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: AP9859P
Unit status: Archived (New unit)
Points: 24.0
Unit level: Postgraduate Elective
Unit discipline: Philosophy
Delivery Mode: Online
Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College
Show when this unit is running| 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 |
A previous unit of philosophy at any level
Lectures and Tutorials
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.
Küng, Hans. Does God Exist? New York: Crossroad, 1991.
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.
Melchert, N. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002.
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.
Swinburne, Richard. Is There a God? Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay 2 (2400 words), following prior online posting and leadership of discussion of draft essay*. *Online posting of discussion-amenable draft, together with itemised, well-chosen, points of discussion, and leadership /stimulation of subsequent online discussion, to be assessed (40% of assessment for this essay); followed by submission of the written-up essay, assessed as a written piece of work (60%). |
0 | 40.0 |
| Essay | Essay 1 (2400 words) |
0 | 40.0 |
| Essay | Generalised Online Participation (1200 words) |
0 | 20.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 1 Jan, 2012
Unit record last updated: 2022-10-04 13:26:39 +1100