Philosophy 471 Classical Philosophy of Religion

Syllabus

Assignment Schedule

Philosophy of Religion Discussion (Reactions to current assignment)

Only for students in Philosophy 471. Questions or comments posted here will be forwarded automatically to all students in the course, if the subject line includes "Phil471". If "Phil471" does not appear in the subject line, your message will go only to Professor Dye.

"Requirements for Writing Assignments"

Hume, Dialogues concerning Natural Religion

An HTML edition of Hume's Dialogues, prepared by James Fieser.

Hume, Natural History of Religion

An HTML edition of Hume's Natural History of Religion, prepared by James Fieser.

Dye, "Supernatural Speech and Biological Books""

An interepretation of Part III of Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion which argues, contrary to most commentators, that Cleanthes' two illustrations are incoherent (published in History of Philosophy Quarterlyvol. 5, no. 3 (1988), pp. 257-272).

Dye, "Victor and Vanquished in Part IX"

An interepretation of Part IX of Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion which, following the suggestions of D. C. Stove, argues that Cleanthes' criticism of Demea is seriously defective and probably not endorsed by Hume.

Dye, "Hume on Religion, or the Case of the Missing Propensity"

An interepretation of Hume's A Natural History of Religion which proposes improvements within the basic structure of Hume's theory of the origin of religion.

Dye, "Hume and the American Deists on Miracles"

Hume's objections to belief in miracles are compared with those of the American Deists--Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, and Elihu Palmer.

Feuerbach,  Principles of the Philosophy of the Future

Ludwig Feuerbach attempts to "sublate" Hegelian philosophy, as Hegelian philosophy sublated religion, arguing that humanistic philosophy is the logical successor of all religious philosophy. As he puts it, "the new philosophy is the complete and absolute dissolution of theology into anthropology."

D. Anthony Storm's Site on Kierkegaard

The major attractions here are competent and beautifully presented commentaries (still in process) on Kierkegaard's works.

Kierkegaard Manuscripts

The Kierkegaard Archive provides photographs of several manuscripts in the collection, as well as biographical, chronological, and pictorial information.

The Rudolph Otto Home Page

This site contains photographs, bibliography, biographical information, and some short works by Otto.

Whitehead, Religion in the Making

This online version of Whitehead's Religion in the Making makes it easy to find a particular passage.

Whitehead: The Philosopher of Final Satisfaction

A witty, simplified, but reasonably accurate presentation of Whitehead's philosophy, which promises that converts "will never again need to consult another philosopher."

Athena in the Nashville Parthenon

The great goddess is missing the ivory skin and gold clothing she wore in antiquity, but she is still pretty impressive.

Progress Report from the Ontological Argument front

Map to final session on 8 December