Philosophy of Religion

Semester and Year	FA 2010
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1617
Section	001
Instructor	Joe Thometz
Days	Tue,Thu
Time	11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	HUM

Description

Is there such a thing as religion? If there is no universal agreement, how can we then have a philosophy of it? Departing from this predicament, this course will first examine how “religion” has been construed over time and in a variety of contexts. After touching upon Western medieval endeavors to “prove” God’s existence, we’ll attend to the nineteenth century and beyond when translations of Sanskrit texts from South Asia began making their way into the Western academy. We’ll consider, for example, how Nietzsche’s critique of religion was informed by Hegel as well as his (mis)readings of Buddhism. Later in the course, we’ll draw Western notions of the “ineffability” of God into conversation with the second- century Buddhist philosophy of Nagarjuna and his influences on the Zen/Ch’an/Dhyana tradition. Finally, we’ll come to the “death of God,” and explore postmodern religious themes. Readings may include: Mircea Eliade, Anselm of Canterbury, Pseudo-Dionysius, Marguerite Porete, Meister Eckhart, Nagarjuna, Dogen, Shunryu Suzuki, and Gianni Vattimo.

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)