Philosophy and Religion

A general overview of the history of philosophical development in the West from its inception with the Pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece to the 20th century Anglo-American and Continental traditions. The contributions of seminal thinkers and innovators such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche are studied. Major works by these and other important philosophers are read, analyzed, and discussed with the aim of understanding what they argued for and against in regard to metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical issues. The course investigates to what extent they influenced their own and subsequent societies, how these philosophical systems create varying views of the world and human life, and how they address the perennial questions humans universally ask, existential questions such as, "Is there purpose and meaning in life?"; epistemological questions such as, "What are the limits of human knowledge?"; metaphysical questions such as, "What is the ultimate nature of the reality in which we live?", "Is there life after death?", "Are humans identical to their brains?"; and ethical questions such as, "What is the fundamental criterion of right and wrong human action?" In short, the course examines the main Western philosophical thinkers and traditions in an effort to understand what they have taught, why they have so taught, and how they have helped form and shape Western civilization.

This course introduces students to a formal system of deductive logic with the aim of (1) developing better analytical skills and abilities and (2) helping students to see the logical structure of arguments and language. Additional topics include informal fallacies, inductive logic, probability, and more. Special attention will be given to propositional and predicate logic. Philosophy majors are strongly encouraged to take this course early on in their coursework. No prerequisites.

A historical survey of ancient philosophy from Thales to St. Augustine. Attention will be given to the pre-Socratics, the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, Plotinus, the early Church Fathers and St. Augustine.

A historical survey of medieval philosophy from St. Augustine to the late Scholastics. St. Augustine, the later Church Fathers, Boethius, John Scotus Erigena, Anselm, Abelard, Bonaventura, Aquinas, Ockham, Scotus and other medieval thinkers are studied.

A historical survey of modern philosophy from Bacon to Kant. Major emphasis is placed upon the Rationalists (Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza), Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley and Hume) and Kant's synthesis of those two traditions.

A survey of major developments in philosophy between Kant and World War II. Emphasis will be on developments in Germany and France that also inspired both enthusiastic devotees and aggressive critics elsewhere. German Idealism (especially Hegel) will set the stage for later 19th-century reactions by such thinkers as Marx, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. In the early 20th century, we will look at early analytic philosophy as a clear reaction against 19th-century thought, and phenomenology (especially Heidegger) as an ambivalent continuation. Attention may also be given to other movements, such as pragmatism and existentialism.

A study of "first philosophy," this course inquires into the nature of being, considered as such. It addresses such concerns as the legitimacy of metaphysics and its distinction from natural philosophy, the nature of substance and of causality, and the possibility of knowing the first cause of all things. A careful examination of Aristotle's Metaphysics will be central to this endeavor, and after such examination Aristotle will be brought into dialogue with his medieval interpreters (e.g., Aquinas) and his more contemporary readers (e.g., Heidegger).

A critical review of recent developments in ethical and value theory. Topics covered may include the dispute between utilitarianism and deontological theories, the nature of justification in ethics, the distinction between facts and values, and meta-ethical theories.

A philosophical examination of major social and political concepts such as authority, justice, law, obligation and rights. Special attention will be given to the use of these concepts in such ideologies as communism, fascism and democracy.

An introduction to the most influential philosophical positions on the nature of the beautiful, both in art and in the natural world. The figures covered will include such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Schiller, Tolstoy, and Heidegger; the theories examined will include art as representation, as expression, as form, and as aesthetic experience.

An examination of the major early 20th-century figures associated with American pragmatist thought, with attention to their influences, their intellectual context, and their relationships to 19th and 20th-century philosophical developments. Central figures include C. S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead. Other possible figures for consideration might include Josiah Royce, George Santayana, Jane Addams, or W. E. B. DuBois, among others. Some attention may also be given to later figures associated with pragmatist thought, such as Sellars, Putnam, Rorty, or Brandom.

A survey of the development of analytic philosophy from Frege and Russell to Quine and other contemporary analytic philosophers. Emphasis is placed upon Russell, the Positivists, the early and later Wittgenstein, Austin and the "ordinary language" school, Sellars and Quine.

A survey of central debates in epistemology. Topics may include knowledge, rationality, skepticism, intellectual virtue, and related issues. The course will explore questions such as: What is knowledge and how can we attain it? Which beliefs are rational to hold and why? What are the intellectual virtues and how can we cultivate them?

A survey of central debates in metaphysics. Topics may include free will and determinism; mind and personal identity; cause and effect; space and time; being and existence; possibility and necessity.

This course will examine the major developments in 20th Century Continental philosophy since the 1940s. After some summary attention to earlier phenomenology and existentialism, and to the central role of Martin Heidegger, we will consider later developments in phenomenology (especially Emmanuel Levinas). Then the focus will be on structuralism and post-structuralism (Saussure, Lacan, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze), and the critical theory of Habermas. Other trends might receive attention, such as French feminism, or recent Continental philosophy of religion. The course will underscore the continuing importance of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud for Continental philosophy. PHL 214 is recommended background, but is not required.

An analysis of key issues in legal philosophy. Special emphasis is placed on such questions as the proper role and the justification of punishment, the relationship between law and morality, and the objectives and requirements of the rule of law.

Through close study of writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Rousseau, Freud, Dewey, and C.S. Lewis, students learn to identify the conceptions of human nature and the good life that inform educational practice while examining the relationship between education and establishment of the just regime. During this investigation of the philosophical dimensions of educational theory and the educational dimensions of political theory, the course explores such vital questions as the nature of justification, the role of character education in addressing the problem of preservation, and the adequacy of a naturalistic conception of man and the universe.

This course will explore the philosophical, theological, and ethical nature of human love, sex, and marriage through a careful study of texts in philosophy, theology, literature, and the social sciences.

An examination of the nature of language through the study of such topics as truth, reference, meaning, linguistic structure, how language differs from other symbol systems, relations between thought and language and language and the world, the use of language (e.g. in literature), and the relevance of these topics to selected philosophical issues. Special attention will be given to topics that (i) are most central to recent philosophical work on language and (ii) have far-reaching consequences beyond philosophy.

A study of contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind, including the concept of personhood, knowledge of other minds and the relation between mind and body.

A philosophical examination of the nature of religious belief, experience and activity. The course will also include an examination of such concepts as God, freedom and immortality.

A survey of the major views on the nature and methods of science. Included will be a brief historical introduction to the philosophy of science in the 19th century, the development of logical positivism and recent criticisms of it, and proposed alternatives to the traditional view. The positions of Hempel, Carnap, Popper, Kuhn, Hanson, Toulmin, Hesse, Quine and Van Fraasen will be considered.

A seminar for advanced students in philosophy. Topics may include the philosophy of a historical figure such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant or Wittgenstein, or the study of a major philosophical topic in epistemology, metaphysics or ethics. May be repeated for credit.

Students wishing to graduate with honors in philosophy must write a substantial thesis under the direction of one of the members of the Department or another qualified faculty member. Upon completion, the student must defend the thesis before a committee of three faculty members.

Investigation of special philosophical problems, under direction. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

A survey of the major religious traditions of the world. Emphasis is placed upon the theologies, religious practices and ethical teachings of the faiths studied. The course will begin with an inquiry into the nature of religion and religious belief, and then survey ancient religions, primarily those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. The course will then turn to the major Eastern (Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism and Confucianism) and Western (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) religions. Some time will also be spent on Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism and African religions.

A survey of the history of Western theology, analyzing and exploring the teachings of the various theological traditions that have influenced Western Civilization. Given the dominant influence of Christianity on Western culture and society over the past 2000 years, the course makes clear the theological teachings of the major Christian traditions that have prospered and played a significant role in shaping Western societies. The connections between theology and notions of proper community and individual life, theology's influence on Western metaphysics and ethics, and the influence theology has had on the development of modern institutions and enterprises, such as modern science, are explored. In addition, the conceptual innovations about the nature of man and his abilities which theological disputes over the nature of God and Christ have provided are pointed out and discussed. Moreover, particular notions of the religious life and of the role of religion in life that have dominated Western thought on these matters are also explored. In short, students are instructed in the basic teachings of that faith that has dominated and, until recently, to a large extent directed the course of Western civilization in order to understand how religious belief informs self-understanding, provides a comprehensive view of reality, and, by instilling a vision of human life, its purpose and proper comportment, shapes the larger culture. Finally, the course also examines thinkers and movements opposed to religion, focusing on intellectual disputes pitting religious faith against nontheistic, secular understandings of reality and mankind's place therein.

A study of the history and theology of the Old Testament. The Mosaic Law, the prophetic tradition and the wisdom literature are studied in the context of the historical development of Israel from the Patriarchal to the Hellenistic era.

A survey of the history and theology of the New Testament. A brief overview of the political, cultural and religious background of the New Testament is followed by a study of the life and teachings of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels, the history of the early Apostolic Church, the life and thought of St. Paul and the theology of the General Epistles. Modern theories of New Testament composition and hermeneutical methods are also evaluated.

The development of Christian philosophical and theological thought from the close of the New Testament to 1500 A.D. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of the ecumenical creeds, the philosophy and theology of Augustine, and medieval scholasticism. Fall, odd-numbered years.

A study of Christian intellectual and doctrinal history from 1500 to the present. The Reformation, Counter Reformation, the Age of Orthodoxy, the rise of biblical criticism, 19th-century Liberal theology, 20th-century Neo-orthodoxy and existential theology, the Vatican Councils and important papal encyclicals and current trends of thought will be studied. Spring, even-numbered years.

A study of the form and spirit of theology in the early Church fathers, from A.D. 100 to 600, emphasizing primary source texts in translation and focusing on the development of this theology through several early Christian controversies and theological loci, including: The relationship of the Old and New Testaments; the meaning of creation; the divinity and humanity of Christ; the theology of the Holy Spirit; the Cross; Christian worship; monasticism; and the life of grace.

This course traces the development of Scholasticism as a distinct movement in theology in the medieval period. There will be a parallel focus on some distinctive Scholastic themes, but also on the diversity within that tradition.

A study of the theology of the major 16th-century Protestant Reformers and of the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation. Particular attention will be paid to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, the Anabaptists and the Council of Trent.

An examination of Puritan theology and polity in 18th-century America and their formative influence upon subsequent American life and thought. A leading representative among Colonial Puritans and, many argue, the greatest theologian America has yet produced, Jonathan Edwards furnishes the course with its primary case study and point of orientation. Study also encompasses Puritanism from the Mathers through the demise of New England Theology.

A study of the major theological positions developed in the 20th century, including Modernism, Neoorthodoxy, Fundamentalism and Liberation Theology. Thinkers studied will include, among others, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Rudolf Bultmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg.

This course will examine the tradition of Christian reflection on the triune God, arguably the foundational doctrine of Christianity. Using primary texts in translation, students will investigate the development of Trinitarian belief and thought from the first century to the twenty-first, with special attention to historical understandings of this doctrine's implications for Christian life.

An in-depth, exegetical study of a particular case or problem in the interpretation of biblical texts. Topics, to vary from year to year, include Jesus and the Gospel Tradition, Luke and Other Ancient Historians, Paul and his Churches, Romans-History of Interpretation, and Literature of the Johannine Community. May be repeated for credit.

A literary and historical study of a selected, classical focus of theological debate. Topics, to vary from year to year, include Gospel and Law, the Unity of the Bible, the Old Testament in the New Testament, Biblical Theologians Since 1850, and Lives of Jesus. May be repeated for credit.

A close study of a particular social and textual slice of the first- and second-century Hellenistic world with which the early Church interacted. Topics, to vary from year to year, include Gnostics, Pagans and Heretics; Judaism in the Greco-Roman World; Ancient Mediterranean Mystery Religions; the Social Context of Early Christianity; and History of Ancient Christianity. May be repeated for credit.

A study of the major doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Councils, Creeds and Papal Decrees of the Church are studied in order to give students a general introduction to the theology governing the beliefs and practices of traditional and contemporary Roman Catholicism.

This course introduces the Muslim religion, its history, doctrine and practice, and sets it into its several contexts among other Western religions, among interpretive traditions of sacred literature, within varying national expressions, and, amid contemporary debates concerning its warrants for militarism, theocratic rule, or suppression of women, and its compatibility with democracy and other aspects of modern, Western culture.

An introduction to some of the major Chinese, Indian and Japanese religious traditions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Taoism and Shintoism. The class will cover both the origins of these traditions and their development to the present and will include readings from the important primary texts.

This course examines the incongruities and distinctions between the Christian faith and its contemporary rivals: Marxism, Atheism, Humanism and Post-Modernism. The aim is to develop students' abilities to engage in dialectic encounter with all worldviews which press modern humanity for consideration. Fall.

Readings in the study of religion from the perspectives of social theory and social science. Specific topics may vary. Possible foci: sociology of religion, anthropology of religion, religion in modern and postmodern thought, phenomenology of religious experience, or classical (19th and early 20th century) theories of religion.

A survey of patterns of religious thought, practice and social organization in the United States over the last few decades, as seen from a broadly sociological perspective. Attention to denominationalism and ecumenism, the interplay of liberalism, fundamentalism and evangelicalism; "new religious movements;" parachurch organizations and interest groups, contemporary forms of spirituality, church and state, religion in "the public square," etc. Students will be given opportunity to focus individually on particular issues or religious groups that are of interest.

A beginning course introducing the elementary grammar and vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible with a view toward reading and translation.

This course is the second part of a two-semester introduction to Biblical Hebrew. Both parts of this Biblical Hebrew language sequence are designed to provide a thorough introduction to Biblical Hebrew grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and prose/poetic style, with the ultimate goal of giving students the knowledge and tools they need to read the Hebrew scriptures independently. This course will move at a strident pace and the material is cumulative, so it is imperative that you keep up with class assignments and attendance. The second semester will cover the imperfect tense, imperative, and infinitive, several verbal conjugations and provide a measure of reading practice by reading the book of Jonah in full after we complete the textbook.

Develops student abilities in Hebrew through reading Biblical Hebrew texts. The course alternates between reading prose and poetic texts and may be repeated for credit if the reading is different.

A seminar on special topics or problems in the study of religion, biblical studies and Christian studies. The seminar may cover such topics as Christian ethics, individual biblical books or authors, prominent thinkers in the Judeo-Christian tradition and specific non-Christian religions or religious thinkers. May be repeated for credit.

Students wishing to graduate with honors in religion must write a substantial thesis under the direction of one of the members of the Department or another qualified faculty member. Upon completion, the student must defend the thesis before a committee of three faculty members.

Investigation of special problems, under direction. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Offered on demand.