Religion without God

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

A central preoccupation for philosophers in Ancient India was the endeavourto provide a cogent, rationally defensible explanation for the phenomenal world and all beings therein existent. In this quest, even scripture was challenged and the notions espoused therein were either rejected or accepted dependant on their ability to withstand the robust system of logic that developed before the 2nd century BCE. An important premise that these philosophers grappled with was whether or not postulating a ‘creator deity’, or ‘God’ as the source of all creation could withstand the rigours of logic and rationale. Both Buddhism and Jainism argued vehemently, from their inceptions, against the notion of such a ‘God’ as completely illogical, and moreover, unnecessary. They were joined in this, albeit by way of divergent approaches to Vedic exegesis, by three of the six early ‘Hindu’ schools of thought (dar?ana). The ‘Hindu’ non-theists later shifted to theism, however, both Buddhism and Jainism persist as counter-examples to the notion that there can be no ‘religion’ without ‘God’. Without ‘God’, what can ‘religion’ hope to offer its followers? Without ‘religion’, does ‘God’ withstand logical examination? After becoming familiar with the historical intellectual landscapethat informed the debates on these topics, this course will chart the flow of theist and non-theist controversy and cultivate familiarity with the intellectual tools that have been used to argue for and against ‘God’ for over three millennia in South Asia