Publishing Co., 1985)

J. Beilby, J., Epistemology as Theology: An Evaluation of Alvin Plantinga's Religious

Epistemology (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005)

--------------- "Plantinga's Model of Warranted Christian Belief" in D. Baker (ed.), Alvin

Plantinga (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p.125-65

L. Bonjour, L., "Plantinga on Knowledge and Proper Function" in J. L. Kvanvig (ed.), Warrant

in Contemporary Epistemology: Essays in Honour of Plantinga's Theory of Knowledge (London:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1996), p.47-71

K. Lehrer, K., "Proper Function versus Systematic Coherence" in (ed.) J. L. Kvanvig, Warrant in

Contemporary Epistemology: Essays in Honour of Plantinga's Theory of Knowledge (London:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1996), p.25-45

G. Oppy, "Natural Theology" in (ed.) D. Baker, Alvin Plantinga (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2007), p.15-47

S. J. Wykstra, S. J., "Toward a Sensible Evidentialism: On the Notion of "Needing Evidence"" in

(ed.) W. L. Rowe & W. J. Wainwright, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (London:

Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998) p.481-91

INTUTE: THE BEST OF THE WEB http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/philosophy/

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INTUTE: Philosophy: ―Web resources for the study of ideas concerning the nature of reality,

value, and experience, as well as Philosophy's own history. … Each resource has been evaluated

and categorised by subject specialists based at UK universities.‖

MANY CLASSIC TEXTS IN PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION AVAILABLE ONLINE AT:-

http://www.epistemelinks.com/Main/MainText.aspx.