Department of Philosophy and Religion

Courses We Are Offering This and Next Semester

Below please find the courses that we are offering this semester and next semester.  For a full listing of all the courses in the philosophy curriculum and religion curriculum, go to Courses/Philosophy and Courses/Religion.

 

Philosophy Courses Offered This Semester (F09)

  • Phil 021: Introduction to Philosophy, TR 11:00, Scully
  • Phil 021: Introduction to Philosophy, TR 2:00, Roth
  • Phil 090: Ethics, MWF 9:00, Roth
  • Phil 091: Contemporary Ethical Problems, TR 11:00, Harvey
  • Phil 151: Semiotics/Hermeneutics, TR 11:00, Knepper and Scult
  • Phil 151: Philosophy of Mind, MW 11:00, Roth
  • Phil 151: Comparative Religion, TR 2:00, Knepper

 

Religion Courses Offered This Semester (F09)

  • Rel 001: Introduction to Religious Study, TR 9:30, Crowell
  • Rel 051: Old Testament, MW 11:00, Crowell
  • Rel 053: Life and Teachings of Jesus, TR 11:00, Crowell
  • Rel 091: Contemporary Ethical Problems, TR 11:00, Harvey
  • Rel 151: Judgment and Redemption in the Bible, MW 9:30, Patrick
  • Rel 151: Introduction to Christian Theology, MW 2:00, Harvey

 

Philosophy Courses Offered Next Semester (S10)

  • Phil 021: Introduction to Philosophy, MW 2:00, Knepper
    • Introduction to the Western philosophical tradition through a study expository and critical, of a variety of issues -- the existence of God, freedom, foundations of belief, etc. -- as they have been formulated in the writings of outstanding classical and contemporary philosophers.
  • Phil 114: Symbolic Logic, MW 9:30, Roth
    • Study of the concepts and techniques of modern formal logic, including axiomatic developments of the sentential calculus and an examination of the first-order predicate calculus in a system of natural deduction. Crosslisted with CS 114.
  • Phil 125: Philosophy of Religion, TR 2:00, Knepper  (Note: this is the senior seminar for S10)
    • While interest in the philosophy of religion remains quite strong outside of the formal disciplines of philosophy and religious studies, philosophers and religionists are increasingly skeptical about the long-term direction and viability of the field.  This class begins in this dilemma, familiarizing itself with both a typical problems-based approach to philosophy of religion (arguments for and against the existence of God, issues of religious experience and religious language) and its recent criticisms (insufficient awareness of diversity with respect to reasons and religions, inability or unwillingness to make normative claims).  This class then turns to three recent proposals for the future of philosophy of religion, seeking to evaluate their respective visions of the future of the field.  Crosslisted with Rel 125 and Honors.
  • Phil 128: Language and Reality, TR 11:00, Knepper
    • An introduction to philosophy of language, linguistics, and semiotics focused on the issue of linguistic relativism, i.e., whether languages are significantly different, and if so, whether they shape significantly different views of reality. Examines evidence both in support of and against linguistic relativism, and then uses this evidence as a means of addressing the relationship between language and reality. Crosslisted with Honors.
  • Phil 151: Science, Values & Democracy , TR 9:30, Roth
    • It is often claimed that successful science and successful democracy both require valuing such things as tolerance, openness, rationality, objectivity, debate, doubt, and humility.  In this course, we will take a close look at this claim and attempt to answer the following questions: What are these values, and how are they related? Are they required for successful science and successful democracy, and if so, why? What does successful science look like and what does successful democracy look like? Should success be measured in terms of outcomes, methods, or both?  Can science succeed without successful democracy? Can democracy succeed without successful science? Crosslisted with Honors, and an Engaged Citizen course.
  • Phil 151: Neuroscience & The Law, MW 11:00, Roth
    • Our laws reflect certain assumptions about the nature of—and relationship between—intent, choice, reason, emotion, action, responsibility, and punishment.  In this course, we will examine these assumptions in light of our growing understanding of how the brain works.  Among the questions we will consider include: What are these assumptions in the first place, i.e. what picture of human beings do they suggest? Do results from cognitive neuroscience support or undermine these assumptions? What are some of the conceptual challenges that arise when attempting to use cognitive neuroscience to study and understand mind, choice, and responsibility?  In what ways (if any) might we revise our legal system, in light of the science?  Most of the works we will read are by legal scholars, philosophers, and/or neuroscientists. Crosslisted with LPS and Honors.
  • Phil 151: Socrates: Monster/Beauty, MW 11:00 (from 10/21 to 11/18), Torgerson 
    • Very often the Socratic dialogs are viewed as endless debates.  It seemed Socrates triumphed through the very tricks that he accused the Sophists of using.  This was the Socrates I mis-taught for several years.  Students would ask why he was considered a moral hero; and I never had a very good answer.Well, this is not the Socrates of this course!  Instead we will journey through the positive, and very moving, discussions found in the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and the beginning of the Phaedo. These very readable texts provide an understanding of Socrates' mission and why Socrates is an heroic figure. It is especially fascinating to see how his understanding of his mission unfolds and how it relates to contemporary issues in politics and religion. This journey of understanding began on a mountaintop in 1978, continued with my work with MacArthur Award Recipient Gregory Vlastos in 1989, and will continue through this class.You will also have the opportunity to read my flawed, but possibly interesting, paper entitled, “Socrates: Outwardly a Monster All Beauty Within (A Journey With Those Who See the Beauty Within)"published in the journal Metaphilosophy. The article (which I'll provide) might help you to understand how one can learn to read a familiar text in a radically different way. You will be expected to buy and read one of the paperbacks that has those four dialogs.  I like to use the Library of Liberal Arts book (it only cost me fifty cents...back in 1961).  You can get it at the University Bookstore. Just ask for Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito LL4. If you have another addition or questions, email me at btorger1@mchsi.com or call 276-2907.

 

Religion Courses Offered Next Semester (S10)

  • Rel 52: New Testament, MW 11:00, Crowell
    • A study of the literature and theological message of the New Testament within the context of early Christian history.
  • Rel 53: Life & Teaching of Jesus, MW 9:30, Crowell
    • A reconstruction of the life and message of Jesus of Nazareth from the Gospels of the New Testament against the background of his Palestinian cultural and religious environment.
  • Rel 120: Black Christianity & Prophetic Politics, MW 2:00, Harvey
    • This course will explore various forms of Black Christianity in their historical and cultural contexts and will identify the unique ways in which Black Christianity has contributed to democracy. Attention will be given to both what Black Christianity has said to the civic body, as well as to debates within the Black community. Manifestations of prophetic politics in the present will also be a significant focus, with particular attention given to the roles of Black Christianity in presidential campaigns. Opportunities will be created to explore the role that Black churches have played and continue to play in the Iowa (and Des Moines in particular) context.
  • Rel 151: Woman & Hebrew Scripture, W 4:00, Frank
  • Rel 151: Religious Models of Restorative Justice, MW 12:30, Harvey
    • This is a research-based seminar in which we will explore the role religion can play in addressing the repercussions of social violence and injustice.  We will apply our findings to two major crises in the United States, engaging in a collaborative learning project together over the course of the semester. Specifically, this class will be structured “as if” we were a commission called together to structure a restorative justice response to Native American communities and African American communities in the United States.   Our “identity” as a commission will be one drawn from the Christian churches in the United States: a body of folks who want to address both their own denomination’s participation in these respective histories of racial violence, and who are to make recommendations for a “truth and reconciliation” process to be pursued by the U.S. government.  This course will be highly participatory and writing intensive.  As members of the commission, students will be deeply involved in developing the research questions and agenda for the “commission group work” that we will do in the second half of the semester.  We will begin the semester by studying the Truth and Reconciliation process in post-apartheid South Africa. 
  • Rel 151: Post Colonialism & The Bible, TR 11:00, Crowell  
    • The Bible belongs to the people of the world…but the Bible has also been used to oppress and alienate the world’s poor and disenfranchised. As the western colonial empires of the sixteenth through twentieth centuries collapsed and changed, scholars and local political leaders emphasized the dramatic effects the empires had on subjugated peoples.  Empires effect the economy, political structures, and familial systems as well as religion, self-understanding, and ways of thinking.  “Justice at the Margins” will explore the ways that empires have effected the composition of the biblical text, its transmission into colonized territories during the period of colonial expansion, and liberated, postcolonial readings of the Bible from previously colonized and oppressed groups.
Last Modified: 10/21/2009 19:36:25 by content editor