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.
What is religion? Do religions make factual claims, like those of the sciences? What are the aims of religion? What relation does it have to morality? Are there distinctively religious sources of knowledge? Are religious claims justified? These are some of the questions discussed in this paper.
| Paper title | Reason, Belief and the Sacred |
|---|---|
| Paper code | PHIL329 |
| Subject | Philosophy |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | First Semester |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $886.35 |
| International Tuition Fees (NZD) | $3,766.35 |
- Prerequisite
- One 200-level PHIL paper
- Restriction
- PHIL 229, PHIL 210
- 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 Department of Philosophy'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 Close 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 should 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
