Skidmore College



PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

PR 324 Dr. Joel R. Smith

Fall 2016 Skidmore College

An investigation of the fundamental paradoxes of religious belief. Questions to be considered will include the arguments for the existence of God, the problem of suffering and evil, the nature of mystical knowledge, and the rise of modern religious skepticism. We

will explore religious skepticism, religious faith, and religious diversity and secularization. We will emphasize Western religions, especially Christianity, but will give attention to other Western and Asian religious traditions.

Learning Goals:

1. Explore some of the basic philosophical issues about religion, as mentioned above, by focusing on three central issues:

religious skepticism, religious faith, and religious diversity.

2. Study selected texts by important philosophers of religion.

3. Focus on key Western religious ideas, especially in Christianity

as our case study, but also consider key Asian religious ideas.

4. Place philosophical inquiry in the broader context of religious life by surveying key elements in five religious traditions:

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, including some study of the Bible.

5. Develop subtle reading, writing, and analytical skills,

including critical evaluation, by discussing readings and

writing essays about them.

6. Develop with me and others in the class a fruitful way to

discuss controversial and sensitive issues about religion.

7. Explore your own views about religion and about philosophy to

develop your own philosophical and religious values.

I would be delighted to talk with you outside of class. Make an appointment or drop by during my office hours:

Office hours: Monday & Wednesday: 4:30- 5:30 (other times

Tuesday & Thursday: 5:30- 6:00 by

Friday: 12:30- 2:00 appointment)

Office: Ladd 217 Email: jsmith@skidmore.edu

Office phone: (518) 580-5407 (Please don't call me at home.)

Required Texts:

1. Dewey, John, A Common Faith (New Haven: Yale University, 1934).

ISBN 978-0300000696

2. Ellwood, Robert S., Introducing Religion from Inside and

Outside, Third Edition (New York: Pearson, 1993). ISBN 978-

0135035665

3. Freud, Sigmund, The Future of an Illusion, tr. James Strachey

(New York: W.W. Norton, 1961). ISBN 978-039300839

4. Hick, John H., Philosophy of Religion, Fourth Edition (Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963/1990). ISBN 978-0136626282

5. Kierkegaard, Soren, Fear and Trembling: Dialectical Lyric by

Johannes de silentio, tr. Alastair Hannay (New York: Penguin,

1985). ISBN 978-0140444490

6. Prothero, Stephen, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions

that Run the World--and Why their Differences Matter (New York: HarperOne, 2011). ISBN 978-0061571282

7. Smith, Huston, Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World’s

Religions (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco,

1992). ISBN 978-0062507877

8. James K.A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular (Grand Rapids, MI:

William B. Eerdmans, 2014). ISBN 978-0802867612

9. Tillich, Paul, Dynamics of Faith (New York: Harper & Row,

1957). ISBN 978-0060937133

Schedule of Assignments:

GOD AND REASON

September

8: Hick, What is the Philosophy of Religion?--The Judaic-Christian Concept of God (1-14).

13: Prothero, Judaism (Ch 7); P1.1, 1.2

Prothero, Christianity (Ch 2). P1.3, 1.4

15: Arguments for the Existence of God:

1. Hick, Design (Teleological) Argument (23-26); P1.5

What is the “fine-tuning” of the universe…(handout); 2. Hick, First Cause/Cosmological Arguments (20-23); P1.6

3. Hick, Moral Argument (28-29);

4. Hick, Ontological Argument (15-20); P1.7

Anselm, Proslogium, Discourse on Existence of God(handout)

Aquinas, Reasons in Proof of the Existence of God (handout).

20: Prothero, Islam (Ch 1); P2.1

Ellwood, Religious Founders; Modern Interpreters (28-37);P2.2

Ellwood, Truth Messages:Conceptual Expression of Religion(Ch7)

22: Ellwood, Oases of the Mind: Psychology of Religion (Ch3);P2.3

Ellwood, Traveling Together: Sociology of Religion (Ch 6). P2.4

27: Freud, The Future of an Illusion (all: 5-71); P2.5, 2.6

Hick, Arguments against the Existence of God (Ch 3);

Edmundson, Defender of the Faith? (handout).

29: Dewey, A Common Faith (all: Ch I-III). P2.7, 3.1, 3.2

October

4: Hick, The Problem of Evil (Ch 4); P3.3

Hick, The ‘Soul-Making’ Theodicy (handout); P3.4

Dostoyevsky, The Problem of Evil (handout). P3.5

6: Hick, The Problem of Verification (Ch 8); P3.6

Proudfoot, Introduction on William James (handout). P3.7

FAITH AND REASON

11: Clifford, The Ethics of Belief (handout);

James, The Will to Believe (handout); P4.1, 4.2

Hick, Revelation and Faith (56-62 & 64-67 & 80-81). P4.3

13: Hick, Rational Belief without Proof (Ch 6). P4.4

18: Essay #1 due at start of class; discuss topic in class.

20: Hick, Immortality & Resurrection (Ch 10); P4.5

McTaggart, The Dependency Argument (handout);

Hick, Karma & Reincarnation (Ch 11). P4.6

25: Prothero, Hinduism (Ch 4); P4.7

Prothero, Buddhism (Ch 5). P5.1 27: God, Abraham, Isaac in Genesis Ch 17-18 & 22 (handout);

Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (41-95). P5.2

November

1: Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (83-108 & 145-147); P5.3

Plato and Kant on ethics and God (handout).

3: Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (Ch I-II, V-VI);P5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7

Tillich, Invocation: The Lost Dimension in Religion (handout);

Hick, Tillich’s Conception of Faith (62-64 only); P6.1

Ellwood, How Shall We Live? Ethics (Ch 8). P6.2

8: Hick, Problems of Religious Language (Ch 7);

Tillich, Symbols of Faith (Ch III); P6.3

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Religion as Symbolism (handout);

Eliade, Religious Symbolism (handout);

Ellwood, Magic Doorways: Symbols & Rites (Ch 4); P6.4

Ellwood, Faith through Form: Religion & Art (Ch 5--optional).

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY & SECULARIZATION

10: Hick, Religious Diversity (Ch 9); P6.5

Hick, The Pluralistic Hypothesis (handout).

6:00-6:30: Optional tour of Religious Cosmograms

in the “Sixfold Symmetry” exhibit (Tang Museum).

15: Katz, Language, Epistemology, and Mysticism (handout). P6.6

17: Forman, Mystical Consciousness, the Innate Capacity, and the

Perennial Psychology (handout). P6.7

22: Essay #2 due at beginning of class; discuss topic in class.

24: Thanksgiving break.

29: Ellwood, Epilogue: Secularization (197-200);

Schumacher, On Philosophical Maps (handout);

Haught, The Meaning of Explanation (handout);

Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth (Ch 1-5); P7.1, 7.2

Robinson, Religious Studies Review of Primordial Tradition

(handout).

December

1: Ellwood, Scenarios for the Real Self (Ch 1); P7.3

Prothero, Introduction (1-24); P7.4

Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious (handout). P7.5

6: Taylor, Buffered and porous selves; Problems around the P7.6

secular; Western secularity (handout); P7.7, 8.1, 8.2, P8.3

James Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular (Introduction & Ch 1-3). 8: James Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular (Ch 4-5 & Conclusion); Taylor, Afterward: Apologia pro Libro suo (handout). P8.4, 8.5, 8.6

13: King, Disciplining Religion (handout). P8.7

19 (Monday): Essay #2 due at 12:00 noon sharp in Ladd 217.

There is no final exam for this course.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Participation (20%) in class discussion is essential to your learning in this course, and I encourage you to participate in discussions actively.

a. Attendance is required at every class (unless there is

certifiable medical reason or family emergency or religious holiday. Missing even one class will severely damage this component of your grade. (Don’t even think about missing the class just before Thanksgiving break.) The following guidelines express my expectations about attendance and participation:

A or A- = attend every class and make at least one useful

contribution to discussion in every class.

B+ or B = attend every class and make regular contributions.

B- = attend every class and contribute occasionally.

C or D or F = one or more absences no matter how much you talk.

Please don’t come to class late or leave during class unless it is absolutely necessary. Please be sure that your cell phone and other electronics are turned off. Laptop use is not permitted during class unless you have special permission from me.

Your understanding of class discussions, and the quality of class discussion itself, depends on how well you have prepared the reading assignments, so read the assignments carefully. Readings about philosophy and religion are difficult, so I strongly recommend underlining or highlighting passages and outlining or taking notes on the reading. Often you will need to read the assignment, or part of it, more than once. Read actively, not passively, by raising questions and criticisms about the readings.

Note that this course earns four, not three, credits. This means that this course involves considerable more work than a three credit course. Compared to a three credit course, each of our classes will meet an extra 30 minutes longer (1 hour 50 minutes instead of 1 hour 20 minutes). The Skidmore College guideline is that students should study 2-3 hours outside of class for every hour of class time. Thus I expect you to spend about 3½-5½ hours preparing for each class, and I have assigned work based on that expectation. I suggest that you work out a study schedule that sets aside a regular period of time to prepare for each class.

b. Study Guides: Written assignments on the readings will be due almost every class. These will be graded pass/fail. Have them finished and ready to turn in at the beginning of class. Late study guides will receive no credit or only partial credit.

c. Provocations: Eight times during the semester I will ask you to

pair up with someone else in class, preferably with someone you don’t know. After reading the assignment, you must meet with your partner face-to-face outside of class. Identify one point about a specific passage in the reading which you will bring up in class to “provoke” discussion. The point might be a criticism that sparks a controversy, or you could simply raise a question or offer a comment or highlight an important subtle point. Offer a point that goes beyond what the casual reader would normally get from the reading. Make connections to other readings from our course, if possible. This is not a formal presentation or a summary of the reading but a brief comment on a specific passage to focus our class discussion. Provocations are marked P1.1, etc. on the Schedule of Assignments above.

The combination of the above three requirements a-c will count

20% of your final course grade.

2. Two essays (80%): Two essays due on

*Tuesday, October 18

*Monday, December 19 (the first day of exam week)

will each count 40% of your final course grade. I will provide detailed instructions for each essay well in advance.

Learning Disability: If you have a certified learning disability, please let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange appropriate accommodations. Even if you don’t have a certified disability, if you have concerns about how to learn in this course, don’t hesitate to discuss them with me.

Honor Code: The Honor Code defines the guiding principles of honesty, respect, and integrity that should inform all choices and behaviors in the Skidmore academic and social community. Faculty legislation requires that a faculty member report a violation to the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Advising. I will strictly enforce Skidmore’s strong Honor Code. I will discuss issues about plagiarism when I give you the essay topics. Before then, please read your copy of the Academic Integrity Handbook (also available on-line through the Office of Academic Advising), especially the excerpts there on “Documentation and Plagiarism” from The Skidmore Guide to Writing. Skidmore considers unintentional plagiarism still to be plagiarism that earns sanctions, so read carefully these sections in the Academic Integrity Handbook and The Skidmore Guide to Writing.

Sexual and Gender-based Misconduct: Skidmore College considers sexual and gender-based misconduct to be one of the most serious violations of the values and standards of the College. Unwelcome sexual contact of any form is a violation of students’ personal integrity and their right to a safe environment and therefore violates Skidmore’s values. Sexual and gender-based misconduct is also prohibited by federal regulations. Skidmore College faculty are committed to supporting students and upholding gender equity laws outlined by Title IX. If a student chooses to confide in a member of Skidmore’s faculty or staff regarding an issue of sexual or gender-based misconduct, that faculty or staff member is obligated to tell Skidmore’s Title IX Deputy Coordinator. The Title IX Deputy Coordinator will assist the student in connection with all possible resources for support and reporting both on and off campus. Identities and details will be shared only with those who need to know to support the student and to address the situation through the College’s processes. If the student wishes to confide in a confidential resource, the Counseling Center staff, Health Services, and Victim Advocates are all options available.

More information can be found at or by contacting the Title IX Deputy Coordinator.

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