God's Existence: Defensible or Delusion? (AP9850P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

Does God exist? And can this be proved to the satisfaction of a non-believer, or even the doubter in myself? This unit looks at how philosophers – from Plato’s time to ours – have sought to answer these questions. It explores traditional moves, such as ontological and cosmological proofs, Leibniz’ argument and Pascal’s wager, as well as more recent discussion, including the intelligent design argument, and Richard Dawkins’ characterisation of this and other proofs as “deluded”. At graduate level, the unit promotes critical reflection on the viability of the attempt — from Anselm to Kant, to modern proponents of intelligent design — to offer a God whom philosophy defends but does not enclose

Unit code: AP9850P

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Analyse and assess arguments comprising various traditional proofs for God’s existence
2.

Expand knowledge of particular proofs to encompass reasoning patterns or "types" which those proofs identify
3.

Reflect at depth on whether a given philosophical proof can be integrated with faith claims for God’s existence
4.

Sustain a meta-level philosophical discussion/argumentation on "proof" of divine existence
5.

Examine critically the compatibility of scientifically and theologically-based approaches to identifying evidence for divine engagement with the world

Unit sequence

A previous unit of philosophy at any level

Pedagogy

Synchronous interactive lectures and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

  • Davies, Paul. The Mind of God. London: Penguin Books, 1992.
  • Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Paperback ed. Boston: Mariner Books, 2007.
  • Descartes, René. Discourse on Method and the Meditations. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.
  • Hick, J.H. Arguments for the Existence of God. London: Macmillan, 1970. (recommended for purchase)
  • Hume, David. Principal Writings on Religion including Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and the Natural History of Religion. Pref. J.C.A. Gaskin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Levering, Michael. Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2016.
  • Mackie, J. L. The Miracle of Theism. Paperback ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
  • Ruse, Michael. Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in an Age of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
  • Spitzer, Robert J. New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2010.
  • Swinburne, Richard. The Existence of God. Rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay - 1st essay

A philosophical essay relating to argument types of arguments for God's existence studied in the early part of the unit.

3500 50.0
Essay - 2nd essay

A philosophical essay relating to types of argument for God's existence studied later in the unit and with staged assessment, in graduate-style: seminar reading of presented draft (40%) + submission of a 3500-word final version (60%).

 3500 50.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 24 Aug, 2022

Unit record last updated: 2022-08-24 14:59:35 +1000