Lecturer: Dr. Stephen Palmquist
"The highest happiness of man as a thinking being is to have probed what is
knowable and quietly revere what is unknowable."
-- Johann W. von Goethe
"There is only one true religion, but there are many kinds of creeds."
-- Immanuel Kant
"'God' is a primordial experience... And again and again it happens that
one confuses God with one's own ideas and regards them as sacred. This
is superstition and an idolatry every bit as bad as the ... delusion that God
can be educated out of existence." -- Carl G. Jung
Introduction
What is religion? Can man be truly human without being religious?
If so, how? If not, why are the problems connected with religion so
notoriously difficult to solve? Although most of our time in this class will
be spent examining specific problems which arise out of man's religious
nature and searching for adequate solutions, our overall goal will be to
answer these four, more general questions.
Because religion is a phenomenon experienced by almost everyone,
but is experienced in such a wide variety of ways, it is difficult, if not
impossible to define "religion". Good definitions for English words often
begin by citing the meanings of the original Latin or Greek word(s) from
which the word in question is derived. However, no one is certain about
which Latin words gave rise to the term "religion". Although various
suggestions have been proposed, the most commonly accepted explanation
(made by St. Augustine about 1600 years ago) is that "religion" comes from
the words "re" and "ligare", which together mean "to tie back"--i.e., to
reunite a broken bond. If the "re" is also taken to allude to the Latin word
"res" (meaning "substance" or "reality"), then we could say that religion is
the human experience of reuniting the broken bond between mankind and
some transcendent Reality, called "God" in most religions.
As we shall see, there are two quite distinct forms of religion, both
of which fit the above general definition: one sees the task of "reuniting" as
something which man must do (i.e., we must grasp God), while the other
sees this task as something God must do (i.e., we must be grasped by
God). On this basis, we can take the following as a preliminary definition
of the "philosophy of religion": Philosophy of religion is thinking about the
problems associated with the human experiences of trying to grasp God
and/or being grasped by God.
Requirements
Attend class and do the readings! Readings will be announced in
advance and placed on reserve in the library (or handed out in class).
Grade Assessment
50% Term paper: a 1500-2500 word (5-10 page) discussion of any issue
relating to the philosophy of religion, including some interaction with
relevant classical philosophical writings. Topics should be chosen by the
6th week (31 October) and handed
in for the lecturer to approve. A one-page outline should be handed in for
approval during the 9th week (21 November). You should make two
copies of the finished paper. Turn in one copy by 5pm on 7 December.
During the next two weeks each student will bring the second copy of the
paper to room C410 for an individual tutorial with the lecturer. (Note: late
papers will be penalized; no papers will be accepted after 15 December.)
Further details on the requirements for the term paper will be handed out
later.
50% Examination: the final exam will probably consists of one or two
essay questions (30%), plus a "short answer" section (20%) based on the
lectures and readings.
Tentative Lecture Schedule
I. Introduction: What is religion?
1. Two types of religion
2. Religion, philosophy and theology
3. Morality and religion (Kant)
4. Feeling and religion (Schleiermacher)
5. Is religious language verifiable?
6. Analogy and religious truth
II. The Rationality of Religion (Natural Theology)
1. The three traditional proofs of God's existence
2. Kant's Critique of the traditional proofs
3. The moral argument
4. Pascal's wager
5. The problem of evil
6. Attempted solutions ("theodicies")
III. The Irrationality of Religion
A. Objections to religion:
1. Projections and alienation (Feuerbach and Marx)
2. Reality and illusion (Nietzsche and Freud)
3. Replies (Kant and Jung)
B. Religious experience:
1. The leap of faith (Pascal and Kierkegaard)
2. The holy and sacred (Otto)
3. Mysticism
IV. Conclusion: The Implications of Religious Experience
1. Faith and philosophy: friends or foes?
2. Revelation: propositional or practical?
3. What is a miracle?
4. Are there any "duties to God"?
5. Religious transformation: immortality or resurrection?
6. Religion and self-realization
Office Hours
If you have questions about the readings or lectures, or if you would
like to discuss anything else, feel free to come to my office (C410). My
office hours are: Tuesdays 10-12am, 4-5pm; Wednesdays 12-1pm, 2-3pm;
and Fridays 12-1pm. If you are unable to come during these hours, you are
welcome to come at any other time, except, if possible, do not come on
Thursdays.