Course Name	Philosophy of Religion
Credits	3
Professor(s)	Name	Kwangsu Mok(목광수)
	Affiliation	Department of Philosophy

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Description

This course is conceived as an introduction to philosophical values surrounding religions, through the vehicle of multimedia and philosophical literatures. This course is not to study a specific religion, but to do values surrounding religions, especially truth, knowledge, free will and determinism, justice, life and death, etc. This course is tol investigate how these values are related to the life of human being and how these values and the human being should be understood.

Course Objectives

Course objectives are:

to understand some of the main ideas and arguments in the field of philosophy and religion,

to identify the important lines of disagreement and difference that separate leading theorists from one another,

to explore possibilities for redrawing or resolving these lines of separation,

to participate in course discussions about these ideas, arguments, and lines of separation.

MAIN TEXTBOOK and FURTHER READINGS

* Main Textbook: Course pack (it is available at the office of the department of philosophy)

- This course pack consists of excerpts from below books:

Thomas Nagel (1987), What does it all mean?, Oxford University                                    Press.Nigel Warburton (1992), Philosophy: The Basics, Routledge.

Michael Sandel (2009), Justice: What's the right thing to do?, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

etc.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Attendance, Reading and Class Participation

Students’ class participation grade will be determined by the following factors: preparation, attendance, and participation in class discussion.

Assignments

1)    One Presentation

The presentation should focus on an important idea or argument in the required readings for one of the topics covered in Weeks 2 through 15.

- The oral presentation should be approximately 15-20 minutes.

- Discussion will follow the oral presentation. It should be approximately 15-20 minutes.

2)    Writing assignment: Three essays

Students will write three essays on one or more of the major topics we have discussed. It should be submitted electronically to the professor.

- Each essay should be approximately 1,000 words in length.

- Student work will be evaluated according to the following criteria

- the clarity of the thesis being argued by the student

- the originality and creativity of the arguments

Grading Scheme

The grading system for this course relies on point system, and there are six components to be measured according to the following criteria.

Category	Pointing Scale	Points Total	Percentage (%)
Attendance	Unexcused Absence: -2	20	20
Participation and Discussion	Each Class: A: 2, B:1, F:0	30	30
Presentation	A: 20, A-: 18, B+: 16, B-: 14, C+: 12, C-: 10, F: 0	20	20
Three Essays	Each: 10 A: 10, A-: 9, B+: 8, B-: 7 C+: 6, C-: 5, F: 0	30	30
Total		1000	100

COURSE SCHEDULE

Course Outline

Week 1: Introduction – Philosophy and Values of Religion

Week 2-3: Knowledge and the Human Being

Week 4-5: Mind and the Human Being

Week 6-7: Free Will and Determinism

Week 8-9: Liberty and Equality

Week 10-11: Justice: Right and Wrong

Week 12-13: Life and Existence

Week 14-15: Death

Week 16: Conclusion

CONTACT DETAILS

Tel:                055-772-1151            e-mail: epistle74@hanmail.net