Syllabus

Title
4413 Philosophy of Religion 2
Instructors
ao.Univ.Prof. Dr. Gabriele Mras
Contact details
Type
FS
Weekly hours
2
Language of instruction
Englisch
Registration
02/05/20 to 02/26/20
Registration via LPIS
Notes to the course
Dates
Day Date Time Room
Tuesday 03/03/20 02:30 PM - 07:00 PM D4.0.034
Tuesday 03/10/20 02:30 PM - 07:00 PM D4.0.034
Tuesday 04/21/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM D4.0.034
Tuesday 05/19/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Tuesday 05/26/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Tuesday 06/02/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Tuesday 06/09/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Tuesday 06/16/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Tuesday 06/23/20 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM Online-Einheit
Contents

Some perennial problems concerning the “immortality if the soul” will be presented; the concept of a "soul" in post-antiquity will be explicated, — the consequences of Augustine’s criticism of Origen’s and Plato’s dualism will be discussed, the idea of the “immortality of the body” will be introduced and contrasted with the Platonic idea if the “immortality” of the soul. 

So we will begin with Augustine, then move to Boethius, Duns Scotus, Anselm of Canterbury, Amalric of Bene, David of Dinant. The final part of this course (the course 2) will be devoted to a comparison between Christian philosophy in the middle ages and the philosophy in the Islamic world.

Learning outcomes

One of the learning outcomes is to make students familiar with the debate concerning the “immortality of the soul” in the period after Augustinus until the early 14th century. The other is to enable students to identify the Platonic-dualistic influence on Stoic philosophy as well as on the Scholasticism. The more general learning outcomes are: (i) to be able to analyze philosophical texts, (ii) to argue for and defend philosophical positions in discussion, and (iii) to sum them up in essays.

Attendance requirements

Attendance Requirement: 100%

 
Teaching/learning method(s)

The course is designed as a seminar, not as a lecture. The major part of the classes will be devoted to analyzing the argumentation in the texts.

Assessment

Throughout the term we will have discussions on class readings. Part of the grade for this course depends on active participation in these discussions. In addition it is required to write a paper and to write a final exam.

  • paper 50 %
  • class participation 20 %
  • final exam 30 % 
Availability of lecturer(s)

ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. phil. Gabriele Mras
Office hours: Thursday 12:00–13:00
Building D4, 3rd floor, room number D4.3.020
Telefon: 01 31336 4257
E-Mail: gabriele.mras@wu.ac.at

 

Unit details
Unit Date Contents
1

A) 

Readings:

Moran, Dermot: Medieval Philosophy from Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa; in: Shand, John (ed.) Fundamentals of Philosophy, Routledge, London – New York 2003, p. 155-203.

Saint Augustine; in: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy first published Fri Mar 24, 200; substantive revision Fri Dec 7, 2018, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/.

2

B)
Readings:

Augustine’s City of God, Book 13; in: https://carm.org/augustine-city-of-god-book-13.

3

C)
Readings:

Frede, Dorothea; Reis, Burkhard (eds.): Introduction; in: Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin – New York, p. 1-17.

Kenney, John Peter: “None Come Closer to Us than These:” Augustine and the Platonists; in: Religions 2016, 7, 114.

Speaks, Jeff: Platonic arguments for the immortality of the soul; in: https://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/2006-7/20208/plato-immortality.html.

Swinburne, Richard: Soul, nature and immortality of the; in: Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/soul-nature-and-immortality-of-the/v-1

4

D)

Massey, Gerald J.: Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy; in: http://www.pitt.edu/~gmas/studyguide2.htm.

Rozemond, Marleen: Descartes and the Immorality of the Soul; in: Cottingham, John; Hacker, Peter (eds.) Mind, Method and Morality: Essays in Honour of Anthony Kenny, Oxford University Press, 2010, P. 251-272.

Wilson, Catherine: What is the importance of Descartes’s Meditation six?; in: Philosophica 76, 2005, p. 67-90.

5

Readings:

Andrade, Gabriel: Immortality; in: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://www.iep.utm.edu/immortal/.

Augustine’s Philosophical Anthropology: Immortality of Human Soul in a Composite Soul-Body; in: CAFNepal, https://cafn.us/2011/01/26/augustine’s-philosophical-anthropology-immortality-of-human-soul-in-a-composite-soul-body/.

Baggini, Julian: Hume on religion, part 7: Soul-searching; in: The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/mar/20/philosophy-religion-hume

Brachtendorf, Johannes: The Structure of the Human Mind According to Augustine. Self-reflection and Knowledge of God in De Trinitate, Felix Meiner Verlag, Hamburg, 2000, p. 1-339.

Crabbe, James (ed.): From Soul to Self, Routledge, London – New York, 1999.

Ebrey, David: Plato’s Phaedo; in: Oxford Bibliographies, p. 1-16.

Eksen, Kerem: “Inward Turn” and the Augustinian Self; in: Diametros No 25, September 2010, p. 132-145.

Hafner, Johann Ev.: Gott ist nicht der Himmel. Die Notwendigkeit einer nichtgöttlichen Transzendenz, p. 1-20.  https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/556/file/hafner_himmel.pdf

Haldane, John: Anscombe and Geach on Mind and Soul; in: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/9238/Haldane_2016_AnscombeandGeach_AAM.pdf.

6

Readings:

Immortality; in: Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 12, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin – Bosten 2015, p. 1-8.

Inwood, Brad (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics, Cambridge University Press 2003.

Krantz Gabriel, Susan: Brentano’s Account of Anselm’s Proof of Immortality in Monologion 68-69; in: https://www.anselm.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/Institute%20of%20SA%20Studies/4.5.3.2i_21Gabriel.pdf.

Lachmann, Otto F.: Aurelius Augustinus: Bekenntnisse; in: Die Bekenntnisse des heiligen Augustinus, Reclam, Leipzig, 1888, p. 1-183.

O’Connor, William P.: The Concept of the Human Soul according to Saint Augustine, Dissertation, 1921, p.1-85.

Ötsch, Walter: Welt-Bilder | 05 | Bewusstsein + Gewissen in Antike und frühem Christentum II, in: https://www.dorftv.at/video/24684

Pagan Monotheism and Early Christianity; in: http://www.csc.org.il/download/files/0JerMonoTlkWebPR2011.pdf.

Inhaltsübersicht von Platons Politeia; in: https://se-ktf.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_sozialethik/Studium/Vorlesungsmaterial/Ethik_II/Politeia-Uebersicht.pdf.

Perkams, Matthias: Philosophie im Rückblick: Autobiographische Momente bei Augustinus und Abaelard, Institute für Altertumswissenschaften und Philosophie, p. 1-14.

Perkams, Matthias: Augustinus und die Freiheit vom Tode. Platonische Argumente für die Unsterblichkeit der Seele in Soliloquia, De immortalitate animae und De quantitate animae, Projektbeschreibung, in: http://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/213003401

Perkams, Matthias: Der Rhetor als Philosoph – Cicero als Zeuge philosophischen Gottesglaubens in den Schriften Peter Abaelards, in: http://www.hottopos.com/convenit7/perkams.htm

7

Readings:

Saint Augustine (AD. 354-430) Summary, The Confessions, in: https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/augustine/section1/

Stayton, Julie: The Immortality of the Soul in Plato’s Phaedo; in:
https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/9238/Haldane_2016_AnscombeandGeach_AAM.pdf.

Beck, Gustav Adolf: Die Unsterblichkeit der Seele; in: Platons Staat. Ein kritischer Kommentar, C.H.Beck, https://books.openedition.org/chbeck/1603.

Stiller, Joachim: Augustinus: Über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele. Eine Besprechung des Werkes „Über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele“ von Augustinus, p.1-6. http://joachimstiller.de/download/philosophie_seele_augustinus_unsterblichkeit.pdf

Who Am I? Consciousness, Identity, and the Soul; in: https://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/samplechapter/0/1/3/0/013048069X.pdf.

Zozmann, Michael: De regimine principum 2.0. Zur Anwendung von Methoden der Digitalen Humanities in der Mediävistik am Beispiel einer semantischen Untersuchung von zwei Fürstenspiegeln aus der Zeit um 1300, Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft, Philosophie und Theologie, Dissertation, p. 1-268.

Last edited: 2020-02-27



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