What is religion? How do religious people think? Where do their ideas come from? Are any of them true? These and other questions are addressed.
| Paper title | Reason, Belief and the Sacred |
|---|---|
| Paper code | PHIL329 |
| Subject | Philosophy |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $929.55 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 200-level PHIL paper
- Restriction
- PHIL 210, PHIL 229
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- Suitable for all students who have an interest in philosophical questions. No previous philosophical knowledge is required, but students will be expected to read widely and write clearly.
- Contact
- gregory.dawes@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
View more information on the Philosophy programme's website.
- Teaching staff
Course co-ordinator and lecturer: Professor Greg Dawes
- Paper Structure
- The paper has four parts:
- Part One: Religious Language and Thought
- Part Two: The Aims of Religion
- Part Three: Modes of Knowing
- Part Four: Assessing Religious Beliefs
- Teaching Arrangements
There will be three 50-minute classes each week, with one devoted to tutorial-style discussion.
Assessment:- Weekly exercises in class: 15%
- Essay Outline 5%
- An essay of no more than 3,000 words: 25%
- Final examination: 55%
- Textbooks
As well as the course outline distributed in class, a course book will be made available. Other recommended works will be accessible on Blackboard or in the Library, on Reserve.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Scholarship, Critical thinking,
Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will be able to
- Outline what is distinctive about religious language and thought
- Describe the various aims of religion
- Describe and evaluate the sources from which believers draw their claims to knowledge
- Evaluate those (assumed) sources of religious knowledge
