Philosophy and Religion Department 

Fall, 2004 Elective Course Offerings

PHILOSOPHY

RELIGION 

PLEASE EXCUSE THE DISCREPANCIES REGARDING SPACE  BETWEEN WORDS ON SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIONS

PHILOSOPHY ELECTIVES

PHIL 204 – Biomedical Ethics

      Bioethics is the study of ethical reasoning as it relates to various problems in health care, medical research, and the life sciences. Common topics in bioethics include abortion, animal rights, human experiments, cloning, and our attitudes towards life and death. In this sense, bioethicsis a field where we apply theoretical or abstract principles to practical, everyday concerns. 

PHIL 212 – Social Political Philosophy

 This course explores core issues in political and social philosophy—the nature of justice, citizenship, and human rights--with a focus on contemporary debates about equality and justice in a multicultural society and a multinational globe.

The course will begin with an overview of the history of social and political theory with a focus on the contract theory tradition.  We will then explore how this tradition is currently being developed by liberal political theorists and their libertarian, multicultural, and feminist critics.  The third part of the course will move beyond justice within the nation-state to questions of international justice and human rights.

 Fulfills the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER)-Humanities, Philosophy/ Religion.

PHIL 231 –American Philosophers 

         This course deals with major developments in American philosophy in the great, creative period from 1865 to 1940. During this period, American thinkers found a distinctive voice and, for the first time, attained international recognition for the new ideas and methods they contributed to philosophy. The course will concentrate on three major thinkers - Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey - whose work spanned this period and each of whom brought a distinctive method and vision to its shared interests. Among the topics to be taken up in the course are the following:

• the invention of "pragmatism," defining knowledge and truth in terms of human action rather than abstract theory,

• the interpretation of the human mind as a "stream of consciousness," emphasizing the continuity and relatedness of human experience,

• the invention of "semiotics" as a new, systematic approach to understanding the complexity of meaning in human life,

• the use of new theories of meaning and mind to show that all knowledge is fallible and therefore to understand better why all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, is constantly changing and growing,

• the development of the radical view that reason and logic are themselves not necessarily eternal truths but rather practical, evolutionary attainments of mankind that, like anything else, must be justified by their results,

• the application of these new, practically oriented methods of thinking to understand better the nature of religious belief, the nature of ethical values, and the justification of larger social ideals such as democracy and freedom.

PHIL 270 – Philosophy of Mind

     The course addresses many profound and important questions about the mental. Here is a short list:

Do you have a soul and if you do, how long will it last? 

Do pet dogs and cats feel pain or do they just “pain-behave?” 

Could a computing machine exhibit genuine intelligence or would it be, as John Searle's Chinese room analogy purports to show, MERELY following rules?

     These and related questions will be examined carefully and investigated philosophically.  We will read the second edition of  Philosophy of Mind, George Graham’s brilliant introductory text from Blackwell Publishers. The course will be non-technical and will not presuppose any prior background in philosophy, psychology or cognitive science.  Counts toward the Cognitive Science minor and as a Philosophy elective.

PHIL 331 – History of Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy 

     An introduction to the major figures of classical philosophy in the ancient world. The course will focus on the writings of Plato and Aristotle, the two greatest and most influential thinkers in ancient philosophy, whose writings are still a goldmine of creativity and conceptual subtlety for the twentieth century. The course will include also the earliest beginnings of philosophy in the fragmentary thought of the Pre-Socratics in the sixth century B.C. Classical philosophy first defined the central issues and ideas that came to shape Western culture, including the ideas of truth, beauty, and goodness; democracy and freedom; knowledge, reason, and experience; and reality, time, space, infinity, and God. Modern thought can be understood only through its relationship to classical thought and culture. This course will provide an introductory overview of this early, formative period in philosophy.

Phil 390 01: Sel Topics: Sartre                                                

 Phil 424 01: Seminar in Philosophy: Sartre

Students and professor will read  Being and Nothingness, together the most important work of 20th Century Existentialism.  In this book Sartre attempts nothing less than a complete analysis of the human person’s existence in the world in terms of the absolute freedom that characterizes human life.  Sartre offers his famous non-definition of the human: “man is not what he is and is what he is not.” Man is undefinable, irreducible, “an eternal thirst” forever reaching beyond himself.  Sartre invites the reader to think along with him and to seek out the “authentic existence” which is the aim of human life. 

This is a rigorous course for serious students which will provide rich rewards for those who undertake the journey. 

   RELIGION ELECTIVES

RELG 204 - New Test: Jesus & the Gospels

 An examination of the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted in the theological treatises known as the Gospels (with special stress on Mark and Matthew). Emphasis will be placed on the texts themselves, the philosophical and theological viewpoints of the writers in the context of the history and thought of ancient Hebrew and Hellenistic culture.  This is a basic course for all students. Especially recommended for students of literature and history. A follow-up course, Paul and the Early Church (RELG 206), will be offering in Spring, 2005.

RELG 215 - Hinduism  

    This course is designed to examine -- both historically and thematically -- the richness of the Hindu tradition. We will discuss its scriptures, spiritual disciplines, saints, myths and rituals, sacred art and poetry, and social, philosophical, and political thought. India has a religious tapestry that has been woven for over 5000 years of her history, and an accumulated wisdom that still speaks to modern concerns. From silent world-renouncing ascetics in the Himalayas, to noisy and colorful festivals and fairs; from a deeper understanding of the mind and meditation, to a sense that different colors of joy pervade the world -- the Hindu voice has continually stressed the importance of the search for significance in all realms of life. In this course we will especially be focusing on the Upanisads, Yoga Sutras, Ramayana Epic, the bhakti poets, and the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, as well as other selected topics.

Dr. Steve Johnson

MW 10-11:15am

DI 286

Call # 13444

 This course takes an historical approach in studying the interactions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with the broader cultures they impact and inhabit. Hard-working students will learn amazing amounts of religious and secular history (especially Western) throughout the course. In the second half of the course, students will be immersed in fascinating (sometimes troubling) topics/foci, gaining insight into dynamics still very much driving us (and driving us crazy) in our new century and millennium. 

Students must attend the classes, survive two tough tests, and faithfully work at weekly written assignments (thought questions, analyses, long summaries of videos viewed during class, etc.)  Fulfills the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER)-Humanities, Philosophy/ Religion.

RELG 263 – Religion and Psychology

   A survey of late 20th-century religious reflection in the light of earlier psychological analyses of religion. Or, how did we become a culture where so many are definitely "not religious" but very spiritual"?

We begin with an introduction to classic and very influential views of the religious person reached by such figures as Freud, Jung,  Fromm, and Maslow. Then we examine the implications of such psychology for religious thought and life, as understood by leading representatives of Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant traditions. (Marxist, feminist, and other critical insights are included throughout the semester.) Result: great insight into issues very much alive today.

     Our approach stresses common required readings, videos, and classroom lectures, plus discussion whenever possible. Besides the common readings, course requirements include two tests, one outside-reading-report, and a series of formal written summaries and reflections.

      Focuses on women's own experience in religions and the various perspectives of women held by both Eastern and Western religious traditions.  The course deals with questions such as the nature of women, patriarchy and religion, and roles of women in religions.  Fulfills the Multicultural Awareness Requirement.

RELG 352 Selected Topics: Kierkegaard

– RELG 462 01 Seminar: Religious Texts Kierkegaard

• Dr. Michael Kogan

• TR: 1-2:15 

• Room DI 430 

• Call Number: 14051/14954

Soren Kierkegaard is often called the founder of the philosophy known as Existentialism. He lived and wrote in early nineteenth-century Copenhagen and declared his contempt for complacent bourgeois society with his proclamation, “Truth is Subjectivity!” He held that the purpose of life was to become what one already is -- namely “that individual.” His denunciations of the church of his day made him a social outcast but he proclaimed that “true” Christianity called people to be radical individualists, to reject the mind-numbing conformity of middle class life and to explore in radical ways one's own freedom and its startling possibilities.
     This class will read together and explore in depth Kierkegaard’s writings. The issues at stake… personal integrity, authentic existence, freedom of thought, the individual’s struggle against group-think… will be equally of interest to Religion, Philosophy, Literature and Psychology majors.

This course is an inquiry into Islamic mystic tradition. The course focuses on understanding and interpreting the Sufi mystic experience as expressed in the works of Sufi poets and  Ibn 'Arabi, al-Ghazzali, Hafiz, and the renowned Rumi. A special attention will be given to the study of Sufi orders and their religious practices, including contemporary Sufi organizations in the West.

A comprehensive approach to the history of the Jewish people and the monotheistic faith they created.  We move from the biblical period to the present, focusing on how the internal Jewish world and the external non-Jewish environment interacted to shape the development of Jewish cultural and religion.

**For course listings see the MSU course schedule booklet.