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Philosophy 267: Philosophy of Religion (5 Credits)
Everett Community College, Spring Quarter 2015
Instructor: Mike VanQuickenborne; ‘Mike’ will be fine
Contact Info:
Office: Gray Wolf Hall 311
Office Hours: T & Th: 12:20-2:25
Message/Office Phone: (425) DUTYFUL
1
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @VanQuickenborne (Sign up if you'd like to get philosophy-related tweets.)
Snow Day Info: to receive an sms or email in case the campus is closed sign up at:
http://www.everettcc.edu/emergency/notification/
Room/Time/Item #: Gray Wolf 284 / Tu & Th 2:40-4:50 PM / Item # 6956
The nearest bathrooms: By the elevators
Prerequisites: Placement in English 101 is required
Required Text (available in the bookstore):
Peterson, et al. Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings 5th Ed.
Required Videos (available in the EvCC library):
Trekkies, directed by Roger Nygard, 1997, US, 86 Minutes, PG
God on Trial, directed by Andy DeEmmony, 2008, UK, 85 Minutes, NR
Nova: Universe or Multiverse?, directed by Rushmore DeNooyer, 2011, US, 45 Minutes, NR
Useful websites (we will NOT be using Canvas):
phil267.weebly.com
The Course:
Welcome to Philosophy of Religion. The course is a philosophical study of religious thought
focusing principally on the religious-philosophical and theological thinking associated with a
variety of major religious traditions. The course will follow the lecture-discussion format.
Distribution Information:
This course counts for the Humanities, Social Science, and Transfer Elective requirements.
1Email
is my preferred method of communication. Voicemail will be checked on Tu & Th, email M-F.
Course Goals:
Broadly stated, I expect that at the conclusion of this course you will be able to:
• analyze a variety of arguments for and against the existence of God
• describe the most commonly accepted attributes of the Western conception of God
• assess the validity of different attempts to justify religious belief
• demonstrate that you have mastered the above objectives through constructive dialogue
with your classmates as well as in the form of written essays
Non-Assessable Course Goals:
Broadly stated, I expect that by the conclusion of this course you will:
• experience doubt
• experience confusion
• open your mind to new possibilities
My Expectations:
In order to meet these goals I have the following expectations of you:
• This classroom is smaller than you think. Anyone who arrives to class late is necessarily
disrupting the ability of their classmates to learn. Leaving early is just as much a distraction
as arriving late. Such behavior is rude, and I expect you to avoid it unless absolutely
necessary. Those students who are late or leave early will be noted in the attendance record
and could find it very difficult to earn any extra credit in the course.
• You must be familiar with the student code of conduct found in the student handbook.
• It is also required that you treat each other with respect at all times, especially with regard
to disrespectful comments and behaviors (facial expressions and other mannerisms).
Remember that this classroom is smaller than you think. You must also treat me with
respect. This requires that you remain silent when I am talking, and never text during class.
We will have many opportunities for discussion of the material, but I ask that you bring up
any points for discussion to the whole class, not just those seated next to you. When we are
having a classroom discussion, I ask that you only raise your hand when someone is
finished speaking. Anyone who fails to exhibit respect for their classmates or myself will
be removed from the classroom, as is discussed in the student handbook.
• You must ensure that your cell phone does not ring during class.
• You must have your own textbook and bring it to every class meeting.
• Every hour in class requires 2 hours of work outside of class.
Your Expectations:
In turn, you may have the following expectations of me:
• I will treat you with respect.
• I will start and end class on time.
• I will grade your assignments fairly.
• I will listen to your comments and questions patiently, and respond to them to the best of
my ability.
Requirements:
In order to reach these goals I have assigned readings from our text which I expect to be
completed before class begins each day. In order to ensure that you are in fact completing the
reading assignments before class, I will require that you answer a short essay question that I will
be assigning at the end of many class periods. Answers should average approximately 250 words.
I will be collecting your answers at the beginning of class. If you are late to class or absent due
to a non-emergency, you will not be able to hand the essay in. They will be graded on a scale
of 0, ✔–, ✔, and ✔+. Other than a score of 0, each grade will receive the same credit. You can
miss up to two of these and still receive full credit (60 points) for this assignment. If you miss
either three or four of these you will receive 45 points for this assignment. If you miss either five
or six of these you will receive 30 points for this assignment. If you miss more than six you will
receive 0 points for this assignment.
In order to assess how well you are meeting the class goals you will take 2 objective, multiplechoice in-class quizzes (which you may use any non-photocopied notes on), each worth 10% of
the final grade, and 2 essay exams (see Exam Handout for more details), each worth 24% of your
final grade.
Finally, one term paper (see Term Paper Guidelines Handout for more details), worth 20% of
your final grade, is required.
How to submit your assignments:
I encourage you to submit assignments to me by the deadline via email as a PDF file. Doing so
will enable me to annotate your assignments (as will submitting printed/written assignments). I
will provide short comments, underlined words (to indicate misspellings or otherwise draw your
attention to a particular passage), squiggly underlined words (to indicate an awkwardly phrased
passage), and highlighted words (to indicate that the passage is unclear). If you submit an
assignment via email you will receive a reply indicating your credit on the assignment. Please be
sure to include your name on your assignment. Finally, by submitting a file to me electronically,
you are assenting to allow me to anonymously excerpt from it in order to share particularly good
passages with other students. You may also email your assignments in non-PDF format, but
in that case you will only receive a score with no commentary on the essay.
Course Grade Breakdown:
• Short Essays:
• In-Class Quizzes (2 x 10% =):
• Essay Exams (2 x 24% =):
• Term Paper:
TOTAL:
PERCENT
12%
20%
48%
20%
100%
50 points each =
120 points each =
100 points =
POINTS
60 points
100 points
240 points
100 points
500 points
(NOTE CAREFULLY!) Late Assignments/Missed Quizzes or Exams:
If you miss class the day of an assignment, you cannot make it up, except in cases of illness or an
emergency. Note that an unexpected request to work during class is not an emergency. You
have to make a choice between making school or work the higher priority. Your chances for
succeeding in this class will increase if you make school the higher priority. If you feel ill or
there is an emergency I will require two things: 1) you, or someone who is acting on your behalf,
must contact my office (via email or voicemail) on the same day that you have missed class, and
2) when you return to class you must provide written documentation supporting your claim. If
you fail to meet either of these conditions, I will not allow you to take a make up, or give you
credit for your assignment. DO NOT COME TO CLASS IF YOU ARE FEELING ILL. If
you show up on the day on assignment is due, there will be no extensions of due dates.
Plagiarism & Penalties:
From the NY Times, July 5, 2010 “To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery”: “In surveys
of 14,000 undergraduates over the last four years, an average of 61 percent admitted to
cheating on assignments and exams.” Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., defines
“plagiarism” as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own.” Plagiarism
is completely unacceptable and any student who cheats on an assignment will receive a score of
zero for that assignment and all future assignments in the course. I will also report the
incident to the Behavioral Intervention Team which may take further disciplinary action.
Extra credit for class participation:
Engaged class participation is crucial for your success as a student. As an incentive I will boost
any student’s grade by one quarter (e.g. a “B+” would become an “A-”) if they are actively
engaged in the course. The following behaviors will result in less extra credit being awarded to a
student: showing up to class sick, poor attendance not due to illness, arriving late after the first
week, leaving early, talking when I or another student is talking, being disruptive, texting,
sleeping in class, or not paying attention. Extra credit can be a significant boost to your grade in
the class, so I encourage you to take it seriously.
Statement of Disability Accommodation:
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have
emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the
building must be evacuated, please talk to me today, or make an appointment to see me soon.
Mental Health Statement:
An article entitled “Mental Health Needs Seen Growing at Colleges,” published in the NY Times
on Dec. 19, 2010 and written by Trip Gabriel, stated that: “Forty-six percent of college students
said they felt “things were hopeless” at least once in the previous 12 months, and nearly a third
had been so depressed that it was difficult to function, according to a 2009 survey by the
American College Health Association.” If you find yourself feeling that things are hopeless,
please know that things are never hopeless and I am glad to talk to you. We also have
professional counselors employed at the college who are there to serve all students. They are
located on the third floor of Parks and can be contacted by phone: 425.388.9263 or email:
[email protected].
1. HOW THE EXAMS AND QUIZZES WILL WORK:
a. EXAM: You will be given the essay questions in the class period before you will be given
the opportunity to write on two of them in class. The list of questions you will be given
will have between four and six questions on it. Each question may have multiple parts.
We will determine which questions I will ask you to turn in by picking them at random
on the day of the exam. For the essays you may use the text, notes which have not been
photocopied, and even completed essay questions. The answers to these essay questions
should be a minimum of 400 words in length. The most important part of each answer
will be your explanation of your answer. You will have the entire class period that day to
hand these two questions in.
b. QUIZ: On the day of the exam itself you will be given 50 multiple choice questions to
complete, for which you may use any resources you like, except the text itself. The
questions will be worth one point each and you will not be penalized for guessing.
2. HOW TO ANSWER THE ESSAY QUESTIONS:
a. Answer the essay exam question in complete, grammatically correct sentences as
thoroughly and accurately as possible.
b. In order to maximize your score, answers should reflect a thoughtful reading of the
texts. This means that quotations or carefully cited paraphrases of the primary source
readings are necessary.
c. Be prepared for some questions to ask you to describe the ideas of an author we read,
some questions to ask you for your own thoughts on what has been said, along with
your reasons for your thoughts, and some questions to ask you to apply what an author
has said to a concrete situation.
d. Your answers should not rely on your religious beliefs for their persuasiveness.
e. Make sure you leave yourself time to carefully proofread your answers. While I do not
deduct for things such as spelling mistakes, a paper replete with such errors will leave
me with a bad impression, which is something that you want to avoid.
3. HOW TO AVOID PLAIGIARISM, WHICH IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE:
a. Whenever you are using an idea that is not your own you must acknowledge the
originator of the idea, otherwise you are guilty of plagiarism.
b. When quoting or paraphrasing a text, give the page number in parentheses at the end of
the sentence and if you are quoting, explain any quotes you use. For example:
Smith writes in Fun with Philosophy that “Reality is transcendental” (342). What
he is saying here is that reality is not something to be grasped by our senses, because it
transcends the physical world...
Note that the period follows the page number in parentheses, unless your quote is three
lines or longer, in which case you should indent and single space the quotation, and
then the page number would follow the last punctuation mark.
4. EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY:
a. If you do all of the essays for a given exam before the exam begins I will give you 5
points extra on that exam.
5. IN CASE YOU MISS CLASS ON THE DAY OF THE EXAM:
a. If you miss class on the day of an exam due to illness or an emergency remember that
you must contact me that day to inform me why you’ve missed the exam and when you
return to class you must bring me written documentation to support your claim. You
must email all of the essays to me by a date we agree to. I will randomly select two of
those essays to grade. You will not be eligible for the 5 points of extra credit if you miss
the day of the exam.
b. If you know in advance that you will be unable to attend on the day of an exam you
must let me know in advance so that we can make arrangements for you to take the
exam.
Philosophy of Religion Term Paper Guidelines
Term Paper Objectives
Your term paper for this course will cover three (3) essays NOT covered in class from
one of the following sections in our text:
5. Knowing God Without Arguments
7. Divine Action
9. Atheism and Nonreligious Approaches
10. Miracles
12. Religion and Science
13. Religious Diversity
14. Religion and Morality
Your paper should have two main sections: first of all provide (in your own words) a
summary of each of the articles in the section you have chosen. (It must be a minimum of
two paragraphs per article.) In the second section, you should explain which author you
think is most correct about whichever topic you have chosen to write on and then you
should support your view of which author is correct with your own reasoning, reasoning
which should include attacking the reasons the authors you disagree with have given for
their positions. Be sure to discuss all three articles in the second section of your paper. For
citation and plagiarism avoidance tips, consult the Essay Exam Handout given to you at the
beginning of the quarter. Finally, let me encourage you to do your best on the paper, as it is
worth 20% of your final grade.
Format Guidelines
The paper must be typed and double-spaced, with (standard) one inch margins (left and
right, top and bottom). Again, I recommend you email me your term paper in PDF format.
If your paper is not typed you will not get credit for it. Given these standards, I
expect that if you use 12 point Times for your font (this is not a requirement, but it is a
recommendation) your papers will be in the 5 to 6 page range. If you use a different font,
your paper length could vary from these recommendations.
Due Dates
You must indicate which readings you will be investigating in writing no later than
April 30th. If you do not do this, you will lose 5 points on your term paper. Also, if you
change your topic after this date you will lose 5 points. The final draft of your paper is due
by 3:30 PM, Thursday June 4th. Note that no late papers will be accepted, unless you
encounter an extreme emergency and follow the appropriate procedures as outlined in the
syllabus.
Cou dac at the thon*: Comments on how
to write a coherent essay
So here are some various ways to screw up
an essay:
Philosophy (and to some extent college in
general) is about quality more than quantity.
In theory, we could spend an entire quarter on
two essays and that could be sufficient, if they
were helping you to understand how
philosophy works and they were teaching you
how to do philosophy on your own.
Philosophy is a skill, not a body of
knowledge, so it is never my intent to see just
how much material we can cram into a
course.
Unfortunately students’ essays often have
problems. I never know just what causes a
student to do poorly on any given essay. It
could be any number of things:
1.the ‘list’: barely connected and barely (if at
all) explained quotes or paraphrases
masquerading as quotes
2.not answering every question asked
3.the incoherent mess (e.g. “Cou dac at the
thon’)
4.the unreadable mess
5.just plain getting wrong what an author
supposedly said
6.not actually ever responding to the question
7.telling me that my question is a bad one
8.trying to save my eternal soul
9.telling me what an author thinks, but never
telling me what you think & why you think it
10.the unconnected quotes paper
11.assuming that the dictionary has the
“right” answer
12.the compare and contrast where you never
compare and contrast, you just tell me what
each author thinks
13.using articles that were not assigned (and
therefore I’m not testing you on).
14.Using authors to “support” your view by
simply summarizing their positions after
telling me your opinion on the matter
15.the every other word is misspelled
16.the quotes inserted without explaining
what they mean
17.the misquotes
· Didn’t care
· Didn’t have time (work, home)
· Unexpected time pressures
· Can’t understand articles
· Undiagnosed dyslexia
· Poor preparation
· Poor instruction
· Not here for class
Because poor test performance could be due
to any number of these factors, many of
which are personally none of my business, I
leave it to students to be self-disciplined, and
do not think less of them as a person if they
do poorly on an exam. Furthermore, I would
encourage you to not judge yourself simply
based on whatever score you may receive.
Don’t judge yourself on whatever score you
receive, however, you do need to ask yourself
why you did poorly, and address those
reasons, if you are interested in improving
your grade in the course.
When you look at my comments on your
essays, notice the shorthand symbols I use.
Also keep in mind that I never use sarcasm in
my written comments to students.
*I suppose you’re wondering what “Cou dac
at the thon” means. So am I. It was submitted
as part of an answer to an essay question for
another instructor many years ago.
COURSE CALENDAR
Week and Topic
Readings for Tuesday
Readings for Thursday
1. Introduction, the Nature
of Religion
March 31: Syllabus
Questionnaire
April 2: Trekkies,
"The Nature of Religion" by
Ninian Smart at
phil267.weebly.com,
Tillich and Smart In-class
Handout
2. The Nature of Religion
and Religious Experience
April 7: “An Evolutionary
Account of Religion”
–Daniel Dennett
“A Defense of Religious
Realism”–Roger Trigg
“The Meaning of Religious
Beliefs is their Use”
–D. Z. Phillips
April 9: “Religious
Experiences”–Saint Teresa
“Religious Experience as the
Root of Religion”
–William James
“Critique of Religious
Experience”
–Michael Martin
3. Faith and Reason
April 14: NO CLASS
April 16: “The Wager”
–Blaise Pascal
“Truth is Subjectivity”
–Søren Kierkegaard
4. Faith and Reason
& The Divine Attributes
April 21: “The Ethics of
Belief ”
–William Clifford
“The Will to Believe”
–William James
– Recommended: Podcast at
phil267.weebly.com
April 23: “Negative
Theology” –Maimonides
“Some Puzzles Concerning
Omnipotence”
–George I. Mavrodes
5. The Divine Attributes
April 28: “Divine
Omniscience and Voluntary
Action”–Nelson Pike
“God is Timeless” –Boethius
“God is Everlasting”
–Nicholas Wolterstorff
April 30: “God is CreativeResponsive Love”
–Cobb and Griffin
“Atman is Brahman”
–The Upanishads
Essay Exam Questions
distributed
6. Exam I, The Problem of
Evil
May 5: Exam I, Quiz 1
May 7: God on Trial and
guest speaker: Rev. Terry
Kyllo, Rector of St. Phillips
Episcopal Church,
Marysville and coordinator
of The Catacomb Churches
7. Arguments for Atheism
May 12: “God Is a
Projection of Human
Nature”–Ludwig Feuerbach
“Evil Makes a Strong Case
Against God’s Existence”
–David Hume
“Evil and Omnipotence”
– J.L. Mackie
May 14: “The Evidential
Argument from Evil”
–William Rowe
“Soul-Making Theodicy”
–John Hick
Philosophy Bites Podcast:
Marilyn Adams on the
Problem of Evil (on iTunes)
8. The Ontological
Argument for God’s
existence
May 19: “The Classical
Ontological Argument”
–Saint Anselm
“Critique of Anselm’s
Argument”–Gaunilo
Pages 138-140 (Plantinga)
May 21: “Critique of the
Cosmological Argument”
–J.L. Mackie
“The Kalam Cosmological
Argument”
–William Lane Craig
9. A Posteriori Arguments
for God’s Existence and
Naturalism
May 26:“The Analogical
Teleological Argument”
–William Paley
“Critique of the Analogical
Teleological Argument”
–David Hume
May 28: Nova: “Universe or
Multiverse?”
“The Encounter Between
Naturalistic Atheism and
Christian Theism”
–Michael Peterson
10. Life After Death
June 2: “Rebirth”
–Sri Aurobindo
“Problems with Accounts of
Life After Death”
–Linda Badham
“Resurrection of the Person”
–John Hick
June 4: Term Papers Due
Final Conclusions
Essay Exam Questions
distributed
Monday June 8th from 2-3:50: Exam II, Quiz 2
Mike VanQuickenborne
[email protected]
425.DUTYFUL
Gray Wolf Hall 311
Office Hours: Tu & Th 12:20-2:25
COURSE GRADING RECORD
Assignment
Possible Points
Your score
• Short Essays: ◻◻◻◻◻◻◻◻ 60 points
__________
• Scantron Quiz 1:
50 points
__________
• Essay Exam 1:
120 points
__________
• Scantron Quiz 2:
50 points
__________
• Essay Exam 2:
120 points
__________
• Term Paper:
100 points
__________
TOTAL:
500 points
TOTAL: ________
Grading*:2
A course grade is...an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgement by a biased and variable
judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown
proportion of an indefinable material.
–Paul Dressel
Your grade is based solely on the quantity and quality of your work done on time, not your
intentions, personality, or even how hard you worked on a particular exam. I will not curve the
course in any way. The grading scale is as follows (in points):
A: 463-500
A-: 448-462
B+: 433-447
B: 413-432
B-: 398-412
C+: 383-397
C: 363-382
C-: 348-362
D+: 333-347
D: 313-332
F: 0-312
Basic Translation:
(An “A” indicates “excellent” coursework)
(A “B” indicates “good” coursework)
(A “C” indicates “average” coursework)
(A “D” indicates “minimally passing” coursework)
(An “F” indicates “failing” coursework)
If you stop coming to class, it is entirely your responsibility to complete the paperwork to
withdraw from the course. Anyone who fails to complete any of the coursework and who stops
attending without officially withdrawing from the class will receive a “V” grade which
negatively affects your ability to transfer to the university of your choice and can possibly cause
problems with financial aid. If you are auditing the class you must have attended at least two
thirds of the classes, lesser attendance will result in a V grade.
*If
you are repeating this course in order to replace an earlier grade in the same course please see me as soon as
possible.