ONLINE SYLLABUS

Religious Studies 2LL3 (Fall 2014) - Skepticism, Atheism, and Religious Faith

This syllabus, which links to all course assignments, is posted at http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/danahol/2LL3 and is also accessible by way of my home page (see below) and the Dept. of Religious Studies website. It will be updated periodically, and students in the class should consult it regularly during the semester.


CLASS MEETINGS: Mondays, 7-9 p.m., BSB 117

TUTORIALS: Mondays, 6-7 p.m., BSB 117


INSTRUCTOR:  Dana Hollander, Department of Religious Studies,** University Hall 104.

 (905) 525-9140, ext. 24759*  danahol@mcmaster.ca*  http://univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca/~danahol/

*in your phone and e-mail messages, please let me know how I can reach you by phone

Office Hours: Wednesdays, 4-5 p.m., or by appointment.


TEACHING ASSISTANT:  Michael Worden, Department of Religious Studies,** University Hall B125 (in the basement). wordenmj@mcmaster.ca 

Office Hours: Mondays, 5-6 p.m., or by appointment

**Staff in the office of the Department of Religious Studies will not date-stamp or receive written assignments.



☛ JUMP TO SCHEDULE: September / October / November / December



"I will suppose," Descartes wrote, that "some malicious demon . . . has employed all his energies in order to deceive me."

by Joost Swarte, from the New Yorker (Nov. 20, 2006), used with permission

updated November 14, 2014


COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

In this course, we will read some key works in modern Western philosophy and religious thought that propose different ways of conceiving God and approaching religion.  We will begin with René Descartes (1596-1650) whose philosophy helped establish a tradition in which the task of thinking about God is directly related to the question of what can we know in general - and thus to the problem of "skepticism."

Next we will look at three important challenges to the tradition of seeing God as something we can "know": 

We will conclude with an essay by contemporary philosopher Jürgen Habermas (born 1929), which argues that the traditional Western distinction between "faith" and "knowledge" is decisively called into question by the challenges of contemporary politics.


COURSE READINGS
You must have your own paper copy of all the texts to be discussed--in the same edition selected for the class--whether in book or xeroxed form, so that you can mark them as you read and can be prepared to refer to specific passages in class and tutorial and when you write the exams.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Note: Text Summary/Text Preparation assignments are designed to help you prepare the reading assignment for a particular class meeting, in conjunction with your participation in that class meeting.  Therefore, these assignments consist of the written assignment to be handed in at the class meeting at which it is due plus attendance of the full class session.

No submissions outside of those class times will be accepted.


*If you choose to hand in two Text Preparations, please complete Text Preparation 1 or 2 so as to allow time to receive feedback on the first assignment before preparing the second one, from among Text Preparation 3, 4, or 5. (Please contact the instructor or TA if scheduling difficulties arise.)

Grades will be based on the following:


To arrange an academic accommodation for a disability, please contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), Tel. 905-525-9140 ext. 28652; sas@mcmaster.ca.  Academic accommodations must be arranged for each term of study.


LAPTOP AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE POLICY

McMaster University has a strict policy concerning Academic Integrity:  "You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the learning process.  Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage.  This behaviour can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty”), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty.  For information on the various types of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, located at www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity.

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty: 1. Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one's own or for which other credit has been obtained. 2. Improper collaboration in group work. 3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations."

Please let me know if you have any questions on how this policy applies to your work for this course.

Privacy of Information. Some of the communications among the instructor and the students in this course will be over e-mail and on the course website. Students should be aware that, when they access the electronic components of this course, private information such as first and last names and e-mail addresses may become apparent to all other students in the same course. Continuation in this course will be deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.

You are advised to retain copies of any written work you submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have received an official grade.


SCHEDULE

At certain points in the course it may make good sense to modify the schedule outlined below. The instructor reserves the right to modify elements of the course and will notify students accordingly (in class, by e-mail to participants, and by updating this online syllabus).


September 8

INTRODUCTION


No tutorial meeting this week.




September 15

DESCARTES: Skepticism and the Existence of God


René Descartes, 
Discourse on Method (1637): parts 1-4; Meditations on First Philosophy (1641): Meditation 1  [purchase book]



September 22

Descartes, Meditations 1 and 2

Text Summary 1 due in class from students with last names beginning in A-L.


September 29

Descartes, Meditations 3 and 5

Text Summary 2 due in class from students who did not complete Text Summary 1.


Optional Supplementary Reading: Bernard Williams, chap. 5 ("God") of Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry (1978) [book on reserve]



October 6

KANT: Religion and Morality

Immanuel Kant, selection from Critique of Practical Reason (1788), trans. Mary Gregor, from: Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1996) [selection in coursepack]:
  • Read closely Part III ("On the Primacy of Pure Practical Reason") and Part IV ("The Immortality of the Soul as a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason")
  • begin reading Part V ("The Existence of God as a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason")
Text Preparation 1 due in class from some students.

Additional resources:

Emil Fackenheim, "Kant's Philosophy of Religion" (1985) in The God Within [book on reserve]

German edition of Critique of Practical Reason.


October 20

finish Kant: read closely Part V ("The Existence of God as a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason")

Text Preparation 2 due in class from some students.


Midterm Exam Preparation Sheet distributed in class today.




October 27

No tutorial meeting this week.

MIDTERM EXAM, 6 p.m.


November 3

FREUD: The Value of Religious Ideas

Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion (1927), trans. Gregory C. Richter (Broadview Editions, 2012): I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII  [purchase book]

Supplementary: Peter Gay, "Sigmund Freud: A Brief Life," in Freud, The Future of an Illusion. trans. James Strachey (Norton) [book to be placed on reserve]


Text Preparation 3 due in class from some students.


November 10


conclude discussion of Freud

BUBER: Religion and Dialogue

Martin Buber, selections from I and Thou (1923), pp. 53-64, 68-69, 82-85, 123-31, 148-50 [coursepack]

Text Preparation 4 due in class from some students.


November 17

Buber, I and Thou, cont'd

Buber, Between Man and Man (1933/1934): "A Conversion"; "Morality and Religion" [selections in coursepack]

Supplementary: Tamra Wright, "Buber, Martin." Article in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998) [online and in the Reference Section of Mills Library]

Text Preparation 5 due in class from some students.


November 24

Buber, "Religion and Philosophy" from Eclipse of God (1952) [essay in coursepack]

see also my list of Errata for this translation

Text Preparation 6 due in class from some students (including from whoever has not submitted a Text Preparation).


December 1

HABERMAS: Religion and Secularization

Jürgen Habermas, "Faith and Knowledge" (2001), trans. H. Beister and W. Rehy [essay in coursepack, or print out your own copy from E. Mendieta (ed.), The Frankfurt School on Religion: pp. 327-37]


Final Exam Preparation Sheet to be distributed in class today



FINAL EXAM

Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m., in Building T-13, Room 127


Copyright © Dana Hollander