Phil 3600: Philosophy of Religion
Spring 2018
Schedule (subject to change!)
Below is a tentative schedule of what topics we will cover, and what reading(s) you should complete BEFORE each class meeting.
| M, Jan 15 | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- No Class Suggested Video: “I Have a Dream” speech |
W, Jan 17 |
Lecture Topic: About this course—An Intro to Philosophy of Religion |
F, Jan 19 |
A Brief Intro to Philosophy, its Methods, and its Relation to Religion |
M, Jan 22 |
Thinking Critically and Avoiding Bias |
W, Jan 24 |
Philosophy's Methods continued |
F, Jan 26 |
A Crash Course in Epistemology: Truth, Evidence and Knowledge |
M, Jan 29 |
A Crash Course in Logic (validity, soundness, etc.) |
W, Jan 31 |
Epistemology: Knowledge and Sources of Justification |
| F, Feb 2 | Logic Review Day (Optional) Reading: Pike "Logic Primer" Suggested reading: Layman, “Logic Ch.1” Suggested TV show: “Sherlock” or “Elementary” |
M, Feb 5 |
Justification, Scripture, and Evidence |
| W, Feb 7 | The Idea and Attributes of God |
| F, Feb 9 | The Idea and Attributes of God- Continued Reread Rowe "The Idea of God" Humerous(?) Reading: Flying Spaghetti Monster |
| M, Feb 12 | Rowe- The Idea of God (continued) |
W, Feb 14 |
Arguments for God’s existence: Pragmatic Arguments-Pascal's Wager |
| F, Feb 16 | Finish Pascal's Wager Reading: finish Alan Hajek SEP (Section 4 to the end) |
M, Feb 19 |
Ontological Argument |
W, Feb 21 |
Ontological Argument: Responses |
| F, Feb 23 | The Modal Ontological Argument (Plantinga) Start Cosmological Argument Video: Quick Intro to the Cosmological Argument Video: Craig Interviewed |
M, Feb 26 |
Cosmological Argument |
W, Feb 28 |
Cosmological Argument Continued |
| F, Mar 2 | Cosmological Argument: Responses Reading: Oppy, “Craig, Macke and the Kalam Cosmological Argument.” |
M, Mar 5 |
Finish Cosmological Argument |
W, Mar 7 |
**MID-TERM EXAM** |
| F, Mar 9 | Teleological Argument Reading William Paley- Natual Theology (excerpt) Video (50min): Richard Dawkins The Blind Watch Maker |
M, Mar 12 |
Teleological Argument: Fine-Tuning |
W, Mar 14 |
Teleological Argument: Fine-Tuning Responses |
| F, Mar 16 | **Mid-term exams returned** Does Morality Require that God Exists? Video: William Lane Craig vs Shelly Kagan Debate |
M, Mar 19 |
Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Dilemma-Is God the source of morality? |
W, Mar 21 |
Morality without God |
| F, Mar 23 | Class and Office Hours Cancelled |
M, Mar 26 |
Spring Break- no class |
W, Mar 28 |
Spring Break- no class |
| F, Mar 30 | Spring Break- no class |
M, Apr 2 |
Atheist Arguments-Arguments against God’s Existence |
W, Apr 4 |
Atheist Arguments-Arguments against God’s Existence |
| F, Apr 6 | Atheist Arguments: No Evidence Argument (continued) Reread: O'Leary-Hawthorne "Arguments for Atheism" |
M, Apr 9 |
How to Write a Philosophy Paper |
W, Apr 11 |
Atheist Arguments: Simplicity, Religious Diversity, and Faith |
F, Apr 13 |
Finish Hawthorne- Faith and Religious Diversity |
M, Apr 16 |
The Logical Version of the Problem of Evil |
W, Apr 18 |
Problem of Evil |
| F, Apr 20 | Problem of Evil-Evidential Version Reading: Rowe "The Problem of Evil" Video (10 min): Crash Course "The Problem of Evil" Optional Reading: Michael Tooley SEP Problem of Evil (Sections 3) Suggested reading and video: Easy Explanation of Bayes Theorem |
M, Apr 23 |
Problem of Evil- Objections and Responses |
W, Apr 25 |
Finish Problem of Evil |
F, Apr 27 |
***Final PAPER DUE*** |
M, Apr 30 |
God and the Meaning of Life |
W, May 2 |
Review Day |
FINAL EXAM |
on official day scheduled by Registrar’s office (Posted in your mycuinfo) |
Additional Resources for Students
Guidelines on writing a philosophy paper (J. Pryor)
Writing Philosophy Essays (M. Tooley)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
7/3/19: I am thrilled to have accepted a position as an Instructor at the University of Colorado at Denver! I was extremely impressed by the students and community when last I was there, and am excited to be returning to now teach all the core classes for the UCD Philosophy of Science Minor!
5/6/16: I'm honored to be the first person to receive both the CU Boulder Philosophy Department Morriston Teaching Award (2016) and the University of Colorado-Boulder Graduate Teaching Excellence Award (2014-2015)! My thanks go out to the many great teachers and students with whom I've been lucky enough to learn!
Office Hours: By appointment
Location: Remote via Zoom
Please feel free to drop by with any questions, or simply to chat about philosophy, life, the universe and everything...