The Existence of God
Course at IAP-PUC, First Semester 2009, Mondays and Wednesdays 15-16.20h (unless announced otherwise) by Daniel von Wachter
Contact: epost@ABCD.de - replace "ABCD" by "von-wachter"
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This course will address the question whether there is a God. The core text of this course is: Swinburne, Richard, 2004, The Existence of God (Second Edition). Although also some ancient texts will be studied, the aim of this course is not primarily to interpret old texts but to consider the evidence for and against the existence of God and to train to find and defend rationally true answers to philosophical questions.
Topics:
- The concept of God
- How do arguments for or against the existence of God work? What are the criteria for evaluating evidence and for correct inference to the best explanation?
- Freudian arguments against the existence of God: Is belief in God wish fulfillment?
- The new atheism. What are the arguments?
- Enlightenment arguments against the existence of God
- Does the theory of evolution support atheism?
- The cosmological argument
- The Kalam argument (Craig)
- The argument from animals; (versus theory of evolution?)
- The argument from laws of nature, order, and predictability
- The argument from fine tuning
- The argument from morality
- The argument from consciousness
- Arguments from miracles and history
- Religious experience (perceiving God)
-
Theodicy, argument from evil
- The argument from hiddenness
- Arguments from the incoherence of theism
- Arguments from wishful thinking
- Is theism dangerous?
General Objectives: Develop and defend an answer to a philosophical question, in writing and orally.
Special objectives:
- Be able to formulate arguments for or against the existence of God most precisely.
- Understand and evaluate various arguments for and against the existence of God.
- Understand how the various arguments are to be put together in order to answer the question of the existence of God.
- Evaluate contemporary popular literature about atheism.
Method: This course is a combination of group sessions and Oxford-style tutorials, i.e. one-to-one sessions in which an essay of the student is discussed. There will be one two-hour group session per week with lecture and discussion. The tutorials will be arranged additionally. The number of participants of this course may be limited. All participants are required to do the essential readings every week.
Evaluación: Essay writing during the course of the semester. Topics and dates to be arranged.
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Go to the next session.
Lunes, 9/3/2009
Introduction
The nature of God.
Popular arguments against the existence of God. The old atheism. The new atheism.
Miercoles 11/3/2009
Before we enter into the proper philosophical debate we shall look at the popular debate. Today we shall watch a video of the popular debate about the existence of God between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox from 3rd October, 2007.
See on this:
atheistdelusion.net
richarddawkins.net
Read around in the internet.
Ask yourself: Which are the most influential arguments in this popular debate? Which are, in your view, the best arguments?
Lunes, 16/3/2009
Miercoles, 18/3/2009
The task for this class
- Read Swinburne: Is There A God? (henceforth called "ITAG"), ch. 1, and Swinburne: The Existence of God (henceforth called "EG"), ch.5
- Write briefly what "There is a God" means. List the attributes of God and explain briefly what is meant by each of them.
Lunes, 23/3/2009, y Miercoles, 25/3/2009
Advice on working techniques:
- Electronic bibliography management (Zotero, Jabref, Bibus, Endnote)
- Bibliography styles
- Efficient text processing (OpenOffice, LaTeX, Word, Abipro)
- Reading philosophical texts, notes taking
- The explanation method
- Speed reading
- Memory technique
- Philosophers' index
- Internet resources
Monday, 30/3/2009
For this session
- Repeat ITAG ch. 1 so that you master the content.
- Study ITAG ch. 2
- Study EG chs. 1-3.
- Answer in writing (100-300 words): What is an inductive argument?
- Answer in writing (100-300 words): What is a scientific explanation?
- Answer in writing (100-300 words): What is a personal explanation?
No session on Easter Monday, 12th April.
Wednesday, 15/4/2009
For this session: Study EG, chs. 3-4. Further read chs. 5-6. Make sure you master chs. 1-2.
Monday, 20th April, 2009
For this session: How does one assess correctly evidence for theism? (Answer in writing in 1000-2000 words. Use the information in EG and ITAG.)
- Study EG, chs. 5-6.
- Make sure you master chs. 1-4.
Wednesday, 22.4.2009
For this session: Make sure you master EG, chs. 1-6.
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Monday, 27.4.2009
Until Monday 27.4.2009, write an essay (around 2000, max. 3000 words) answering the question:
Question: Is the existence of the universe evidence for the existence of God? (Discuss the Leibniz as well as the Kalam version.)
We shall arrange tutorials for this in which you will have to defend your essay.
Wed. 29 April
Please bring Craig's article on the cosmological argument.
Topics: The principle of sufficient reason;
Monday, 4 May
Tutorials
Wed. 6 May: Discussion about the cosmological argument
Mon. 11.5.2009
Read the texts for your essay on arguments from design. See below.
For this session study in particular EG, ch. 9.
Wed. 13.5.2009
Tutorial for DM.
Mon. 18.5.2009: Deadline for your essay about arguments from design
Tutorials about your essay about arguments from design. 15.00h, EC, 16.00h EK.
Mon. 1.6.2009: Deadline for your essay about moral arguments
Mon. 16.5.2009: Deadline for your essay about religious experience.
Literature for the essays which you shall write
The cosmological argument
Question: Is the existence of the universe evidence for the existence of God? (Discuss the Leibniz as well as the Kalam version.)
- R.G. Swinburne, Is There a God, chs. 1-4; for a more rigorous treatment see his The Existence of God, chs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.
- G.W. Leibniz: On the Ultimate Origination of Things.
- J.L. Mackie: The Miracle of Theism, ch. 5.
- W. Rowe: “The Cosmological Argument”, in Stump & Murray, eds, pp. 84-93.
- D. Parfit: “The Puzzle of Reality: Why does the Universe Exist?”, and Response by R Swinburne, in P. van Inwagen & D.W. Zimmerman, eds., Metaphysics: The Big Questions (Blackwell, 1998), pp. 418-430.
- See further:
- Craig, William Lane, 2003, “The cosmological argument” in The Rationality of Theism, ed. Copan & Moser, ch. 6.
- Craig, William Lane. 1991. The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe. Available from http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth11.html
- Davies, ed., chs. 13-22 (pp. 179-241).
Arguments from design
Is the order of the universe evidence for the existence of God?
Answer this question after reading these texts:
- Swinburne, "The Argument to God from Fine-Tuning Reassessed" in (ed.)
N. Manson, God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science,
Routledge, 2003. (Or see the Second or Third Edition of Swinburne's The Existence of God, 2004, ch. 8.)
- Collins, Robin, 'Design and the Many-Worlds-Hypothesis', in Craig,
ch. 2.4.
- Copan, ed., ch. 7
- Mackie, ch. 8.
Further texts:
- Hume, David: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Available from earlymoderntexts.
- Craig, William Lane, ed., 2002, Philosophy of Religion: A Reader
and Guide, Kap. 2.3. und 2.4.
- The relevant texts in: Copan, Paul & Paul K. Moser, Hg., 2003, The Rationality of
Theism, Routledge
- N. Manson, God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern
Science, Routledge, 2003.
- Robin Collin's
Fine-Tuning Website
- Martin,
The Moral Argument
Is morality evidence for the existence of God?
(Distinguish: Is the existence of moral facts evidence ...? Is the existence of man with a moral sense and a conscience evidence ...?
Answer this question after reading:
- Swinburne, ch. 9.
- Mackie, ch. 6
- Byrne, Peter, 2004, "Moral
Arguments for the Existence of God", Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
- Copan, ed., ch. 8
- C.S. Lewis,
.
- Search in the internet for: +"moral argument" +god
- Search in the internet for: "divine command theory"
The epistemic value of religious experience
Does religious experience make belief in God rational?
(Work out what exactly the question is. Define the kind of "religious experience" which can make belief in God rational.)
Answer this question after reading:
Further texts
- Martin, C. 'Seeing God'.
- Fales, Evan, 2000, "Do
Mystics See God?" (contra)
- Various texts on
infidels.org (contra)
- Peter Forrest, "The
Epistemology of Religion: Religious Experience", SEP
- William P. Alston, 1991, Perceiving God (pro)
- Alston, W. ‘Christian Experience and Christian Belief’ in
Plantinga, A. & Wolterstorff, N. Faith and Rationality (Univ.
Notre-Dame, 1983)
- Wainwright, W. ‘Natural Explanations and Religious
Experience’ in Ratio vol 15 (1973), pp 98-102 or his Mysticism: A Study
of its Nature, Cognitive Value and Moral Implications (Harvester, 1981) ch
3.
- Davis, C. F. The Evidential Force of Religious Experience (Clarendon, 1989) ch 7-8
- Draper, P. ‘God and Perceptual Evidence’ in International Journal for Philosophy of Religion vol 32 (1992), pp 149-165
- William James, 1902, Varieties of Religious Experience, Text
online auf gutenberg.org und
virginia.edu.
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The most important texts:
- Swinburne, Richard, 2004, The Existence of God (Second Edition) (First edition in the biblioteca de humanidades 212.1 S978e 1991.
- As an introduction please read: Swinburne, Richard, Is There A God?
- Mackie, JL, 1982, The Miracle of Theism
- Manson, Neil, ed., 2003, God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science
Search the internet for "philosophy of religion" or "existence of god".
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) entries:
Philosophy of religion anthologies
All of these have texts on the existence of God. There are many more. Search in the library catalogue for "philosophy of religion" to finde more anthologies and introductions.
- Craig, William Lane, ed., Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide
(2002)
- Stump, E. & Murray, M., ed., Philosophy of Religion: the Big
Questions (Blackwell, 1998)
- Taliaferro & Griffiths, ed., Philosophy of Religion: An Antology
(Blackwell 2003)
- Davies, B. ed. Philosophy of Religion. A guide and Anthology (OUP,
2000)
- Peterson, M. et al Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (OUP,
1996)
- Wainwright, William J., ed., 2005, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion, Oxford UP.
Introductions into the philosophy of religion
- Peterson, M. et al Reason and Religious Belief 2nd edition (OUP,
1998)
- Mawson, T.J., 2005, Belief in God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford UP.
- Robin Le Poidevin: Arguing for Atheism - An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Religion, Routledge, 1996.
- Murray and Rea, 2008, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge UP.
- Yandell, Keith E. 1999. Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary
Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.
- Taliaferro, C. Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Blackwell, 1998)
- (I recommend to read as introduction an opinionated clear work such
as R. Swinburne, Is There a God?, OUP 1996.)
Texts on the existence of God
Defenders of theism:
Defenders of atheism:
- J.L. Mackie
- Quentin Smith
- Evan Fales
- Richard Gale
- Michael Tooley
- Michael Martin
- Copan, Paul & Paul K. Moser, ed., 2003, The Rationality of Theism, London: Routledge
- Craig, William Lane, "The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe"; see also Ramey
- Davis, Stephen T., 1997, God, Reason and Theistic Proof
- Gale, Richard M. & Alexander R. Pruss, Hg., 2003, The Existence of God, Dartmouth
- Howard-Snyder, Daniel, ed. 1996. The Evidential Argument from
Evil. Indiana University Press.
Inhaltsverzeichnis;
Introduction
- Martin, Michael & Ricki Monnier, Hg., 2006, The Improbability of God, Prometheus Books.
- Martin, Michael & Ricki Monnier, Hg., 2003,The Impossibility
of God, Prometheus Books.
- Oppy, Graham, 2006, Arguing about Gods, Cambridge University Press
Further texts:
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