Course Number: PHS 541 Course Title: Natural Theology Term: Summer Instructor Dr. Randall Colton,

Transcription

1 1. Course Description Course Number: PHS 541 Course Title: Natural Theology Term: Summer 2016 Instructor Dr. Randall Colton, An introduction to the philosophical study of God s existence, attributes, and operations. After considering the nature of natural theology itself and some objections to it, we will investigate St. Thomas s five ways to demonstrate God s existence as well as some other arguments to the same conclusion; and finally, after briefly considering atheism, we will finish with a survey of God s attributes and operations. 2. Envisioned Learning Outcomes 1. The student will be able to define natural theology and discuss its goals, methods, and limits. 2. The student will be able articulate common objections to natural theology and some possible responses. 3. The student will be able to explain and evaluate a variety of arguments for God s existence, attributes, and operations.3. Course Schedule Note: and assignments are tentative; check course site for up to date information. Week 1: What Is Natural Theology? Commentary on the De Trinitate of Boethius, question 2, articles 2-4; question 5, article 1 and question 6, articles 2-4; Summa contra gentiles, Book I, chapter and Book II, chapter 4.; Summa theologiae Part I, question 2, articles 1-2 Listen to course overview audio presentation on the week s topic Week 2: Objections to Natural Theology A) Karl Barth, from Church Dogmatics, 49-65, OR Zizioulas, from Lectures in Christian Dogmatics and B) Theology and Falsification OR from the Critique of Pure Reason, pages (pdf found in the lesson container on the course website) 1

2 Week 3: The Five Ways, Part I: First Way Commentary on the Posterior Analytics, Book II, Lecture 1; Commentary on the Metaphysics, Book V, lecture 3; Summa theologiae I, q. 2, a 2 and a. 3, first paragraph of the response; Summa contra gentiles Book I, chapter 13 Week 4: The Five Ways, Part II: Second and Third Ways Summa theologiae I, q. 2, a. 3, second and third paragraphs; Summa contra gentiles, Book I, chapter 13, paragraph 32, and chapter 15, paragraph 5; Book II, chapter 15, paragraph 6; and Book III, chapter 70; and On Being and Essence, n. 80. Week 5: The Five Ways, Part III: Fourth and Fifth Ways Summa theologiae I, q. 2, a. 3, fourth and fifth paragraphs; I, q. 79, a. 4; I-II, q. 52, a. 1; Summa contra gentiles, Book I, Chapter 13, paragraph 34; Book II, Chapter 15, paragraphs 3 and 5; "Prologue" to the Commentary on the Gospel of John, paragraphs 5 and 6; De Veritate Question 22, article 1; Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics, Book II, Lesson 4 Week 6: Other Arguments for God s Existence Clarke, from Philosophical Approach to God; Pascal, from James Collins' God in Modern Philosophy and/or passages from Pascal's Pensees. Suggested passages from the Pensees are listed in the online lesson and are posted in a pdf. Week 7: Atheism Hume, from Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Parts 2-4, 7, 9-11; Rachels, God and Moral Autonomy 2

3 Week 8: Knowing God s Nature Summa Theologiae, I, q. 12, aa. 1-2, 4, 11-12; I q., 56, a. 3; De Trinitate Boethii, q. 1, a. 2, q. 6, a. 3; Summa contra Gentiles, I, cc. 14, 29; De Veritate, q. 2, a. 1 ad 9 (i.e., reply to the ninth objection); De Potentia, q. 7, a. 5 ad 14 Week 9: Naming God and Analogical Predication Summa theologiae I, q. 13; Summa contra gentiles I, cc. 30, 32-35; De potentia q. VII, aa. 5-7; De veritate q. 2, a. 11 Week 10: God s Perfections: Simplicity, Perfection, Goodness, Infinity Summa theologiae I, qq. 3-4; I, q. 5 aa. 1-4; I, q. 6-7; SCG I, cc. 18, 28, 37-41; DP q. VII, aa. 1-4 Week 11: Omnipresence, Immutability, and Eternity Summa theologiae I, q. 8, aa. 1-3; q. 9, aa. 1-2; q. 10, aa. 1-3; q. 11, aa. 3-4; Summa contra gentiles, I, cc. 15 and 42 Week 12: Divine Knowledge Summa theologiae I, q. 14 OR De Veritate (Disputed Questions on Truth) q. 2, aa. 1-5, 8-9, Watch or listen to presentations Week 13: The Divine Will Summa theologiae I.19 Watch video presentation 3

4 Week 14: Creation Summa theologiae I, q. 13, a. 7; qq Watch video presentation Week 15: Providence Summa theologiae I, qq. 22 and COURSE REQUIREMENTS Your grade depends on your fulfilling three sorts of requirements: Discussion Board Posts (30%) Discussion Board posts are due each week, except for the first three weeks and last three weeks of the term. For each of the remaining weeks of the semester, you will be responsible for at least one post in the form of an insight about the week s reading or a response to another student s insight or question. If a prompt is provided, please respond to at least one of the questions it contains; otherwise you may construct your post according to your own insights or perplexities. One post each week will count towards completion of this assignment; but of course please feel free to submit as many posts as you like. Our class weeks begin on Monday and end on Sunday; discussion board posts are due by midnight on Sunday night. The lowest grade in this requirement will be dropped. Some hints: Stay on topic. Direct our attention to the particular places in the text that give rise to your comments. Be courteous. Try to do something with the material; don t just summarize. Criticize, question, apply, compare, and so on. Paper or Midterm Exam Graduate students turn in a paper; undergraduate students take a midterm exam. a. Paper for graduate students (40%) 1. Description: Write a paper of words (about 5-6 pages) that demonstrates the depth of your engagement with one or two philosophers, texts, or issues connected to one of the schools of thought we re studying. Consultation with the professor is advised. I expect a philosophical essay that articulates a central question, perplexity, criticism, or interpretive claim; elucidates or defends the central issue by providing appropriate reasons; and reveals close engagement with the relevant texts. 2. Possible strategies: Expository: explains a concept or argument as it is developed over several texts or passages. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into some idea that puzzled or interested you. 4

5 Interpretive: argues for the superiority of one interpretation over others with respect to some ambiguous or difficult text. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into some text that attracted your attention. Critical: argues against some particular claim. This is your opportunity to attempt to refute some claim you thought especially worthy of attack. Application: applies a concept or argument from the text to a new issue or problem. This is your opportunity to draw connections between modern philosophy and contemporary thought and issues 3. Due dates: I suggest you turn the paper in by Sunday at midnight in Week 9 (either attach a PDF to an to me or upload a PDF to the file share section of the site). If you do, I will provide feedback and give you a chance for a re-write without penalty; submit revisions, using the same methods, by August 14. If you turn the paper in by Sunday at midnight in Week 12 using the same methods, I will provide some feedback, but the paper will not be eligible for a re-write. If you turn the paper in by Thursday at midnight in the last week of the term (using the same methods), I will provide only a grade and the paper will not be eligible for a re-write. No papers will be accepted after Thursday at midnight in the last week of the term. b. Midterm exam for undergraduate students (30%) Undergraduate students will take a midterm exam instead of writing the paper. The exam will be mostly objective in format, and you will be able to consult texts and notes. The exam is tentatively scheduled for Week 8, covering the material in Weeks 1-7. Final Exam (30% for graduate students; 40% for undergraduate students): You will take a final, cumulative exam, covering all the material in the course. Unless I otherwise notify you, expect an essay format, with open books and notes. Due by midnight on Saturday in the last week of class. 5. REQUIRED READINGS and RESOURCES: Articles on electronic reserve 6. SUGGESTED READINGS and RESOURCES: Maurice R. Holloway, S.J., An Introduction to Natural Theology (NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1959) Gerard Smith, S.J., Natural Theology: Metaphysics II (NY: The Macmillan Co., 1951) 7. EVALUATION Please note: No late grades will be accepted. (Basis of evaluation with explanation regarding the nature of the assignment and the percentage of the grade assigned to each item below). Students who have difficulty with research and composition are encouraged to pursue assistance with the Online Writing Lab (available at GRADING SCALE: A ; A ; B ; B 84-86; B ; C ; C 74-76; C D 60-69; F 59 and below 5

6 A rubric for discussion board posts An A post engages the text or comment with specificity and clarity, offering some new insight, thought, or question that has special excellence or merit. A B post responds directly to the text or comment, is clear, and offers some new insight, thought, or useful question. A C post responds in general to the text or comment but in confusing ways or without doing much more than repeating information already given or applying a general laudatory remark (e.g., Wow! Great insight! ). A D post is off subject almost entirely and/or is incoherent or impolite. An F post is missing. 8. DISABILITIES ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY Holy Apostles College & Seminary is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational opportunities and full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities who qualify for admission to the College. Students enrolled in online courses who have documented disabilities requiring special accommodations should contact Bob Mish, the Director of Online Student Affairs, at rmish@holyapostles.edu or In all cases, reasonable accommodations will be made to ensure that all students with disabilities have access to course materials in a mode in which they can receive them. Students who have technological limitations (e.g., slow Internet connection speeds in convents) are asked to notify their instructors the first week of class for alternative means of delivery. 9. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY Students at Holy Apostles College & Seminary are expected to practice academic honesty. Avoiding Plagiarism In its broadest sense, plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas, presented or claimed as your own. At this stage in your academic career, you should be fully conscious of what it means to plagiarize. This is an inherently unethical activity because it entails the uncredited use of someone else's expression of ideas for another's personal advancement; that is, it entails the use of a person merely as a means to another person s ends. Students, where applicable: Should identify the title, author, page number/webpage address, and publication date of works when directly quoting small portions of texts, articles, interviews, or websites. Students should not copy more than two paragraphs from any source as a major component of papers or projects. Should appropriately identify the source of information when paraphrasing (restating) ideas from texts, interviews, articles, or websites. Should follow the Holy Apostles College & Seminary Stylesheet (available on the Online Writing Lab s website at Consequences of Academic Dishonesty: Because of the nature of this class, academic dishonesty is taken very seriously. Students participating in academic dishonesty may be removed from the course and from the program. 6

7 10. ATTENDANCE POLICY You are expected to login several times during each week. Because this class is being taught in a technology-mediated forum, it is important to actively participate each week in the course. In a traditional classroom setting for a 3-credit course, students would be required, per the federal standards, to be in class three 50-minute sessions (or 2.5 hours a week) and prepare for class discussions six 50-minute sessions (or 5 hours) a week. Expect to devote at least nine 50-minute sessions (or 7.5 quality hours) a week to this course. A failure on the student s part to actively participate in the life of the course may result in a reduction of the final grade. 11. INCOMPLETE POLICY An Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned at the discretion of the faculty member. It is typically allowed in situations in which the student has satisfactorily completed major components of the course and has the ability to finish the remaining work without re-enrolling, but has encountered extenuating circumstances, such as illness, that prevent his or her doing so prior to the last day of class. To request an incomplete, distance-learning students must first download a copy of the Incomplete Request Form. This document is located within the Shared folder of the Files tab in Populi. Secondly, students must fill in any necessary information directly within the PDF document. Lastly, students must send their form to their professor via for approval. Approval should be understood as the professor responding to the student s in favor of granting the Incomplete status of the student. Students receiving an Incomplete must submit the missing course work by the end of the sixth week following the semester in which they were enrolled. An incomplete grade (I) automatically turns into the grade of F if the course work is not completed. Students who have completed little or no work are ineligible for an incomplete. Students who feel they are in danger of failing the course due to an inability to complete course assignments should withdraw from the course. A W (Withdrawal) will appear on the student s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the first week of a semester to the end of the third week. A WF (Withdrawal/Fail) will appear on the student s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the third week of a semester and on or before the Friday before the last week of the semester. 12. ABOUT YOUR PROFESSOR I'm originally from Texas and came to St. Louis University for my PhD in philosophy. More importantly than gaining my degree, I also picked up a wife in St. Louis. My wife and I have since lived in Chicago and Philadelphia, coming back several years ago for a position in philosophy at Cardinal Glennon College of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. We now live near St. Louis with our eight children the older four of whom we homeschool and we worship at the Oratory of Ss. Gregory and Augustine. 7