Fall 2005

PHILOSOPHY

RELIGION 

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

PHILOSOPHY ELECTIVES

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 266 – Philosophy of Science

• New Faculty Member

• MW- 1-2:15pm

• Room: FI 106

• Call Number:14367

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of science. It does not presuppose technical knowledge in the sciences but will survey issues such as the nature of scientific theories and laws, the objectivity of scientific knowledge, and criteria for choice among competing scientific theories. Among the questions to be considered are the following:

-- Is a well-supported scientific theory supposed to be accepted as a true description of the world? Or is it just a complex set of tools for predicting the occurrence of events?

-- To what extent do new ways of thinking or new expectations, rather than new evidence, cause scientists to reject old theories and accept new ones?

-- Is it reasonable for a scientist to accept a theory based in part on values other than observation or experimental evidence (e.g., values such as the mathematical symmetry of equations incorporated in the theory, or the relative simplicity like these of the formulation)? Does the reliance on values limit or undermine scientific "objectivity"?

-- Is it ever possible to discover laws governing social events, as we discover laws of nature?

-- How is observation related to technical concepts in a scientific theory? If I "observe" when I look through a microscope even though the effectiveness of the microscope depends on a complex optical theory, could I likewise "observe" something just by looking at a computer simulation of it?

Readings for this course will come from influential twentieth-century philosophers of science, such as Popper, Hempel, and Kuhn, as well as other recent thinkers.

PHIL 310 – Knowledge, Belief, and Truth

 An examination of the nature and limits of human knowledge using Laurence BonJour's brilliant book Epistemology: Classic Problems and Contemporary Responses. Questions to be addressed include:  Is guessing a form of pretending to believe? Can we know anything at all or are humans condemned to (blessed with) skepticism?  Is it possible to have knowledge of God or of what is ethical or unethical? Is a priori knowledge (that which philosophy allegedly provides) either possible or actual?   And, what is the nature of truth, especially when a fictional object such as SpongeBob Squarepants is involved?  The last few sessions of the course will be devoted to student projects involving collaboration through the use of electronic resources and culminating in the production of in-class  presentations.  Projects in the areas of fictional or religious knowledge, ethical knowledge, and feminist epistemology will be strongly encouraged. 
          The course is required for Philosophy majors; minors and interested non-majors are welcome.

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. The course will include also the 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 334 01- Theoretical and Applied Ethics     HONP 301 01- Honors: Ways of Knowing

This class will introduce the methods for judging actions as either right and wrong, considering the basic terms and concepts from the field of ethics. We will also apply these to specific issues, like euthanasia, advertising, and day-to-day issues like lying and promise-keeping. We will pause occasionally to consider fundamental attempts to construct an ethical theory, such as those of Plato, Kant, and the existentialists. We might also touch on recent trends like feminist ethics, anti-theory ethics, and even the notion that ethics is pointless. 

   RELIGION ELECTIVES

RELG 200 – Old Testament I: Genesis to Joshua

  An examination of the history and theology of Israelite religion as seen in the biblical books covering the Primeval, Patriarchal and Mosaic periods (creation-1250 B.C.). A close reading of the Biblical text and analysis from a variety of scholarly schools of interpretation and criticism. The course will include treatment of the various schools of thought (documentary, form, etc.) as to the authorship and dates of the texts under examination.  The student will also be exposed to various hermeneutical approaches to the texts (philosophical, mythic, psychoanalytic, etc.) A follow-up course of Old Testament II, covering the books from Joshua to Daniel will be offered in the Spring semester.

RELG 217 – Taoism

This course explores Taoism, the most mystical of the religions that originated in China. While Confucian-oriented governments came and went, Taoism developed in remarkable ways at the grassroots level of the population--in village life and especially through the teachings of fascinating sages who lived somewhat apart from society, reverencing the powers of the Tao that reveal themselves in Nature. We will be exploring scriptures such as the Tao te Ching, Chuang-Tzu, the I-Ching, and many others dealing with a great variety of topics. These include yin-yang, natural symbols expressive of Tao, Taoist physiology--connecting the human body with the divine powers in the natural world, defining "natural action" and "unity with Tao," Taoist uses of external and internal Alchemy, the development of Chinese medicine through the search for immortality, various meditation practices, Taoist deities and the Immortals, who are thought to help society and the poor, Taoist ethics, various rituals and priests, sectarian groups and their leaders, systems of exercise and the practice of martial arts, and geomancy (aligning one's external environment with natural principles). 
 We will also examine the connections between Confucian and Taoist values and organization, and the relationship between Buddhism and Taoism. Buddhism was at first interpreted as "Taoist," and we find that joint Taoist-Buddhist groups developed in the later periods. 
     This course is suitable for both introductory and advanced students.

RELG 221 01 – Religion & Culture                                RELG 221 02-Relgion & Culture

Dr. Steve Johnson                                       Dr. Steve Johnson   

MW- 10-11:15am                                        MW -1:-2:15pm 

Room: DI 175                                               Room: DI 175                                                       

Call Number: 13623                                   Call Number: 14373

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.  Fulfills the "New" GER".

A study of the Nazi extermination of 6,000,000 Jews during World War II and the moral and religious issues raised by this event.

This course focuses on studying the historical development of the religious views of peacemaking and warfare in the Islamic tradition. The course will help students to compare the Just War tradition in the West with the Jihad doctrine in Islam. In addition, students will have the opportunity to read and analyze classical and modern Muslim, Christian and Jewish writings on the subject.

RELG  355 01: Sel Study:  New Religious Movements 

This course will investigate alternative and new religious movements, especially as they have developed in America (though occasional comparisons will be drawn to new religious movements in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere). We will review new religious movements that have since become established religious traditions (e.g., Christian Science, Mormonism), along with countercultural religious movements born in the 1960s and 1970s and Eastern religions as they have been imported to America and Americans. We will discuss how gender and race function in alternative religions as compared to established religions, how leadership is conceptualized, and how communities are developed and maintained. In addition, we will consider controversial topics related to new religious movements such as millennialism and mass suicides, and charges of  brainwashing and satanic rituals.

RELG  355 02: Sel Study:  Ireland's Celts and Catholics 

A survey introduction to Ireland's religious history and experiences, from the earliest people and Queen  Medb, through Padraig and Brigid, the Vikings and Cromwell, and much much more, toward the 20th-century and America. Heavy readings and wide-ranging lectures will travel the following syllabus: 
--Celtic Irish paganism: complete with goddesses, druids, and dynamic shape-shifting. . . . 
--Celtic Christianity: the original real deal, unique in the world for centuries, its missionary monks helping re-educate Europe out of their "dark ages." Meanwhile, the uniquely Celtic Christians had pioneered being communally what today we might call being "spiritual, but not religious." Then, after centuries of such independence....                                                                                                                                                                     --Christian Ireland Roman-Catholicized: still recognizably Irish but "regularized" under Norman English absorption, and then....                                                                                                                                               --Irish Catholicism under the gun -- victimized and distorted by four centuries of Protestant English brutalities and persecution. . . . 

No pre-requisites, but good note-taking, class attendance, and in-class participation are required. Short weekly writing assignments and serious tests.

RELG 357 – Sel Study: Religious Existentialism  RELG 467 - Seminar: Religious Existentialism                          HONP 301 02- Honors: Ways of Knowing

Existentialism has been called "the category of the individual."  Kierkegaard declared that "Truth is subjectivity" and Sartre spoke of radically free decision-making through which the individual creates himself. What are the "existential" views of God, human uniqueness and the meaning of life and death? These and related themes will be explored in the writings of Meister Eckhart, Soren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Martin Heidegger, John Paul Sartre, Emanuel Levinas and others. These writings will be subjected to a careful and close reading by the entire class.
      NOTE: This class may be counted as a seminar or non-seminar (for purposes of meeting the requirements for the major in Religion).