Learning Lab – Course – Philosophy Units

Ancient Greek Philosophy

Section 1 Plato
Allegory of the cave, The Third Man Argument, Heraclitus and Parmenides, The Philosopher Kings.

Section 2 Aristotle
The four causes, Comparison with Plato, Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics

Approx. 8 hours of guided learning with 14 videos, lecture notes, original sources 2 multiple choice quizzes

Arguments For and Against God's Existence

Section 1 Ontological Argument classical: Anselm, Proslogion, The Fool, Gaunilo

Section 2 Ontological Argument Modern: Descartes, Kant, Bertrand Russel, David Hume

Section 3 Cosmological Argument Classical: Aquinas, Hume, Kant.

Section 4 Cosmological Argument contemporary: Leibniz, Russell & Copleston, Hume, Kant.

Section 5 Teleological Argument: David Hume, Analogy, Paley’s Watchmaker analogy

Section 6 Teleological Argument Contemporary: Behe, Intelligent Design, Anthony Flew, Wisdom’s parable of the Garden, John Stuart Mill.

Guest lecture Professor Tom Greggs, The ontological argument.

Approx. 30 hours of guided learning with 20 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 7 thought experiments, 6 multiple choice quizzes 1 guest lecture.

God’s Attributes and The Nature of God

Includes Omnipotence, Benevolence, Omniscience, Eternity, Boethius and Freewill.

Approx. 20 hours of guided learning with 19 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 5 multiple choice quizzes, guest speaker.

Life Death and Afterlife

Unit includes: Swamp man challenge, Plato’s Dualism, Descartes and the Soul, Prince and Cobbler challenge, Split Brain by Derek Parfit, Dualism vs Materialism, Near Death Experiences, The ship of Theseus, Old Testament pictures of Life After Death, New Testament views of Life After Death including John’s Gospel, Process views of life after Death, Biblical views of Jesus’ resurrection, John Hick Replica Theory, Heaven, Hell Purgatory, Pascal’s Wager.

Approx. 25 hours of guided learning with 14 lessons, 21 videos, 3 podcasts, lecture notes, original sources, 12 multiple choice quizzes

Miracles

Different understanding of ‘miracle’
Realist and anti-realist views
Violation of natural law or natural event
David Hume and Maurice Wiles

Guest speaker Dr Andrew Pinsent, University of Oxford – Miracles and God’s Action in the World.

Approx 15 hours of guided learning.

Religious Experience

Unit includes: Individual experiences, Reliability questions, Corporeal Experiences, Visions, Rudolph Otto and the Numinous, Mysticism, William James, Group experiences, The day of Pentecost, The Toronto Blessing, Medjugorje, Fatima.
Challenges to Religious experiences: from science, from psychology, Michael Persinger, Huston Smith, Max Weber, Physiological challenges, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Michael Shermer Out of Body Experiment.

Approx. 35 hours of guided learning hours with 11 lessons, 37 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 3 podcasts, 9 multiple choice quizzes.

Religious Language 20th Century

Section 1. Verification principle, Hume’s fork, Language and meaning, A J Ayer.
Section 2. Language Games. Wittgenstein and his followers.
Section 3. Falsificationism, Karl Popper, The Parable of the invisible gardener, Anthony Flew, the Oxford Debate.
Section 4. Bliks. RM Hare. Hare vs Flew.

Approx 12 hours of guided learning with 13 videos lecture notes, original sources 3 podcasts, 4 multiple choice quizzes.

Religious Language Classical

Section 1. Via Negativa, kataphatic vs apophatic, Maimonides
Section 2. Aquinas, Analogy of proportion, Analogy of Attribution.
Section 3. Symbol, Paul Tillich, Barth, Bultman.

Guest lecture. Julie Arliss Religious language introduction.

Approx 12 hours of guided learning with 9 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 2 podcasts, 3 multiple choice quizzes, 1 thought experiment. 1 guest lecture.

The Problem of Evil and Suffering

Section 1 The logical problem: David Hume, J L Mackie, The inconsistent triad, Stephen Fry, William Lane Craig.
Section 2 The relationship between the nature of God and the logical problem of evil. The Augustinian Theodicy and the nature of God. Evil a privation.
Section 3 The evidential problem of evil. John Stuart Mill, Dawkins, Fry. Hick’s Irenaean Theodicy.
Section 4 Gottfried Leibniz response. Can God permit evil to bring about good? Christian responses
Section 5 Augustine’s Theodicy. Evil a privation of good. Freewill defence
Section 6 Objections to Augustine – John Hick, Evil and the God of Love. The Freewill defence.
Section 7 John Hick’s Irenaean Theodicy (soul making), epistemic distance, eschatological verification.
Section 8 Evaluation of John Hick: Dewi Zephaniah Phillip

Approx. 20 hours of guided learning with 19 videos, lecture notes, original sources, 3 multiple choice quizzes