Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Nicholas Smith
Contact via nicholas.smith@mq.edu.au
W6A 735
To be confirmed
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
12cp or admission to GDipArts
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
Religion has been an important feature of human life throughout history and it continues to shape human affairs across the planet today. All religions posit the existence of some divine force or power, contact with which is the source of deep spiritual fulfilment. The major monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – take this divinity to be a single all-powerful God. But what kind of justification can be given for belief in the existence of God, so conceived? Does science support or undermine belief in God? Or have science and religion got nothing to do with each other? Can religious belief be justified on practical grounds? Might religion provide a basis for morality and spiritual fulfilment that secular or non-religious people lack? Or are there secular sources of meaning available in the modern world that could make religion redundant? Is there a link between religion and violence? Should religion be viewed as an antidote to violent conflict or a cause of it? What place should there be for religion in the political sphere? The unit does not presuppose any religious commitment or particular religious perspective, just a willingness to explore these questions, and others like them, in an open-minded and rigorous way.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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On-line Quizzes | 20% | Weekly |
Short Essay | 25% | 11/04/14 |
Major Essay | 35% | 13/06/14 |
Participation | 10% | Weekly |
Project management | 10% | Weeks 6, 11 and 13 |
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 20%
Multiple choice questions to test knowledge of material covered in the unit each week
Due: 11/04/14
Weighting: 25%
750-1000 word analysis of selected text from part one of the unit
Due: 13/06/14
Weighting: 35%
1500 word essay on a specified topic
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%
Contribution to class discussion based on appropriate preparation
Due: Weeks 6, 11 and 13
Weighting: 10%
On-time submission of written work and submission of essay plan and bibliography in week 11.
The unit will be delivered by way of weekly lectures and tutorials.
Recorded lectures, lecture slides, and other information can be accessed from the PHL246 i-learn site.
Essential reading for the unit is contained in PHL246 Unit Reader for 2014, which all students should purchase.
WEEKLY LECTURE SCHEDULE
Week 1 05/03 |
Introduction; What is religion? Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology |
Part 1: Classical Problems in Philosophy of Religion | |
Week 2 12/03 |
The idea of the perfect being: Descartes. |
Week 3 19/03 |
Providence and the problem of evil: Leibniz |
Week 4 26/03 |
Design and purpose in nature: Hume and Paley |
Week 5 26/08 |
Religion within the limits of reason: Kant |
Week 6 02/04 |
Faith and subjectivity: Kierkegaard |
Part 2: Understanding and Explaining Secularism | |
Week 7 30/04 |
Understanding secularism – Nietzsche and his heirs |
Week 8 07/05 |
Secularism, religion and morality - Richard Rorty’s pragmatism |
Week 9 14/05 |
The significance of religious pluralism – Charles Taylor |
Part 3: Contemporary Social Issues of Religion | |
Week 10 21/05 |
Science and religion |
Week 11 28/05 |
Religious toleration |
Week 12 05/06 |
Religion and violence |
Lecture 1: Wednesday 11.00 AM W5C 320
Lecture 2: Wednesday 12.00 PM W5C 320
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Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
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