Unit 2689: Philosophy of Religion

1. Introduction to Philosophy of Religion

• Definition and scope of philosophy of religion
• Historical development and key figures
• Central questions: existence of God, nature of divinity, religious experience, and ethics
• Methods of inquiry: analytic philosophy, phenomenology, hermeneutics

2. Arguments for the Existence of God

2.1 Classical Arguments

• Cosmological Argument
  • Kalam argument
  • Aquinas’ Five Ways
• Teleological Argument (Design Argument)
  • Paley’s watchmaker analogy
  • Fine-tuning argument
• Ontological Argument
  • Anselm’s formulation
  • Contemporary versions (e.g., Plantinga)

2.2 Contemporary Arguments and Critiques

• Moral argument
• Argument from religious experience
• Criticisms and counterarguments

3. Problem of Evil

• Definition and types of evil: moral vs natural evil
• Logical and evidential problem of evil
• Theodicies and defenses
  • Free will defense
  • Soul-making theodicy
  • Process theology and others
• Implications for belief in an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God

4. Nature of God

• Monotheistic conceptions
  • Attributes: omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, transcendence
  • Immutability and impassibility
• Polytheistic views and their philosophical implications
• Challenges to divine attributes: paradoxes and debates

5. Religious Language

• Challenges in describing the divine
• Theories of religious language
  • Analogy (Aquinas)
  • Symbolism and myth
  • Via negativa (apophatic theology)
• Issues of ineffability and meaning

6. Faith and Reason

• Definitions and distinctions
• Rationality of religious belief
• Evidentialism vs fideism
• Role of faith as a form of knowledge or trust
• Philosophical perspectives on justification

7. Religious Experience

• Types of religious experiences: mystical, visionary, revelatory
• Philosophical analysis of religious experience as evidence
• Comparative perspectives across religions
• Critiques and alternative explanations

8. Morality and Religion

• Relationship between moral values and religious belief
• Divine Command Theory
• Secular ethical theories vs religious ethics
• Debates on whether morality depends on religion

9. Religious Pluralism

• Diversity of religious beliefs and practices
• Philosophical responses to pluralism
  • Exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism
• Tolerance and interfaith dialogue
• The possibility of universal religious truth

10. Afterlife and Immortality

• Beliefs about afterlife: resurrection, reincarnation, immortality of the soul
• Philosophical issues concerning personal identity and survival after death
• Ethical and existential implications
• Critical perspectives and skepticism