Course Description: Texts Exploring Philosophy of Religion (2 nd ), ed. Steven Cahn. Requirements:

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1 Phil 474- Philosophy of Religion Fall 2018 Course # Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 2pm-2:50pm Room: Biddle 252 Instructor: Dr. Derek Leben leben@pitt.edu office hours: MWF, 1-2pm, and by appointment 223B Biddle Hall Course Description: This course will examine arguments for and against the existence of a traditional monotheistic God, as understood in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Texts Exploring Philosophy of Religion (2 nd ), ed. Steven Cahn Attendance and Participation (10%) Weekly responses (20%) Paper 1 (35%) Paper 2 (35%) Requirements: Note: The total points tally on courseweb does NOT take these weights into account. If you want to keep track of your grade, take the percent signs off all the numbers above and multiply your percentage on each assignment by that number, then add those numbers up and divide by 100 (or the current total possible points, whichever is lower). Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required Texting in class will be penalized with a half point taken off participation Students are expected to come to class with the assigned readings completed Outstanding preparation and participation will be taken into account when grading borderline cases Weekly Responses Every Friday, starting on 8/31, you will have a 1-page weekly response due in class Discuss one of the readings and whether you think that reading made a persuasive case for its point Responses are given full credit (on a 1/0 basis) so long as they discuss a substantive point about one of the readings from that week Responses must be turned in as a hard copy in class (no ed responses) Missed responses cannot be made up.

2 Papers: Papers must be ed to: Late papers will be assessed a one-third-grade penalty per day (a B+ will become a B, a B will become a B-, etc.). In special circumstances, a student may prior to the due date request an extension. It is the responsibility of students to understand what constitutes plagiarism and what its consequences are. If you re in doubt, please ask. Plagiarists will be dealt with harshly. Try to avoid referring to your own attitudes or using the term: I feel. Here is a list of 101 expressions to use instead of feels: Rubric for Papers: A: Clear support, research, examples, objections, and replies are presented to the arguments B: Arguments are presented that are relevant and effective C: Material is presented accurately and without error D: Paper is complete F: None of the above Grading Standards A = % A- = % B+ = % B = % B- = % C+ = % C = % C- = % D+ = % D = % D- = % F = < 59.4% Students with disabilities and special needs: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Health & Wellness (OHW), G-10 Student Union Building, (814) to schedule an appointment as early as possible in the term. OHW will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course

3 Readings and Schedule: Readings with a (*) are provided by the instructor on courseweb 1 M 8/27 W 8/29 F 8/31 2 M 9/3 9/5-9/7 3 9/10-9/14 4 M 9/17-9/21 Intro Religion and Reason Faith and Beliefs NO CLASS (Labor Day) The Cosmological Argument The Ontological Argument The Design Argument What is Religion? Clack and Clack What is Reason? Cahn et al. Reason and Faith (*) Lara Buchak The Five Ways St. Thomas Aquinas The Cosmological Argument Richard Taylor The Cosmological Argument: A Critique, J. L. Mackie The Kalam Cosmological Argument, William L. Rowe The Ontological Argument St. Anselm and Gaunilo The Ontological Argument: A Critique, Immanuel Kant The Ontological Argument: A Reassessment William L. Rowe The Evidence of Design William Paley Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (II, V-VII) David Hume The Argument from Design Robert Hambourger Darwin and Design Nicholas Everitt

4 5 9/24-9/ /1-10/5 7 10/8-10/12 Contradictions and Moral Arguments The Problem of Evil Divine Hiddenness and Miracles Some Puzzles Concerning Omnipotence Mavrodes The Logic of Omnipotence Harry G. Frankfurt Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action Nelson Pike God and Goodness James Rachels Euthyphro Plato Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (X- XI) David Hume Hume on Evil Nelson Pike The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism William L. Rowe Why God Allows Evil Richard Swinburne Knowledge, Freedom, and the Problem of Evil Eleonore Stump Christianity and Horrendous Evils Marilyn McCord Adams Who is Causing Suffering, and to Whom? Grace M. Jantzen The Hiddenness of God Robert McKim Of Miracles David Hume On Miracles Paul J. Dietl Miracles as Evidence Against the Existence of God Christine Overall Do Miracles Occur? Monroe C. Beardsley and Elizabeth Lane Beardsley

5 8 T 10/16-10/19 9 M 10/22-10/ /29-11/ /5-11/ /12-11/16 Empirical Falsification ( New Atheism ) Pascal s Wager Belief Without Reason Psychological Debunking Arguments Evolutionary Debunking Arguments Science Discredits Religion (*) Richard Dawkins The End of Faith (*) Sam Harris God: The Failed Hypothesis (*) Victor Stegner Two Separate Domains (*) Stephen Jay Gould The Wager Blaise Pascal Pascal's Wager: A Critique Simon Blackburn Pascal's Wager: An Assessment Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski Pascal s Mugging (*) Nick Bostrom The Ethics of Belief W. K. Clifford The Will to Believe William James The Will to Believe: A Critique Nicholas Everitt Belief Without Argument Alvin Plantinga Belief Without Argument: A Critique, Michael Martin The Future of an Illusion (*) Sigmund Freud Religion is Natural (*) Paul Bloom Religion Explained (*) Pascal Boyer An Evolutionary Account of Religion (*) Daniel C. Dennett Signaling Theory and the Evolution of Religious Cooperation (*) Joseph Bubilia Exploring the natural foundations of religion Justin Barrett

6 13 11/19 11/21-23 Religious Diversity [No class- Thanksgiving] Selected Fragments (*) Xenophanes The Problem of Religious Diversity, Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski 14 11/26-11/30 The Afterlife A Dialogue on Immortality and Identity (*) John Perry Two Christian Concepts of Heaven Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang The Problem of Hell Marilyn McCord Adams Resurrection John H. Hick Do We Need Immortality? Grace M. Jantzen A Naturalistic Case for Extinction, Linda Badham 15 M 12/3-12/7 Questioning the Coherence of Religious Beliefs Experience and Metaphor Janet Martin Soskice Metaphors Without Meaning Paul Edwards Speaking in Parables Sallie McFague Beyond God the Father Mary Daly Reimagining the Unimaginable Judith Plaskow