PHIL 327

Philosophy of Religion


Please note: this is archived course information from 2020 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) and investigates the theist concept of God. The course considers arguments for God’s existence (the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments) and the Argument from Evil as an argument against the existence of a personal God who is both omnipotent and perfectly good.

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" theist beliefs (Reformed Epistemology), and by considering William James’s "justification of faith" in his famous lecture, "The Will to Believe".

Assessment

Coursework + exam

View the course syllabus

Availability 2020

Semester 2

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor John Bishop

Recommended Reading

Brian Davies, An Introduction to The Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2004)

Assessment

Coursework + exam

Points

PHIL 327: 15 points

Prerequisites

30 points at Stage II in Philosophy

Restrictions

PHIL 207