Philosophy 236

INSTRUCTOR:  Benedict Chan

Philosophy of Religion

General Information

Course Materials


Course Description:

In this course, we will carefully evaluate the standard arguments for or against the existence of God (ontological argument, cosmological argument, teleological argument, and problems of evil). We will also explore the topics of reformed epistemology, miracles, religious experience, and religious diversity. On this latter topic, we will spend time thinking about several ˇ§non-Westernˇ¨ religions, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. This course is open to all believers and non-believers of any religion. The only prerequisite is a willingness to think seriously and philosophically.

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Course Readings:

Required Books:

1) A Thinker's Guide to the Philosophy of Religion by Allen Stairs and Christopher Bernard [TG]

2) Asian Philosophies (5th Edition) by John M. Koller [AP]

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Useful Links:

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(Backup) Announcements:

  • June 21: The blackboard system is down. We will use this webpage as a backup.
  • July 6: I have updated this webpage. The system seems to have some problems again (8:34pm)

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Topics:

Stage I: Existence of God

Concepts of God (Week 1) [TG Chapter 1]

The Design Argument (Week 1) [TG Chapter 2]

The Cosmological Argument (Week 2) [TG Chapter 3]

The Ontological Argument (Week 2) [TG Chapter 4]

The Argument from Evil (Week 3) [TG Chapter 9]

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Stage II: Knowledge of God

Reformed Epistemology (Week 3) [TG Chapter 7]

Miracles (Week 4) [TG Chapter 5]

Religious Experience (Week 4) [TG Chapter 6]

God and Morality (Week 4) [TG Chapter 10]

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Stage III: Religious Diversity

Religious Diversity (Week 5) [TG Chapter 11]

Confucianism (Week 5) [AP Chapter 15, 16, 20]

Daoism (Week 6) [AP Chapter 17, 18]

Buddhism (Week 6) [AP Chapter 4, 5, 19]

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Week 1: June 2- 7

Week 2: June 8- 14

Week 3: June 15-21

Week 4: June 22-28

Week 5: June 29- July 5

Week 6: July 5-12

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Documents can be found here

Backup Discussion Board

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