Philosophy 267

Spring, 2005                                              SYLLABUS

 

Instructor:  Dr. Steve Duncan   Office: B100F   Office Hours: 8:30-9:20 M-F and by appointment   Instructor’s E-Mail:  sduncan@bcc.ctc.edu

 

Textbooks:  David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 2nd edition,

Richard Popkin, ed., Indianapolis, IN., Hackett Publishing, 1993 (P) and Richard Swinburne, Is There a God? New York, Oxford University Press, 1996 (S).  Other materials will be available on reserve at the Library Media Center and students are strongly encouraged to read these as well, as indicated below.

 

Course Summary:  This course is an introduction to analytic philosophy of religion, the primary subject matter of which is the philosophical position known as theism, the core substantive theoretical commitment of the major monotheistic religions.  More specifically, we will examine the philosophical arguments for and against the existence of the theistic God (including the problem of evil) and the possibility of our knowledge of God’s nature.

                                                                Approximate Weekly Schedule

Week I – Introduction to analytic philosophy of religion and Hume’s Dialogues.

                 Readings:  P, vii-xix, Joseph Butler, “Introduction” to The Analogy of

                 Religion (on reserve)

Week II – P, pp. 1-27 Paper Topics Distributed

Week III – P, pp. 28-48

Week IV – P, pp. 49-76

Week V – P, pp. 77-89, Hume’s Of Miracles (P, pp. 107-125), David Johnson, “Hume’s

                 Own Argument”, (on reserve) Robert Fogelin, “The Structure of Hume’s

                 Argument” (on reserve)

Week VI – Midterm Exam, introduction to contemporary philosophy of religion.                     

                 Readings:  Flew, “Theology and Falsification”, Moreland and Craig,

                 “Religious Epistemology”, Plantinga, “Reason and Belief in God” (Optional)

                 Swinburne vs. Plantinga on Warranted Christian Belief (Optional)

Week VII – Paper Outlines Due, S, pp. 3-47

Week VIII-IX – S, pp. 48-94, Moreland and Craig, “The Existence of God (I)” (on

                  reserve), Robin Collins, “The Teleological Argument” (on reserve), Stephen

                  T. Davis, “The Ontological Argument” (on reserve)

Week X – S, pp. 95-113, Gregory Ganssle, “God and Evil” (on reserve)

Week XI – S, pp. 114-141, Final Drafts Due last Monday of the quarter (June 13th)

Final Exam:  Wednesday, June 15th, 11:30am - 1:20pm

 

Assignments and Grading - There will be three assignments in this course, two exams and a paper.  Each of the exams will be worth 100 points; the paper (which requires two distinct submissions - see above) will be worth 100 points.  Other assignments may also be given.  Grades will be based on the percentage of total points out of 300 possible in accordance with the following scale:

                                                                              

             100-95      A                                 87-86      B-                                 73-70       D+

              94-93       A-                                85-83      C+                                69-65       D

              92-91       B+                               82-77      C                             Below 65       F

              90-88       B                                 76-74      C-

N.B. - Cheating or Plagiarism of any kind will result in immediate, automatic failure for the assignment or exam without possibility of making up that assignment or exam.  Students who engage in these practices will be reported to the dean of students to face appropriate disciplinary action.

 

                                IMPORTANT - CLASSROOM DEPORTMENT

This is a college-level lecture course; students are expected to attend class daily, to be on time, to listen to the lecture, take notes and participate in classroom activities.  Students are to avoid disruptive or distracting behavior, especially private conversation during class.   Engaging in these behaviors will adversely affect your grade.