PY427-6-AU-CO:
Topics in the Philosophy of Religion
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
17 October 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA VV56 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics,
BA VV57 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Placement Year),
BA VV58 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV59 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA VV5P Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Year Abroad)
This module homes in on the relationships between faith and reason, religion and philosophy. We shall approach these topics, historically, by considering how they were discussed by some key figures in nineteenth-century European philosophy.
The module will begin with Kant’s rejection of traditional arguments for the existence of God, and his positive emphasis on both the moral dimension of religious belief and the possibility of a distinctively philosophical approach to religion. We shall then consider how these ideas were taken up in Hegel’s attempts to reconcile faith and reason, religion and philosophy. Finally, we shall look at some critical perspectives in the work of Feuerbach, Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to some of the major philosophical debates about the nature of religion.
- To provoke critical reflection on the relationships of religion and philosophy, faith and reason.
- To advance understanding of modern European philosophy, especially German Idealism and its critics.
Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of this module, students will be expected to have acquired or further developed a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
- Define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant.
- Seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information.
- Process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments.
- Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.
- Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.
- Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.
- Think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches.
- Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.
- Think critically and constructively.
Study Abroad students should have already taken two philosophy modules at their home institution.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour combined lecture and seminar per week.
- One 1-hour class per week.
Week 8 is Reading Week.
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Kant, I. (1996)
Religion and rational theology. Edited by A.W. Wood and G. Di Giovanni. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814433.
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Hegel, G.W.F. and Houlgate, S. (1998) The Hegel reader. Oxford: Blackwell.
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Hegel, G.W.F., Hodgson, P.C. and Brown, R.F. (2006) Lectures on the philosophy of religion: the lectures of 1827. One-volume ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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Schopenhauer, A. and Hollingdale, R.J. (1970) Essays and aphorisms. London: Penguin Books.
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Feuerbach, L. (1986) Principles of the philosophy of the future. Indianapolis, Ind: Hackett Pub. Co.
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Kierkegaard, S. (2009)
Concluding unscientific postscript to the Philosophical crumbs. Edited by A. Hannay. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626760.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Quizzes TOTAL |
|
15% |
| Coursework |
Essay Plan |
|
35% |
| Coursework |
Essay (2500 words) |
|
50% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Daniel Watts, email: dpwatts@essex.ac.uk.
Dan Watts
PHAIS General Office - 6.130; isugadmin@essex.ac.uk.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Josiah Saunders
Durham University
Associate Professor
Available via Moodle
Of 27 hours, 27 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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