Moments in Atheism (taught by S. Bartsch and S. Carroll)

Course description:  Atheism is as old as religion.  As religion and its place in society have evolved throughout history, so have the standing of, and philosophical justification for, non-belief.  This course will examine the intellectual and cultural history of atheism in Western thought from antiquity to the present.  We will be concerned with the evolution of arguments for a non-religious worldview, as well as the attitude of society toward atheism and atheists
Course requirements: 8-page research paper (40%), midterm (20%), final (40%)
Grading policy:  Extensions granted with 48 hours notice.

Week 1:  January 6 and 8:  Christians and Pagans in the Ancient World

Jan. 6:  Introduction:  Some notes on God and the ancient world
Jan. 8:  Democritus, Protagoras: Fragmen
Anon., The Dissoi Logo
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, chapters 1,2,3

Week 2:  January 13 and 15:  Faith and Reason in the Middle Ages

Tertullian, "Apology for the Christians"
St. Augustine, excerpts from the Confessions
Gibbon, excerpts from Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Martyrdom of St. Perpetua
R. Bacon, excerpts from Compendium Studii Philosophiae
Aquinas, Summa Theologica 1-5,7-10,19,25,44-49, 75-83; Part II. 2-5

Week 3:  January 20 and 22  The Clockwork Universe

Selections from Copernicus, Calvin, Kepler, Bruno, Galileo
Galileo, "Considerations on the Copernican Opinion"
Polkinghorne, "Galileo and Darwin"
Newton, "The Argument for a Deity"
Buckley, from At the Origins of Modern Atheism

Week 4:  January 27 and 29:  Enlightenment I

Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
Spinoza, excerpts from The Ethic
Leibniz, The Monadology 1-6, 37-57, 82-90.
Voltaire, Candide and excerpts from Philosophical Dictionary

Week 5:  February 3 and 5:   Enlightenment II

Hume, Of Miracles
Baron d'Holbach, from Good Sense
De La Mettrie,  Man A Machine
Paine, "On the Religion of Deism"
Kant, Introduction to the Metaphysics of Morals

Tuesday, February 10:  MIDTERM EXAM

Week 6:  February 12: The Argument from Design

Paley, from Natural Theology
Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Week 7:  February 17 and 19:  Darwin and Feuerbach

Darwin,  from The Origin of Species and Autobiography
Huxley, "Agnosticism"
Dawkins, "The Improbability of God"
Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity

Feb. 19:  Class on Feuerbach led by Father Michael Buckley

Feb. 20.  Lecture by Father Michael Buckley:  Atheism and Contemplation Franke Institute, 3 pm

Papers due on MONDAY February 23 by 4:00 pm    

Week 8:  February 24 and 26:  Unmasking Religion

Marx, Communist Manifesto and Theses on Feuerbach
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, from The Gay Science & The Antichrist
Freud, Future of an Illusion

Week 9:  March 2 and 4: 20th Century Explorations:  Advocacy to Existentialism           

Goldman, "The Philosophy of Atheism"
O'Hair, "Atheism"
Russell, "Why I am Not a Christian" and Science and Religion
Dawkins, "Know-nothings, know-alls, and no-contests.
Camus, The Plague 

Week 10:  March 9: The Pointless Universe?

Hawking, from A Brief History of Time
Weinberg, from Dreams of a Final Theory
Rorty, Contingency, Irony, Solidarity, chapters 1 & 2