Masters Capstone Unit: What Has Athens To Do With Jerusalem? God and the Reasoning Human in Western Philosophy (XS9905C)

Content

This unit overviews the Western philosophical tradition by enquiring into the status of reason in relation to knowledge of God. It proceeds in historical sequence across Western thought to consider the position of reason in relation to faith and the existence of God across the ancient, medieval, and contemporary eras by comparing exemplary thinkers from each epoch (typically 4–6 significant thinkers across the unit; such thinkers might include Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger). These thinkers will be interrogated via a salient mixture of each thinker's epistemology, theory of human nature, philosophy of God and metaphysics. Additionally, the different thinkers will be compared and put into conversation with one another. This unit is designed to be a seminar that integrates history of philosophy with appropriate thematic knowledge of the Western philosophical canon; accordingly the unit can serve as the culmination of a Master's award.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

This unit may only be taken in the final two semesters of the Master of Philosophical Studies course.

Pedagogy

The capstone learning experience requires students to undertake self-directed, peer-engaged, multi-discipline, integrative, and contextually attuned study with the support of a supervisor.

Indicative Bibliography

• Ameriks, Karl. Kant's Theory of Mind: An Analysis of the Paralogisms of Pure Reason. New ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000.
• Brock, Stephen L. The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, 2015.
• Fornari, Giuseppe, and Keith Buck. A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case. Studies in Violence, Mimesis and Culture. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2013.
• Insole, Christopher J. The Intolerable God: Kant's Theological Journey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
• Kail, P. J. E. Projection and Realism in Hume's Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Mandelbaum, Maurice. History, Man, & Reason : A Study in Nineteenth-Century Thought. Open access ed. Hopkins Open Publishing Encore Editions. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
• Manent, Pierre. Natural Law and Human Rights: Toward a Recovery of Practical Reason. Translated by Ralph C. Hancock. Catholic Ideas for a Secular World. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020.
• Shields, Christopher John. The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Smith, Justin E. H. Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019.
• Vlastos, Gregory. Plato's Universe. Las Vegas: Parmenides Pub., 2005.

Assessment