PHIL 59H.001 – Honors FYS: Proofs of the Existence of God

Instructor: Douglas MacLean. This course meets TR 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. in PE 2066.

The first third of the course will be devoted to proofs of the existence or nonexistence of God. What are these arguments aiming to show? Who is the intended audience? Next, we will examine the nature of religious life and the role of theism in religion. This will include an examination of whether God is necessary for morality. Then we will consider the problem of evil, the role of faith, and the nature of miracles. The course will conclude by asking whether God is necessary for religion and with reflections on death and the afterlife.

This course has two goals: The first is to sharpen your ability to analyze, evaluate, and produce philosophical arguments; the second is to introduce you to some of the main topics in the philosophy of religion. We will draw primarily on works in philosophy but will also examine these issues in works of literature and film.

This course will be conducted as a seminar. It is restricted to honors students. There are no prerequisites.

FYS enrollment procedures are located here.