PHIL 327

Philosophy of Religion


Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for PHIL 327.

Description

Under what conditions, if at all, is it justifiable to hold religious beliefs? Do religious beliefs have to be "reasonable"? Can it be justifiable to hold and act on beliefs "by faith", and, if so, under what conditions? The course focuses on "theist" religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). The course investigates both arguments for God’s existence (eg, cosmological and "design" arguments, arguments from miracles) and arguments for God’s non-existence (the Argument from Evil and the Argument from Divine Hiddenness). The course then proceeds to consider the thesis of the "evidential ambiguity" of God’s existence, and investigates attempts to respond to the ambiguity, for example: by emphasising subjectivity (Kierkegaard), by appeal to "properly basic" beliefs (Reformed Epistemology) and according to the modest fideism proposed by William James in his famous lecture, The Will to Believe.

Availability 2018

Not taught in 2018

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor John Bishop

Recommended Reading

Brian Davies, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN: 0-19-926347-7

Assessment

Coursework + exam

Points

PHIL 327: 15 points

Prerequisites

30 points at Stage II in Philosophy

Restrictions

PHIL 207