Class #2, 1/30/12

**Roster and misc. issues--any problems obtaining text?

**Discussion points for the Euthyphro:

• Any difficulties reading the text--what don't you get?
• Does the discussion with Euthyphro live up to Socrates' motto:  "I tell you that . . . examining both myself and others is really the very best thing that a man can do, and that life without this sort of examination is not worth living."
• What was this about?  Did you find that this discussion arrived at satisfactory answers?
• What proposed definitions of "piety" or "holiness" do Socrates and Euthyphro consider?
• Why can't Socrates and Euthyphro come to a satisfactory definition of holiness?
• Does Socrates believe it is possible to define holiness?
• Why does Socrates think that holiness must be "the same in every sphere of activity"?
• Why does Socrates consider "the most ingenious feature" of his art to be his ability to make the products of Euthyphro's mind not "stay put"?
• Since his conversation with Euthyphro moves in a circle, ending where it began, does Socrates intend it to teach us something other than a definition of holiness?
• Is Euthyphro justified in prosecuting his father for the worker's death?
• Do you agree with Socrates that there is only one standard by which all things are holy and unholy?

**A little more to help us follow the argument:




**What does this discussion mean for the hope of success in defining "holiness," "religion," or other terms during this semester?
          --Maybe it's not as bleak as it looks....

**For next week, 2/6/12:  We'll turn to an actual account of "religious experience" and some ways to interpret what's going on with it--in Part Two of the text, read the following articles:
------>Pp 40ff:  St. Theresa of Jesus, [her description of a series of experiences];
------>Pp 43ff:  Philosopher William James, "Religious Experience as Feelings forming the Root of Religion;"
------>Pp 68ff:  Philosopher Michael Martin, "Critique of Religious Experience."

**Write a page:  There are two questions I'd like your feedback on--
------>What do you make of Saint Theresa's account?
------>Do you side with either James or Martin, or would you explain this in some other manner?  Briefly explain.

Class #1, 1/23/12--WELCOME!

This is the course blog for Philosophy of Religion, PHIL 3323, for Spring Semester, 2012.

You'll find here the agendas for each class, important information about scheduling in case of bad weather or other emergencies, and interesting news from the world of religion.

Tonight's labors:

**Roster, introduction, info sheets.

**Here is the text information:  Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach and Bassinger, eds., Philosophy of Religion:  Selected Readings, 2010, Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press, ISBN #978-0-19-539359-0.

**Syllabus:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2bhCDyTewNUYjBmMjRjYTYtOGJiNC00NjM3LTk4M2YtMzJlNTI1NDI2NTIz

**Calendar:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2bhCDyTewNUNTg2YTlhYzAtNDY0OS00MzQ3LWE5ODEtMTcwNTg1ZjAyNmE1

**Defining basic terms:
          1. What is Philosophy?
          2. What is Religion?
          3. Relationships and issues in this field.

**Since we'll be reading the dialogue "Euthyphro" for next week, a little background on Socrates might be helpful:




**Just for fun, here's a teaser to lead into your reading of "Euthyphro."

**Complete student info page.

**For next class, 1/30:
Read the handouts:
------>Fletcher, "Slow Reading"
------>Plato, "Euthyphro"--read this with a pencil and highlighter!
In writing, complete and be ready to hand in the questions over "Slow Reading".

The Leavers: Young Doubters Exit the Church

Results of some polling show that the trends are a little more serious than many believe to be the case. The author's point at the end about believers and personal contact is important, as is the abstractness of the view of Christianity many reject. A faith is first and formost a matter of warm links between people. I'm not sure that abstractions and arguments work well or deeply as "ties that bind," whatever other purposes they may serve.

The Leavers: Young Doubters Exit the Church Christianity Today A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Heart of Our Hearts

Heart of Our Hearts - Daniel Foster - The Corner on National Review Online

As Mr. Foster relates, Elie Wiesel has an open letter to President Obama regarding Jerusalem and peace. His words echo with memory and the sorrow of millennia.

What has been widely discussed...

...for a long time by many scholars is that the Jewish Scriptures have a considerably older history than extant texts allow us to confirm. However, a steady drip of interesting evidence continues to set the general verification level at older and older periods. Here is the latest.

Holy Smoke! (er, maybe...)

This may or may not be relevant to our last couple of weeks' discussions about theories of interpretation of faith narratives. Did you ever wonder what Moses saw on the mountain? One set of theories reports that one of the nuclei of factuality in these accounts of the revelations to Moses is that the accounts have some details that might resemble a volcanic event. At any rate, that's what I thought of when I saw these pictures from currently-active Mount Redoubt in Alaska. These photos and many more are posted at the Alaska Volcano Observatory website. They also update their page several times daily, as events develop with Redoubt and her sister volcanoes.

Some comments by David Hume

"Taxes when carried too far, destroy industry, by engendering despair." (Political Discourses.)

"National debts cause a mighty confluence of people and riches to the capital. ("Of Public Credit," Political Discourses.)

"The best taxes are such as are levied upon Consumptions, especially those of luxury." (Essays and Treatises.)

"Opposing one species of superstition to another, set them a quarreling; while we ourselves, during their fury and contention, happily make our escape into the calm, though obscure, regions of philosophy."

"Necessity calls, fear urges, reason exhorts." (Political Discourses)

"A regard for liberty, though a laudable passion, ought commonly to be subordinate to a reverence for established government."

"There is one certain means by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin: I will die in the last ditch."

"Excessive severity in the laws is apt to beget great relaxation in their execution." (Political Discourses.)

"Men do not normally reason with one another, men impact on one another as billiard balls do; it is custom that leads men to do things as they do; it is custom, often concealed from the actor, which drives him to do things of which he is naturally ignorant as to why and for what purpose he does them." (Enquiry.)