Faith and Reason

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course explores the relationship between religious faith and reason. It is commonly supposed that faith and reason are opposed to each other. But there are long-standing religious traditions (for example, Catholic and Islamic) in which faith and reason are considered to be mutually supportive. Another common view is that faith and reason are neither opposed nor mutually supportive, because they apply to different domains. Questions include: What is faith?; What is reason?; Can religious faith be rational or reasonable?; Can there be religious knowledge?"; Are there good arguments for God's existence?; Are there good arguments against God's existence?; How should we think of religious experience from a philosophical point of view?; Can religious experience make faith reasonable?; How should we think of religious testimony from a philosophical point of view?; Can religious testimony (from other believers, from prophets, from scripture) make faith reasonable?