PH552/PH852
Murphy

PH552/PH852: METHODS IN PHILOSOPHY. Nancey Murphy.


DESCRIPTION:

The aims of this course are: (1) to familiarize students with changing conceptions of the nature of philosophy and a philosophy of methods since the beginning of the Modern period; and(2) to investigate the consequence of methodological changes for philosophy of religion, philosophical theology (i.e., theological method), and apologetics. In the historical section of the course we examine Cartesian rationalism, empiricist foundationalism, Kantian critical method, and Hegelian idealism. We then examine the four current options: analytic philosophy, continental philosophy, pragmatism, and MacIntyre's tradition-constituted inquiry.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
No direct relevance.

COURSE FORMAT:
This is a bi-level course for Ph.D. and Th.M. students and advanced M.A. and M.Div. students. Class time will be divided between lectures and discussion of the readings. Lectures by professor and visiting scholar Heiko Schulz will address the background and significance of the philosophers whose works we read.

REQUIRED READING:
Hegel, G. W. F.. Introduction to the Lectures on the History of Philosophy. University of Nebraska Press, 1994.

Kant, Immanuel. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Hackett, 1977.

MacIntyre, Alasdair. Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry. Notre Dame, 1990.

Moser, Paul and Dwayne Mulder, eds. Contemporary Approaches to Philosophy. Macmillan, 1994.

Stout, Jeffrey. The Flight from Authority. Notre Dame, 1981.

Readings from S. Kierkegaard (available in bookstore).

ASSIGNMENTS:
Careful reading of assignments, regular attendance, class participation. M.A. and M. Div. students will write ten 2-page papers. The first page of each paper will summarize the method of the philosopher we are reading; the second will describe the significance of the philosophical method for philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, or apologetics. CATS students will write a 20-30 page paper as per CATS requirements; topics to be chosen in consultation with the professor.

PREREQUISITES:
Permission of instructor required for masters students.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
Methods seminar for CATS students in philosophy of religion; elective for masters students.

FINAL EXAMINATION:
None.