Date |
Topic & reading |
| Thursday, 9/21 |
The teleological argument, pt. 3.
van Inwagen, "The place of rational beings in the world: design and purpose"
|
| Tuesday, 9/26 |
The teleological argument, pt. 4
Roger White, "Fine-tuning and multiple universes"
|
| Thursday, 9/28 |
The argument from miracles
Pascal, "The miracles"
Hume, "Of miracles" |
| Tuesday, October 3 |
The argument from miracles, pt. 2
Price, "On the importance of Christianity and the nature of historical evidence, and miracles" |
| Thursday, October 5 |
The argument from evil
Mackie, "Evil and omnipotence" |
| Tuesday, October 10 |
The argument from evil, pt. 2
Plantinga, "The free will defence" |
| Thursday, October 12 |
The argument from evil, pt. 3
van Inwagen, "The sufferings of beasts" |
| October 17 & 19 |
FALL BREAK |
| Tuesday, October 24 |
Free will and divine foreknowledge
Edwards, Freedom of the Will (selections) |
| Thursday, October 26 |
Free will and divine foreknowledge, pt. 2
Plantinga, "On Ockham's Way Out" |
| Tuesday, October 31 |
Free will and determinism
Hume, Treatise on Human Nature (selection) |
| Thursday, November 2 |
Free will and determinism, pt. 2
van Inwagen, "The Powers of Rational Beings: Freedom of the Will" |
| Tuesday, November 7 |
Religious disagreement, pt. 1
Hick, "Religious pluralism and salvation" |
| Thursday, November 9 |
Religious disagreement, pt. 2
van Inwagen, "Non est Hick" |
| Tuesday, November 14 |
Religious disagreement, pt. 3
Kelly, "The epistemic significance of disagreement"
optional: Boghossian, "What the Sokal hoax ought to teach us"
Second papers due in class today. Details here. |
| Thursday, November 16 |
Third world poverty, pt. 1
Singer, "Famine, affluence, and morality" |
| Tuesday, November 21 |
Third world poverty, pt. 2
McGinn, "Our duties to animals and the poor" |
| Thursday, November 23 |
THANKSGIVING |
| Tuesday, November 28 |
Abortion, pt. 1
Thomson, "A defense of abortion" |
| Thursday, November 30 |
Abortion, pt. 2
Marquis, "Why abortion is immoral" |
| Tuesday, December 5 |
Wrapping up discussion
No reading. |
| Friday, December 15 |
Scheduled final exam; final papers due. |
|
10/4: On Thursday we will begin our discussion of the problem of evil, which will occupy us for the next three seminars. You should begin by reading the piece by Mackie.
9/26: For Thursday, read the Hume and the Pascal pieces on miracles. You can just skim the Pascal; focus on Hume.
9/21: As discussed in class, we'll be continuing our discussionof the argument from design with the paper by Roger White next Tuesday.
9/19: Re-writes for your Anselm papers are due in class next Thursday, the 28th.
9/19: For Thursday, read van Inwagen on the teleological argument. Next week, we will be beginning our discussion of miracles.
9/7: Class on September 14 will be cancelled so that you can attend Notre Dame's Forum on the Global Health Crisis.
9/7: Tentatively, the first of the 5 page papers for the course will be due on October 12. Details to come.
9/7: Today we will be discussing the van Inwagen piece on the cosmological argument. On Tuesday we will begin our discussion of the design argument. You should read the selection from Paley, and pp. 15-21 of the selection from Hume.
8/30: For Thursday, review Gaunilo's argument against Anselm, and also read Leibniz's argument for the existence of God. Your papers are due in class next Tuesday. The details of the assignment are here. If you have questions about the paper, feel free to email me.
8/24: For Tuesday, try to think about how Anselm's argument might work as a reductio. You should also read the reply to Anselm's argument by Gaunilo.
8/22: For Thursday, read the selection from Anselm's Proslogion which is available here. Before class, try to put Anselm's argument in premise/conclusion form. Do you think it is valid? Do you think it is sound?
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