“Doubt is conquered by faith, just as it is faith which has brought doubt into the world.” –Kierkegaard
Up for Discussion
“Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.”–Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Up for Discussion
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe…the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not merely conjecture them and seek them as though obscured in darkness or in the transcendent region beyond my horizon: I see them before me, and I associate them directly with the consciousness of my own existence.”–Immanuel Kant
Up for Discussion
1. Do you agree with Kant’s assumption that your mind shapes your experiences?
2. Do you agree with Kant that God is not an object of knowledge, but of faith? Which is surer?
3. Is the categorical imperative a worthy moral guideline?
4. Should people follow the morality of the Bible if they don’t believe its supernatural claims?
5. Does the “moral law within” heighten our own importance, or release us from the need for an external God?
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”–American Declaration of Independence
Up for Discussion
“I believe in Spinoza’s God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.”–Albert Einstein
Up for Discussion
1. How would you identify the statement “belief is a liability” in many of these philosophers? 2. What is Christian response to Hume? To Spinoza? Is it necessary to give a response? 3. Does faith ever contradict our knowledge? 4. Is Berkeley’s defense of Christianity orthodox?
“But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No. If I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed….So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind.”–Descartes
Up for Discussion
For Next Time
What does John Locke the philosopher share with John Locke, the character on Lost? What are some interesting differences?
“I thank thee, good Lord, I thank thee, that what I had first believed because of thy gift, I know because of thine illumining in such a way that even if I did not want to believe thine Existence, yet I could not but know it.” –St. Anselm
Up for Discussion
Is belief totally separate from knowledge? What are the limits of knowledge in the realm of faith? What is the difference between our beliefs and blind faith?
How do we relate science/philosophy to Christianity? What if they disagree?
In what ways do we allow modern thinking to impact our faith? Would Pre-Modern thought give us a clearer understanding of Christianity or not?
What is the purpose of faith? Understanding? The means of salvation?
For Next Time
What is the most important word in Descartes’ statement “I think therefore I am?”
“We cultivate a cynicism that does not despair, because it serves to destroy the charms of truth and beauty that might corrupt our inner peace. We enjoy an irony that does not seek resolution, because it supports our desire to be invulnerable observers rather than participants at risk. We are spectators of our own lives, free from the strain of drama and the uncertainty of a story in which our souls are at stake. We conform because nothing finally matters except the superiority of knowing it to be so.” –R. R. Reno
Up for Discussion
For Next Time
Is there a contradiction between the Bible and philosophy? The Bible and Science?
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Aristotle’s Eyes: Substance is Reality
“There is, then, something which is always moved with an unceasing motion…and this is plain not in theory only but in fact. Therefore the first heaven must be eternal. There is therefore also something which moves it. And since that which moves and is moved is intermediate, there is something which moves without being moved, being eternal, substance, and actuality….And God’s self-dependent actuality is life most good and eternal. We say therefore that God is a living being, eternal, most good, so that life and duration continuous and eternal belong to God; for this is God.” –Aristotle
Up for Discussion
Can we use Aristotle’s language to categorize God, whom we don’t see? Is Plato’s easier?
How do we apply the four causes to God? How about his creation?
Should we be comfortable with Aristotle’s logical conclusion of who God is? Should we claim this sort of proof as Christian and true? Are there parts of it that are?
What if Christ had never come in the flesh? Would that change the reality of our faith?
For Next Time
Are you more comfortable with Stoicism or Epicureanism?
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Our perspectives on life are shaped by a piece-meal arrangement of thousands of years of ideas milling around in our society and in our minds. This class will prepare us to identify and evaluate those ideas without fear. In doing so, we will discuss how philosophers like Plato, Descartes, and Nietzsche have shaped our perspectives, and we will learn tools to engage our culture with the truth of Christianity.
What we will KNOW:
We will define philosophy according to a Christian perspective.
We will outline major philosophers’ contributions to human thought.
We will discuss Christian responses to philosophers’ works, where possible.
We will learn tools to identify and reclaim wisdom from a variety of sources, and understand how our own perspectives have been shaped through secular philosophy.
We will explore accounts of reality that differ from a Christian perspective without fear.
What we will EXPERIENCE and DO:
We will be encouraged to think critically and evaluate appropriately various “philosophies of men.”
We will engage our world with freedom and honesty.
We will be challenged to encourage others in the wisdom and truth of our faith.
We will confidently connect with our communities without fear.
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie’s World. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996. We will have a reading from this book every week.
Suggested Readings:
Erickson, Millard. Truth or Consequences: The Promise and Perils of Postmodernism. InterVarsity Press, 2002. Occasionally weekly handouts will refer to portions from this book.
Many supplemental materials (like Plato’s Apology) will be available online at http://classics.mit.edu
Reading Assignments.
Finishing the suggested readings before class will reinforce your depth of understanding and retention. You may be able to find Sophie’s World at Half Price Books. I recommend ordering Truth or Consequences from Amazon.com.
Philosophizing: Where does philosophy intersect everyday life?
Start a “Why Journal” where you ask yourself (and others, if you are bold) the “question behind the question.” Start each entry with one ‘why’ question. Explore your motivations in priorities and decision-making. Oftentimes our “principle” priorities do not correspond to our “practical” priorities. Explore that gap.
We stand on the shoulders of giants. Get to know those giants a little better. For the next 16 weeks, choose one weeknight to spend 30 minutes reading an author from the syllabus. Make it as much a priority as the last season of, say, Lost.
Write a page each on three modern philosophers of your choice appearing in unlikely places (Homer Simpson, anyone?). Outline their philosophies, and give an explanation of why they are so influential and appealing.
| No. | Date | Discussion | Readings (Longer Readings are in bold) |
| 1 | Jan 17 | What is Philosophy? | |
| 2 | Jan 24 | What Were They Thinking Before Socrates? | Garden of Eden-Democritus |
| 3 | Jan 31 | Plato’s World—Ideas are Reality | Fate-Plato |
| 4 | Feb 7 | Aristotle’s Eyes—Substance Is Reality | The Major’s Cabin-Aristotle |
| 5 | Feb 14 | Hellenism—What isn’t Greek? | Hellenism-Two Cultures |
| 6 | Feb 21 | Scholastics—A Christian Explanation of the World | The Middle Ages |
| 7 | Feb 28 | Descartes and the Renaissance—Does Faith Make Sense? | The Renaissance-Descartes |
| 8 | Mar 7 | Locke, Hume, and Spinoza—All Religion’s Good Stuff without the Christian Part | Spinoza-Hume |
| 9 | Mar 14 | The Enlightenment—Reason Edges Out Faith as Humanity’s Compass | Berkeley-The Enlightenment |
| 10 | Mar 21 | Kant—The Moral What? | Kant |
| 11 | Mar 28 | Hegel—Reality as Dialogue | Romanticism-Hegel |
| 12 | April 4 | Kierkegaard—The Leap of Faith | Kierkegaard |
| 13 | April 11 | Nietzsche—With No God, Man Alone Remains | See Handout |
| 14 | April 18 | Darwin, Freud, Marx—Rationalism’s Social Effects on Society | Marx-Freud |
| 15 | April 25 | Post-Modernism—What is Truth? | Our Own Time-The Garden Party |
| 16 | May 2 | Review | Counterpoint-The Big Bang |
Truth Or Consequences 