Faculty Contact Information:
Dr. Sergia Hay
shay@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Office
Hours: immediately after class or by appointment
| |
Course Materials:
|
* William Rowe, Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction, 3rd ed.,
(Wadsworth, 2001) ISBN: 0-534-57425-4
* Timothy A. Robinson, ed., God, 2nd ed. (Hackett
Publishing Co, 2003) ISBN
0872206416.
| |
Course Description:
| (Fulfills the civic responsibility or international
perspective requirement.) A philosophical study of some of the main
problems of religious thought: the nature of religious experience,
the justification of religious belief, the conflicting claims of
religion and science, and the relation between religion and
morality. Students may receive credit for only one of the following
courses: HUMN 236 or PHIL 236. | |
Course Goals/Objectives:
Rather than merely learning by rote, students learn to:
*
Philosophize for themselves, in thought, writing, and
discussion
* Think creatively and freely, as expressed in
discussion and writing
* Subject their own and others' views to
critical examination.
The intent of the course is to get
participants thinking and questioning hard, both rationally and
passionately, about the assumptions that underlie our beliefs about
God and religion in general.
Emphasis on Writing
This
course emphasizes spoken and especially written articulation of
one's own and others' views about religion, both at the level of
theory and in concrete attitudes and practices.
| |
Course Introduction:
Religion is a central part of human culture, but religions
raise deep philosophical questions. Our goal is not the comparative
study of various world religions. It is a direct engagement with
essential questions raised by religion -- particularly monotheistic
Western religion: How can we know whether there is a God? What is
the best way to understand the relationship between religion and
morality? If God exists, how can there be so much evil in the world?
Is there an afterlife? Can religious experience give us knowledge of
the divine? What should a believer in one tradition make of the
diversity of world religions?
Although most of the material
in deals with monotheistic religions, the course recognizes that
there are other ways of being religious and contributions from
participants who belong to other traditions are encouraged and very
welcome.
The course doesn't assume that class members are
believers, nor does it assume that they aren't. It takes for granted
that belief and non-belief are both viable options and challenges
participants to think hard and carefully about religion. The result
should be enriching for believer and non-believer alike.
| |
Grading Information and Criteria:
* Thesis Defense Essay 1 (3-5 pages) 20%
* Thesis
Defense Essay 2 (6-8 pages) 30%
* Reading Journal 20%
*
Final Exam 20%
* Participation 10%
Student participation is
judged by the frequency and quality of in-class discussion, as well
as preparedness for class.
Grading Scale
A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=0-69
| |
Other Information:
| Be prepared for class. Review the material for each topic
beforehand. It is essential to give a routine and substantial amount
of time to the study and reflection of ideas found in the reading
assignments, approximately 1 to 1.5 hours for each hour of class
time. | |
Project Descriptions:
Thesis Defense Essays
The Thesis Defense Essays are
composed according all the standards of current effective academic
writing at the college level. Topics, subject to instructor
approval, will vary from purely philosophical themes to
controversial issues where a philosophical approach would arguably
yield new understanding and transparency. | |
Academic Policies:
Cases of plagiarism are handled consistent with current UMUC
guidelines.
See the UMUC policies at the following URL:
http://www.umuc.edu/policy/
| |
Course Schedule:
Class meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at
1705-1825
Week 1: Introduction. Philosophical Argumentation.
The Idea of God.
Week 2: Faith and Reason
Week 3: Arguments
for God's existence
Week 4: The problem of evil (first paper due
February 7)
Week 5: Freedom and Predestination
Week 6:
Religion and Morality
Week 7: Miracles and Immortality
Week
8: Religious Experience (second paper due March 7, final exam March
10) | |
Faculty Bio:
Sergia Hay received her Ph.D. in philosophy in 2003 from
Columbia University. Her main philosophical interests include
existentialism, ethics, and philosophy of religion.
Faculty
homepage: http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~shay/
| |
