課程資訊
課程名稱
西洋宗教哲學
Western Philosophy of Religion 
開課學期
109-1 
授課對象
 
授課教師
陳樂知 
課號
Phl3815 
課程識別碼
104E55900 
班次
 
學分
3.0 
全/半年
半年 
必/選修
選修 
上課時間
星期五7,8,9(14:20~17:20) 
上課地點
新405 
備註
本課程以英語授課。兼通識A4*。。A4*:哲學與道德思考領域。可充抵通識
總人數上限:60人 
Ceiba 課程網頁
http://ceiba.ntu.edu.tw/1091Phl3815_ 
課程簡介影片
 
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課程概述

The philosophy of religion aims as using philosophical methods to inquire into religious concepts. This course focuses on Western philosophers’ discussions of religion. It treats three topics in philosophy of religion:
(I) Arguments for and against the existence of God.
(II) The epistemology of religion: what standard should we use when assessing reasons for being religious? What kinds of reasons are justified?
(III) The metaphysics of divine attributes—e.g. omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence.

It is also our department’s great honour to have two internationally renowned philosophers of religion, Professor Timothy O'Connor and Professor Graham Oppy contributing to this course. Professor O'Connor and Professor Oppy are, respectively, leading theist and atheist philosophers of their generation. Professor Oppy will first give an opinionated guest lecture in Week 11, teaching a class on ontological arguments. Then Professor O'Connor will give an academic talk in Week 12, with the target audience being the students. The students can observe how the best philosophers of both the contemporary theist and atheist camps develop their philosophies.

 

課程目標
The aims of this course are as follows:
(1) Upon completing this course, students will have understood monotheistic and atheistic worldviews and be capable of making their own judgments.
(2) Among different areas of philosophy, philosophy of religion is one of those that particularly focus on philosophical arguments. Upon completing this course, students will have developed their skills in developing and critically assessing philosophical arguments.
(3) Surveying some historically influential texts and viewpoints.
(4) In the history of Western philosophy, many seminal theorists developed their philosophy on the basis of their religious viewpoints. Hence, upon completing this course, students will be more capable of studying the history of Western philosophy. 
課程要求
Students are required to attend all tutorials, and to read the assigned readings in advance. No requirements of prior knowledge. 
預期每週課後學習時數
 
Office Hours
 
指定閱讀
Oppy, Graham & Scott, Michael 2010, Reading Philosophy of Religion, Malden: Blackwell(textbook) 
參考書目
Bayne, Tim 2018, Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, Richard 2004, The Existence of God, 3rd edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mackie, John 1982, The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Oppy, Graham 2006, Arguing about Gods, New York: Cambridge University Press. 
評量方式
(僅供參考)
 
No.
項目
百分比
說明
1. 
Tutorial discussion classes  
25% 
Calculated by the attendance rates and participation in the tutorial discussion classes. 
2. 
Midterm exam 
30% 
On the first half of the course. 
3. 
14th week assignment  
15% 
On Prof. Oppy and Prof. O'Connor seminars. 
4. 
Final exam  
30% 
On the second half of the course. 
 
課程進度
週次
日期
單元主題
第1週
9/18  Introduction 
第2週
9/25  (I) Anselm’s ontological argument
Anselm, Proslogion, ch. II, in textbook pp. 70-81.  
第3週
10/02  Public holiday 
第4週
10/09  Public holiday 
第5週
10/16  (I) Aquinas’s cosmological argument
Aquinas, Summa theologica, the second way, in textbook pp. 81-93.
[Online seminar at 10am-12noon; recording available online. The tutorial discussion class remains unaffected.] 
第6週
10/23  (I) Paley’s teleological argument
William Paley, Natural theology (selection), in textbook pp. 103-116. 
第7週
10/30  (I) J.L. Mackie’s logical problem of evil
John Leslie Mackie, ‘Evil and omnipotence’, in textbook pp. 138-151. 
第8週
11/06  (I) William Rowe’s evidential problem of evil
William Leonard Rowe, ‘The problem of evil and some varieties of atheism’, in textbook pp. 151-160. 
第9週
11/13  Midterm exam 
第10週
11/20  (II) Pascal’s Wager
Blaise Pascal, Pensées, ‘Pascal's wager’, in textbook pp. 93-103.
 
第11週
11/27  (II) William Clifford’s ‘The ethics of belief’
William Clifford, ‘The ethics of belief’, in textbook pp. 175-186. 
第12週
12/04  Prof. Timothy O'Connor's academic talk for students: “Ways of Knowing in Science and Religion"
[Online seminar at 10am-12noon; recording available online. The tutorial discussion class remains unaffected.] 
第13週
12/11  Prof. Graham Oppy's guest lecture: Ontological Arguments

Assigned reading: Oppy, G. 2020, 'Ontological arguments', Think 19 (55):11-21. 
第14週
12/18  (II) William James’s ‘The will to believe’
William James, ‘The will to believe’, in textbook pp. 187-204. 
第15週
12/25  (III) Omnipotence and the problem of the stone
C. Wade Savage, ‘The paradox of the stone’, in textbook pp. 238-248.
[Online seminar at 10am-12noon; recording available during normal class time. The tutorial discussion class remains unaffected.] 
第16週
1/01  Public holiday 
第17週
1/08  (III) The Euthyphro dilemma
Norman J. Kretzmann, ‘Abraham, Isaac and Euthyphro : God and the basis of morality’, in textbook pp. 257-270. 
第18週
1/15  Final exam