Philosopher en anglais (EAD)

Experience and Meaning in 20th Century Philosophy of Religion

Whether God is a matter of personal (un)belief, or of purely theoretical and speculative interest, the very existence of religious experience and knowledge calls for philosophical scrutiny. The philosophy of religion differs from sacred or natural theology in the way it engages intellectually with different aspects of religion beyond the beliefs and doctrines attached to specific faiths and traditions. Its aim is to question the status of religious concepts—not necessarily within the framework of classical theism—, to weigh the reasons for entertaining certain beliefs and hypotheses—rather than to write them off as the unfortunate product of collective delusion, lacking objective import—and more generally to probe the dialectic between faith and rationality with a view to critical issues such as the limits of natural explanation, the idea of an ultimate reality, the prospects of moral self-realization and salvation, or the problem of evil. The course will focus on the meaning of experience considered as the ground for a range of beliefs, attitudes and practices with transformational potential for the religious subject. What is the function of experience—moral, spiritual, metaphysical, mystical, or otherwise—in the grammar of belief? Is there such a thing as religious experience? Liberated from the strictures of positivism, several trends of 20th century Anglo-Saxon philosophy have revived interest in these topics: pragmatism and process philosophy, the Wittgensteinian school, analytic “reformed epistemology,” postmodern and feminist approaches. Discussions will be based on a sampling of the rich material available from numerous anthologies and companion books devoted to contemporary philosophy of religion.

Maîtrise de la discussion philosophique en langue anglaise.

Régime standard session 1 - avec évaluation continue (au moins 2 notes, partiel compris) : 1 travail à la maison et 1 épreuve sur table d'une durée de 4 heures.

Régime dérogatoire session 1 : 1 épreuve sur table d'une durée de 4 heures.

Session 2 dite de rattrapage : 1 épreuve sur table d'une durée de 4 heures

Capacité à lire et comprendre un texte de philosophie en anglais. Expression orale suffisante pour participer à une discussion sur cette base. Bonne maîtrise orale et écrite de la langue française. Culture philosophique solide appuyée sur la lecture personnelle de quelques œuvres majeures de l’histoire de la philosophie. Familiarité avec le vocable et les outils d’analyse de cette discipline. Capacité à dégager le sens général et la logique d’ensemble de plusieurs textes à partir de leur confrontation critique.

Familiarisation avec le vocable, le style et les modes de conceptualité propres à la philosophie anglophone. Capacité à engager une discussion philosophique en anglais.

De façon générale : maîtrise des méthodes d’exposition et des procédés argumentatifs de l’essai ou de la dissertation ; maîtrise de la technique de l’explication de texte et du commentaire ; examen critique des concepts-clés et problématisation des questions ; capacité à recontextualiser, à partir d’un ou de plusieurs concepts, certaines grandes questions de l’histoire de la philosophie, mais aussi à repérer la reprise ou la réélaboration contemporaine de grands thèmes ou notions issus de la philosophie antique ou moderne.

For an overview of the field, see M. Peterson et. al. (eds), Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, 3rd ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007; L. Pojman & M. Rea (eds), Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology, Belmont, Wadsworth Publishing, 7th ed., 2014.

A reader will be made available to students through coursenligne, with selections from these primary sources: William James, The Will to Believe and The Varieties of Religious Experience; Alfred N. Whitehead, Process and Reality and Religion in the Making; Bertrand Russell, Mysticism and Logic and Why I am not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects; Ludwig Wittgenstein, Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief; D. Z. Phillips, Wittgenstein and Religion; C. D. Broad, Religion, Philosophy and Psychical Research; Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason; Anthony Flew & Alasdair McIntyre (eds), New Essays in Philosophical Theology; John Hick, Arguments for the Existence of God; Alvin Plantinga & N. Wolterstoff (eds), Faith and Rationality; Peter van Inwagen, The Possibility of Resurrection; Charles Hartshorne, The Divine Relativity; Sallie McFague, The Body of God; Stephen Jay Gould, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life.