Atheism: Varieties of Belief, Disbelief, Unbelief (AP9800Y)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

Michael Buckley once argued that theology’s friends caused it damage, and contributed to the emergence of modern atheism. This unit charts a course through a variety of modern forms of atheism in order to understand not only the variety of atheisms and atheistic arguments, but to appreciate the contribution of theologies to forms of agnostic and atheistic denial. The unit functions to provide two things: first, it introduces students to modern philosophies insofar as they pertain to the question of God; and, second, it serves as a course in the doctrine of God and the Christian traditions of negative theology.

Unit code: AP9800Y

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

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Learning outcomes

1.

Understand the development of modern atheism in the West
2.

Critically evaluate the relationship between a variety of forms of atheistic philosophy and Christian belief
3.

Analyse the approaches undertaken by key atheist philosophical figures
4.

Evaluate key elements of the history of modern forms of atheistic philosophy
5.

Identify and analyse theological assumptions embedded within non-theological text
6.

Critically engage with negative theological traditions in conjunction with contemporary questions of theological disbelief
7.

Demonstrate the capacity to research a specific topic in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner

Pedagogy

Mixed mode (lecture, seminar, discussion fora, blended learning, flipped classroom)

Indicative Bibliography

  • Balibar, Étienne, Citizen Subject: Foundations for Philosophical Anthropology, trans. Steven Miller (New York: Fordham University Press, 2017).
  • Bowie, Andrew, Aesthetics and Subjectivity: From Kant to Nietzsche, 2nd edn. (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2003).
  • Buckley, Michael, At the Origins of Modern Atheism (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987).
  • Funkenstein, Amos, Theology and the Scientific Imagination: From the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986).
  • Harris, Harriet A. and Harrison, Victoria S. (eds.) Atheisms: The Philosophy of Non-Belief (London and New York: Routledge, 2023).
  • MacIntyre, Alasdair and Ricoeur, Paul, The Religious Significance of Atheism (Columbia University Press, 1969).
  • Milbank, John,* Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason* (Oxford and Malden: Blackwell, 1990).
  • Pinkard, Terry, German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
  • Turner, Denys, Faith, Reason and the Existence of God (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
  • Žižek, Slavoj. Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist (London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024).

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Essay 2000 30.0
Essay 5000 70.0

Variant 2

Essay - Research paper proposal

Research paper proposal

 700 10.0
Essay - research paper 6300 90.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 29 Aug, 2025

Unit record last updated: 2025-08-29 10:24:00 +1000