F1112 Heritage or Hindrance? Philosophical Perspectives on Religion

Against the background of the recent resurgence of religious discourse in the West and the continued global significance of religious traditions, the course will examine classical and contemporary forms of philosophical reflection on religion as a cultural heritage of current importance. Topics to be discussed include faith and knowledge, theology and politics, and emancipation and salvation. The course seeks to explore the spectrum of relations between religion and philosophy that reach from mutual support through outright antagonism to pronounced indifference. The classical and modern authors to be read, analyzed and assessed range from Plato through Spinoza to Habermas.\r\n

First the course will consider early Greek attempts to come to terms with archaic popular religion, viz. the genealogical account of deities in Hesiod\'s Theogony (ca. 700 BC) focusing on the struggle between the titans and the Olympian gods and the critique of the anthropomorphism inherent in polytheistic religious belief in the pre-Socratic philosopher, Xenophanes (ca. 570-470 BC). Next the course will turn to the critique of priesthood in Plato\'s early dialogue, Euthyphro (early 4th c. BC), with special attention paid to the defining religious feature of piety (eusebeia).

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Then the course will address the philosophical consideration of religion in early modern philosophy marked by the Protestant reformation and its political aftermath. First the course will examine the role of religion in the absolutist state envisioned by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan (1651), to turn thereafter to Baruch de Spinoza\'s limited defense of religious and intellectual freedom in Theologico-Political Treatise (1670).

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Next the course will turn to two discussions of the nature and role of religion in the eighteenth century, specifically to David Hume\'s genealogical account of religious beliefs and traditions in Natural History of Religion (1757) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau\'s advocacy of a \"civil religion\" in the service of political aims in On the Social Contract (1762).

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Then the course will address the radical critique of religion in nineteenth-century German philosophy, first turning to Arthur Schopenhauer\'s dialogue, \"On Religion\" (1851), then to Ludwig Feuerbach\'s analyses of the anthropomorphism and projectionism involved in religious belief in On the Essence of Christianity (1841), moving on to Friedrich Nietzsche\'s socio-political assessment of the double origin of religion in On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) and from there to Sigmund Freud\'s depth-psychological critique of religion in Moses and Monotheism (1937).

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In conclusion the course will investigate the recent resurgence of philosophical interest in religion in Western political philosophy, as exemplified by the work of Jürgen Habermas, A Feeling of What is Missing (2005).

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In addressing the phenomenon of religion from a historically informed philosophical perspective, the course seeks to avoid partisan and personal positions on religious matters, focusing instead on the argumentative assessment of religion from the perspective of an outside observer intent on understanding and assessing the conditions, forms and limits of religious thought and practice. The point of the course is not to find and identify the right religion but to reflect on what is right (or wrong), good (or bad) and useful (or harmful) in religion as such.

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Learning Outcomes

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On a formal level, students will acquire and practice the ability to read closely, summarize clearly, analyze thoroughly, assess critically and discuss productively intellectually challenging philosophical texts, both ancient and modern. In terms of content, students will be familiarized with major positions in Western philosophical thought about the nature, origin, essence and function of religion. As a result, students will be enabled to participate actively in and relate critically to current public and private debates and controversies about the phenomenon of religion.

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Teaching and Evaluation Methods

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Each week will be devoted to a different author and text. Classes will be held as discussion classes, based on every student\'s prior close study of the assigned text, an introduction into the author and his work given by the instructor at the beginning of each week and a student presentation on the assigned text at the beginning of each class period.

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The final grade is assigned on the basis of class participation (1/3), a class presentation on the assigned text of a given class meeting (1/3) and a final paper of 5-7 pages in length (spacing 1.5; font Times New Roman) on a topic suggested by the student and approved by the instructor, to be turned in by email