PHL 320-G

Spring 2012 Tues. Thurs. 2:00–3:15 pm Prof. Stephens D. H. Humanities Center 7A

office: D. H. Humanities Center 209 phone (with voicemail): 280-2632 email: stphns AT creighton DOT edu

What is God, exactly? Can we know that God exists? What reasons (arguments) are there for believing that God exists? What reasons are there for disbelieving in an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Creator of the universe? Are there reasons for believing in Fate or Providence whether or not one god or many gods exist? How does a Stoic think about God or the gods? Does morality or meaningfulness in life depend on belief in God? Could God be a Taoist? Is God one person, three persons, or not personal? What is a person? Who is a person? Are all human beings persons? Could dolphins be persons? Could apes or other primates be persons? Could artificially intelligent machines be persons? Are Replicants in the film Blade Runner persons? We will study these and related questions about the divine, the personal, and the relationship between the two. How, philosophically, are we to understand divinity and the meaning of life? Is it more reasonable to believe in deism (or polydeism) than traditional monotheism? We will study a dialogue that presents God and adult human beings, from a Taoist perspective, as conceivable either as personal or as impersonal. We will examine accounts of the person and personal identity by both influential Western philosophers and from a Buddhist perspective. The course’s concluding essay analyzes various Christian-inspired arguments that God is a person alongside various Muslim-inspired arguments that God is not a person.

Exams must be taken on the scheduled day and are required for passing this course. If a trip you want to take would make it impossible to take an exam as scheduled in our classroom during class time, you must WITHDRAW from this course or re-schedule (or cancel) your trip. If a verifiable illness, accident, or medical emergency prevents you from taking an exam at the scheduled time, contact Prof. Stephens immediately so you and he can make an alternate arrangement.

Class Participation and Attendance Policies

Punctuality is a virtue. Prof. Stephens strives to attend every class on time. He expects all of his students to attend every class, on time, every week, all semester long. Regular and punctual class attendance is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a good class participation grade. Six (6) or more absences (three weeks of classes) will result in an AF (failure due to excessive absence) for this course. Each absence fewer than six will incrementally lower your class participation grade. You are responsible for all material discussed and all announcements made in every class. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed. Being tardy twice counts as one absence. There are two kinds of activities that count as “participation”: inside of class and outside of class. Inside of class participation is raising your hand to be called on and making comments about the reading or the discussion, or asking questions about the reading or my lecture, or responding to questions I raise or comments made by other students. Outside of class participation includes (a) face-to-face (or telephonic) philosophical conversations with Prof. Stephens outside the classroom, whether in his office, in the hallway, or anywhere else, and (b) philosophically substantive electronic messages, including emails to Prof. Stephens or posts (or replies) in the BlueLine Discussion Forum for the course. You cannot really learn how to do philosophy by merely listening. You also need to actively think out loud orally inside class and outside of class in written electronic messages. Posting to the BlueLine Discussion Forum every week between Friday and Monday is probably necessary for earning an A for participation. Both quality and quantity of oral and electronic remarks count; I record both. Since we will be closely attending to the readings in our class discussions, it is important that everyday you bring to class your book (or a hard copy of the pdf article) containing that day’s reading assignment.

A necessary condition for a class absence being counted as excused due to illness (or emergency) is email (or telephone) notification to Prof. Stephens BEFORE class begins (at 2:00 pm) the day of the absence. Ordinarily, email (or telephone) notification of illness (or emergency) preventing class attendance being given prior to class is also sufficient for that absence to count as excused, but this is ultimately up to the discretion of Prof. Stephens.

Our class is a community of thinkers cooperating in both face to face inquiry inside the classroom and electronic inquiry outside the classroom on BlueLine. Consequently, the three-fold purpose of being in class is (1) to listen to and think about what Prof. Stephens and your classmates say, (2) to orally participate in the discussion, and (3) to take notes. Taking notes during class is so strongly recommended that it is virtually obligatory. Use of electronic devices in class is PROHIBITED. These devices include laptop computers, handheld computers, iPods, Blackberries, cameras, audio recorders, cell phones, and similar devices. If you choose to bring such devices to the classroom, they must be stored away and kept off during class. If you believe that it would promote your learning to use a laptop to take notes in class, then you may print out, complete, and submit to Prof. Stephens the pledge of laptop use form to petition for a limited exception to this policy. Using any electronic device in class for an illicit purpose (e.g. email, browsing the Internet, playing games) will result in a reduction in the Class Participation grade and the forfeit of your in-class laptop privilege.

To encourage you to do the assigned reading faithfully before each and every class, Prof. Stephens will sometimes, without prior announcement, at the beginning of class, give a small “pop” quiz on the reading assignment. These quizlets are usually about ten true/false items. If you are late to class or absent, then you miss the quizlet, get a zero for it, and cannot retake it. To compensate for a missed quizlet you can boost your participation in class. Sometimes Prof. Stephens rewards students for bringing their books to class by giving an open-book quizlet. Get into the habit of using a dictionary to look up every word you are not 100% certain you understand the exact meaning of in each and every sentence you read in every single reading assignment. Prof. Stephens is known to put vocabulary questions on quizlets. If you want to do well in this course, buy a good dictionary to carry with you to class, every class, and use it often every week outside of class to grow your vocabulary. You cannot understand what a philosopher writes unless you understand each and every word in every sentence of that philosopher’s essay.

Standards of Evaluation for Letter Grades

AF F due to excessive (6 or more) absences (2 tardies = 1 absence)

F “Failure – no credit” (<60% average)

Extreme lack of clarity or lack of coherence of argument or expression of thought.
Disregard for the requirements of the assignment.
Irrelevant use or failure to use relevant course readings.
Very poor class attendance with no participation in discussions.

D “Work of inferior quality, but passing” (60 to <68% average)

Unclarity or incoherence of argument or expression of thought.
Failure to satisfy the requirements of the assignment.
Poor or inadequate understanding or use of relevant course readings.
Poor class attendance with little or no participation in discussions.

B “Noteworthy level of performance” Demonstrates all of the qualities of satisfactory work plus:

A “Outstanding achievement and an unusual degree of intellectual initiative” Demonstrates all of the qualities of noteworthy performance plus:

Jan. 17 Rowe, Ch. 1: The Idea of God (4–18); quizlet on syllabus
Jan. 19 Rowe, Ch. 2: The Cosmological Argument (19–36)

Jan. 24 Rowe, Ch. 3: The Ontological Argument (37–53)
Jan. 26 finish Rowe, Ch. 3 (reread 37–53)

Jan. 31 Rowe, Ch. 4: The Design Argument (read 54–68); Simon Blackburn, “An Unbeautiful Mind”
Feb. 2 Rowe, Ch. 6: Faith and Reason (91–111)

Feb. 7 Rowe, Ch. 7: The Problem of Evil (112–132) Review Guide for Exam #1
Feb. 9 Exam #1 ۞ BRING A #2 PENCIL ۞

Feb. 14 Stephens, Ch. 28: R. M. Smullyan, “Is God a Taoist?” (241–254)
Feb. 16 class canceled

Feb. 21 Stephens, Ch. 3: Cicero (17–21), Ch. 4: Epictetus (22–29)
Feb. 23 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Introduction, Chronology, Index of Persons, Books 1–4, and relevant Notes (vii–49, 171–175)

Feb. 28 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Books 5–8 (53–114, 175–178)
March 1 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Books 9–12 (117–170, 178–180)

March 13     Stephens, Ch. 6: Boethius, Contra Eutychen §§ 2–4 (32–37)       Review Guide for Exam #2
March 15     Exam #2 ۞ BRING A #2 PENCIL ۞

March 20     class canceled (Stephens injured)
March 22     Stephens, Ch. 23: C. D. Broad, “The Validity of Belief in a Personal God” (187–198)

April 3 Stephens, Ch. 42: The Boyd Group, “The Moral Status of Non-human Primates: Are Apes Persons?” (409–415) and
Nicholas Wade, “Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior” The New York Times, 20 March 2007 (.pdf file)

April 5 class canceled (Stephens away) Screening of Blade Runner in the Opus Hall Commons Room 2-4 pm, April 5. Watch Blade Runner before class April 12.

April 17 Exam #3 ۞ BRING A PENCIL ۞
April 19 Stephens, Ch. 35: Gary Legenhausen, “Is God a Person?” (321–335)

April 24 finish Legenhausen Legenhausen Review Guide
April 26 complete IDEA course evaluations in Hitchcock Learning Resource Center (DHHC room 215) from 2 - 2:30 pm

Thursday May 3, 8–9:40 am Final Exam = Test on Legenhausen ۞ BRING A #2 PENCIL ۞

* The instructor reserves the right to change anything on this syllabus during the course as circumstances require.

Exam #1 (February 9)	24%
Exam #2 (March 15)	24%
Exam #3 (April 17)	24%
Final Exam = Test on Legenhausen’s essay (May 3)	16%