Philosophy of Religion Level 3
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| THEO3070 | Philosophy | 3 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- THEO3070
- School
- Philosophy
- Level
- 3
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
There will be some exploration of significant problems in the philosophy of religion, such as the credibility of the existence of God, the relation between religion and philosophy, the relation between religion and ethics, and the problem of evil. There will be further exploration of significant themes, such as the nature of being, of faith and of atheism. The major thinkers covered in the module include Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Edith Stein and Simone Weil.
Target Students
Available to all Level 3 students including subsidiary, Liberal Arts, and exchange students
Classes
- One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
- One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks
Assessment
- 50% Coursework 1: Essay 1 - 2,500 words
- 50% Coursework 2: Essay 2 - 2,500 words
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
By engaging a wide range of philosophical figures from different geographical regions, times, different faiths and none.The module endeavours to complicate the notion of belief or non-belief in God. An aim of which is to encourage a more sophisticated understanding of the complexities involved in any such stance.The idea, at first blush, that belief is a univocal, easily understood concept is constructively frustrated, thus motivating students to rethink that which was taken for granted.Learning Outcomes
1. Knowledge and Understanding: crucial philosophical questions about belief in God, and our understanding what any such belief entails, this being presented by engaging with the work of major thinkers who have significantly shaped or radically changed approaches to such discourse.
2. Intellectual skills: critical, imaginative and integrative interpretation of primary source texts and secondary literature; analysis and assessment of competing theological, philosophical and historical arguments; reflection on broad questions of intellectual history.
3. Professional practical skills: coherent and well-grounded argumentation in writing and orally in seminars, analysis of complex and multi-faceted questions, cross cultural and comparative thinking.
4. Transferable skills: giving balanced consideration to controversial issues, consideration that may involve significant adjustment to one's own understanding, working with and learning from others through classroom discussion.