Philosophy and Religious Studies
Philosophy of Religion
Coordinator:Assoc. Prof. Harry Oldmeadow
Lectures will cover the following topics, sometimes only briefly:
• Definitions and Terms in the Philosophy of Religion
• Modes of Knowledge
• Theism and the “Proofs” and “Disproofs” of God's Existence
• The Problem of Evil
• Traditionalist Perspectives on Religion (esp F. Schuon)
• Dostoevsky, Nietzsche and the “Death of God”
• Religion and Science
• Sacred Art
• Religion, Philosophy and the Environmental Debate
Other topics on which students may wish to read and write include:
• Faith and Reason
• Religion and Morality
• Mystical experience
• Miracles
• Critique of Religion (eg. Bertrand Russell)
• Existentialism
• “Demythologizing” Religion
• Feminism, Postmodernism & Religion
• Death as a philosophical problem
Assessment
• Essay (2000+ words) (40%)
• Class Test (20%)
• 90 minute exam (30%)
• Participation in class discussions (10%)
Text
Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology of Readings
Background Reading
Davies, B., An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion
Sharpe, E., Understanding Religion
|
