Course Objectives:   PHI 3700/REL 3936 is an introductory course in the philosophy of religion, designed to lead you in an exploration of the major philosophical issues faced by religion, using the Western religious tradition as a focus. The course presupposes no particular background in religion but does require an active interest in matters of religion. The approach taken is distinctly philosophical rather than theological; that is, reason rather than faith shall be the criterion for the analysis of the adequacy of arguments. At the end of this semester, you should be able to present and discuss the major positions taken in the areas of: arguments for the existence of God, characteristics often ascribed to God, the problem of evil, religious language, and an analysis of religious experience. The purpose of this course is to explore the rationality of various traditional arguments and not to convert any student to any religious position.

Required Text:

Pojman, Louis P. (ed.), Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. 3^rd edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998.

• Readings in text as assigned in class schedule.

• Two short (10 page minimum) papers on topics suggested by me or chosen by you with my prior approval.

• Three in-class examinations, including final, as scheduled. The first two exams are essay in nature and cover material from the previous exam. The final consists of 25-30 short answer questions, many with multiple parts, that can be answered in short paragraphs.

• Attendance in class is required and monitored; it is also important to note that the examinations are based largely on material discussed in class. You are allowed 3 absences, excused or otherwise, before a grade penalty is assigned. With the 4^th and subsequent unexcused absences, you will be penalized by a loss of 1 point per day up to a maximum of 10 points.

• PHI 3700 is a Gordon Rule class. That means that you must submit a cumulative minimum of 6,000 words of written work. It also means that I am obligated to look more critically at the presentation and style of your written work.

 
• Consequently, all written work done outside class must comply with acceptable college-level standards for grammar, spelling and content. Papers that contain more than three (3) major grammatical or spelling errors will be returned to you for correction and the work will not be counted as submitted until all errors are corrected.

• You may submit papers electronically, either on disk (PC, not Apple) or as an attachment to an e-mail. The deepest level of Dante's Inferno is reserved for anyone who sends me a computer virus.

 
• Papers must be submitted by the dates given on the course schedule. Late papers or papers that have been returned to you but have not been re-submitted by the second subsequent class meeting are subject to a grade penalty of 1/3 grade reduction for each day late. Thus, a B+ would become a B on the first late day and a B- on the second, etc.

 
• Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is the submission of someone else's work as your own. There may be a fine line between plagiarism and scholarship, since few if any of the ideas we have are truly original. The key is to properly attribute ideas to their source within a bibliography; where direct quotations are used, these must be footnoted.  Instances of plagiarism will be dealt with severely, resulting in a grade penalty of at least F-8 (see below) for the work plagiarized.

• Each paper: 12.5% or total of 25%.
• First two examinations: 20 % each or total of 40%.
• Final examination: 25%
• Participation/Attendance 10%

• Note: Any student who is dissatisfied with a grade received for any work submitted in this course-except for the final exam-- may resubmit the work after corrections, additions or other improvements are made. The redone work will replace the earlier grade only if it is a higher grade; that is, no student can do worse on a paper or exam by redoing it. Note that redone exams will be treated as take-home exams, requiring much higher standards of exposition by the student and evaluation by the instructor. All redone work must be submitted no later than Wednesday, November 29.

• Grading Scale: In recognition of the fact that there are at least as many degrees of failure as there are of successful performance, I utilize a grading scale that reflects the nether world of F-ness. In some classes, an A and an F average to a C; in my world, an A and an F-12 results in an F. That grading scale:

• Note: Because of the personal nature and sensitivity of many of the topics discussed in this course and because a critical analysis of the rationality of religious beliefs can be troubling to some students, it is important that no one in the class be made to feel under any pressure, by a student or by me, to change or modify a religious belief. Proselytizing of any kind will not be tolerated; however, requests to provide arguments or reasons for one's beliefs are entirely appropriate.

My office is FAO 235. I strongly prefer that we arrange appointments in advance; however, I will keep open office hours of 1-2 Monday through Thursday. Office phone: (813) 974-5796. Home phone and fax (do not call after 9 p.m.): (813) 949-2859 or 948-2520 (phone only). The phone answering machines are always on. My e-mail address is: rtaylor@chuma1.cas.usf.edu. While there also is a course dedicated e-mail contained within the WebCT site for this course, it is better to use my "chuma" address.

PHI 3700 on the InterNet:

You are encouraged to use the WebCT InterNet site dedicated to this. There you will find, in addition to this syllabus:

• your grades posted (only you have access) as soon as work is graded.
• access to chat rooms and bulletin boards for use in this course.
• your private e-mail for use in this course-you can communicate with any of your classmates on-line
• a glossary, study guides and sample tests
• links to other course-related sites
• and much more as this site is constructed.

Tentative Course Schedule:

The following schedule is subject to change. Any changes will also be listed on the InterNet site calendar. The readings assigned correspond to the Pojman text.

Aug. 28    Course Introduction

Aug. 30    Arguments for the Existence of God: Ontological. Read pp. Introduction and 69-72.

Sep. 4     Labor Day Holiday

Sep. 6    Ontological continued. Read pp. 73-97.

Sep. 11    Cosmological. Read pp. 2-47

Sep. 13   Cosmological continued.

Sep. 18   Teleological. Read pp. 48-68

Sep. 20   Other (i.e. moral, pragmatic). Read pp. 395-432

Sep. 25   Religious Experience;  Mysticism. Read pp. 99-126

Sep. 27   Arguments from Religious Experience. Read pp. 127-160

Oct. 2       Review and Catch-up

Oct. 4       First Examination

Oct. 9       The Problem of Evil: The Problem and Some "Solutions". Read pp. 163-185

Oct. 11     Some More "Solutions." Read pp. 186-230

Oct. 16     Faith and Reason:  The Verification Controversy. Read pp. 374-394

Oct. 18    Fideism. Read pp. 433-449

Oct. 23     First Paper Due;  Existentialism and Religion

Oct. 25     Rationality and Justified Religious Belief. Read pp. 450-505

Oct. 30     The Attributes of God:  Time and Eternity. Read pp. 233-256

Nov. 1       God's Omniscience and Omnipotence. Read pp. 257-292

Nov. 6       God and the Concept of Person

Nov. 8       Second Examinaton

Nov. 13     Miracles and Revelation:  Arguments For and Against Miracles. Read pp. 295-313

Nov. 15    Revelation. Read pp. 314-330

Nov. 20     Religious Pluralism:  Arguments For and Against Pluralism. Read pp. 507-537

Nov. 22     Second Paper Due (Thanksgiving is Nov. 23-24)  Ultimate Concern. Read pp. 538-557

Nov. 27     Religion and Ethics: Read pp. 559-580

Nov. 29     More ethics

Dec. 4       Catch-up and Review

Dec. 6       Catch-up and Review

Dec. 11     Final Examination 10:30-12:30 in CPR 247.