Philosophy 305 Introduction to Philosophy of Religion Fall 2016 (also listed as CTI 310, RS 305) 42270; 33770; 43535 WAG 302 MWF 2-3 Stephen Phillips WAG 301 Fall Office Hours: M & F 3-4 & by appointment stephen_phillips@utexas.edu Assistant TBA WAG Fall Office Hours: & by appointment Description. An examination of principal issues in contemporary philosophy of religion with special attention to religious pluralism. The views and arguments of Western theologians and philosophers will be taken up along with claims and concepts growing out of Eastern religions (Buddhism and Hinduism, in particular). Special topics include different views of the nature of a Divine Reality, arguments of rational theology, mysticism, and the theological problem of evil. Global Cultures Flag. This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. Grading: Four two-page homework assignments, best three count (10% each = 30%). Due invariably on a Friday at the beginning of class: September 16, September 30, October 14, November 11. A mid-term exam (15%: true/false and short essay): October 19. Rewritten homework, three pages (15%). Due: Monday December 5. A final exam (30%): Tuesday December 13, 9-12 noon. Attendance (10%: checked randomly twelve times, with two absences free).
Reading. All readings are linked to this Web page. Lecture outlines and all links are required unless otherwise specified. Recommended: second-hand copy of the textbook, Philosophy of Religion: A Global Approach, ed. S. Phillips (a new copy is expensive). Please see the link on homework and writing philosophy essays. An important part of mastering a new subject is to learn its technical vocabulary. Be sure to know the meaning of words appearing below designating lecture topics. Consulting our on-line glossary is encouraged. Week 1 (Aug 24 & 26) Introduction. World religions, philosophy, religious philosophy, and philosophy of religion. The scope of the discipline and the scope of the course. Philosophic method; arguments and cogency. The question of foundations: revelation (and testimony), rational theology, mystical experience. "No-foundations" views. The coherence issue. Science and religion. Religion and ethics. Fideism. Religion and politics. Reading from the textbook for this course (chopped up and posted on this the course "Web page") Philosophy of Religion (S. Phillips, Harcourt Brace, 1996, henceforth "PR"), General Introduction, pp. 1-4 (required) & 5-10 (recommended, not required). Week 2 (Aug 29 & 31 & Sept 2) Western (Judaic-Christian-Islamic) views of God. Theology and sacred texts. Hermeneutics; the allegorical interpretation of scripture.
PR, pp. 17 (God), 18-19 (Bible), 24-26 (Judaism & Philo), 31-33 (Koran), & 281-84 (Thomas Aquinas on religious language). Week 3 (September 7 & 9) A religious philosophy as world view (Weltangschauung). The coherence requirement. God as a person. Philosophic conceptions; the rationalism of Avicenna and Anselm. Intellectualism (Aquinas) versus voluntarism (Duns Scotus). Avicenna's argument for God's unicity. PR, pp. 28-31 (Augustine), 33-40 (Avicenna), 41 (Anselm). Week 4 (Sept 12, 14, & 16) The process view of God. Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne. Review of the most prominent Western conceptions. PR, pp. 107-11 (Whitehead), 46-51 (Hartshorne). Homework I: First homework essay due (at the beginning of class, Friday Sept 16) Week 5 (Sept 19, 21, & 23) Eastern religions. Hinduism. Indian philosophy, religious and non-religious. The Upanishads; Vedanta. Brahman. The Bhagavad-Gita. PR, pp. 10-13 (Hinduism), 58 (introduction to the Hindu notion of Brahman), 59 (Veda), 60 (Gita), 60-61 (Aurobindo), 61-64 (Shankara). Week 6 (Sept 26, 28, & 30) Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths. Buddhist enlightenment philosophy. The impersonality of the Buddhist concept of sunyata, "Emptiness." Confucianism and Taoism. The concept of Tao. Taoist individualism and rejection of Confucian virtues. Taoist themes.
PR, pp. 64-65 (introduction to the Buddhist notion of Emptiness), 66-68 (Walpola Rahula), & 66-68 (Mahayana Canon). PR, pp. 78 (introduction to the notion of the Tao), 79 (Lao Tzu), & 80-81 (Chuang Tzu). Homework II: Second homework essay due (at the beginning of class on Friday Sept 30). Week 7 (Oct 3, 5, & 7) The foundations of religious beliefs. Revelation, rational theology, and mysticism. Testimony and miracles. Ontological arguments. The a priori and the a posteriori. PR, pp. 117 (introduction), 118-20 (Price on testimony), 121-25 (Swinburne on miracles, recommended), & 125-27 (Hume on miracles). PR, pp. 41 (Anselm), 152-54 (Kant), & 154-61 (Anselm & Kane on the modal argument, recommended). Week 8 (Oct 10, 12, & 14) First-cause and related cosmological arguments. Contingency and necessity. Teleological arguments. The teleological argument: discussion continued. Classical Indian rational theology. Axiological arguments. PR, pp. 133-38 (Udayana), 148-50 (Corey, recommended), & 150-52 (Nozick). PR, pp. 128-30 (Aristotelian rational theology), (in an earlier class) 34-35 (Avicenna), & 139-43 (Hume). Homework III: Third homework essay due (at the beginning of class, Friday October 14) Week 9 (Oct 17, 19) Review for midterm.
Midterm exam. Format: 11 true/false (20%), 4 of 5 quotations (20%), 3 short essays on quotations (60%). Author/text pool: TBA. MIDTERM EXAM: WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19 Week 10 (Oct 24, 26, & 28) Mysticism. The argument from mystical experience. Fideism. Mysticism and fideism. Jamesian over-beliefs and spiritual minimalism. (Focus on the lower half of the outline of the argument from mystical experience.) PR, pp. 168-70 (Al-Ghazali), 170-76 (Teresa and Aurobindo), 176-77 (Ruysbroeck and Ramakrishna), 183-91 (Zen experience, recommended), & 195-98 (Martin on the cognitive value of mystical experience). PR, pp. 198-202 (Wainwright), 203-05 (Katz), & 205-11 (King), 303-04 (introduction to fideism), and 314-16 (James). Week 11 (Oct 31 & Nov 2 & 4 ) Review of rational theology including the argument from mystical experience. Is there a cumulative case? Analysis of the notion of a "cumulative case." Negative evidence: (a) insufficient positive evidence and (b) evil. Do debunking explanations count as negative evidence? Do any succeed? Religion and science. Areas of conflict between science and religious doctrine. Debunking explanations of people's having religious beliefs. Marx, Freud, and Durkheim. PR, pp. 213-14 (introduction to attempts to explain religious belief scientifically) & 216-24 (J. J. C. Smart). PR, pp. 225-32 (including selections from Marx, Durkheim, and Freud). Week 12 (Nov 7, 9, & 11) God and evil. Evil and Eastern religious philosophy. Nine theodicies. Aesthetic theodicy, classical and "process."
Explanations of evil as distinct from mere theological defense. Western soulmaking theodicy. PR, pp. 245-46 (introduction to theodicy), 247-48 (Hume), 248-50 (Augustine), & 251-56 (Griffin). PR, pp. 260-63 (Plantinga), & 256-60 (Hick). Homework IV: Fourth homework essay due (at the beginning of class Friday Nov 11) Week 13 (Nov 14, 16, & 18) Brahman and evil. Karma and rebirth. Is rebirth possible? Evil in the philosophy of Japanese Buddhism's Kyoto School. Eastern soulmaking. Aurobindo's view of evolutionary yoga. An argument for future evolution. PR, pp. 263-67 (Shankara), 401-03 (Hiriyanna), & 403-08 (Ducasse). PR, pp. 72-77 (Nishitani), 271-74 (Phillips on Nishitani), & PR, pp. 267-71 (Aurobindo). Week 14 (Nov 21) Faith and philosophy. Varieties of fideism: existentialism and voluntarism in contrast with mysticism, Wittgensteinian fideism, and anti-evidentialism. The meliorism and voluntarism of William James. Wittgensteinian fideism: prerequisites to play a religious "language game." Is the philosopher/critic an "outsider"? PR, pp. 303-04 (introduction to fideism), 316-25 (James), & 326-28 (D. Z. Phillips On Wittgenstein). November 23-24: Happy Thanksgiving Week 15 & 16 (Nov 28 & 30 & Dec 2 & 5) Fideism continued. Faith and philosophy. Open discussion. Review. Review for the final exam.
Rewritten homework due, Friday Dec 2. FINAL EXAM: Tuesday December 13, 9-12 noon. Location TBA. Final exam format: 21 true/false (40%) and two philosophic essays (30% each), topics TBA.