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Philosophy & Religion

Description of

Philosophy and Religion Mode of Inquiry

Course Objectives

 

Beyond acquaintance with disciplinary facts or concepts, the Philosophical and Religious Studies Mode stresses the student’s engagement with material and issues as an apprentice under the guidance of an experienced scholar. Scholars in Philosophy and Religious Studies define and approach their subject matter from diverse perspectives and methodologies: there is no such thing as the philosophical method; nor is there any one correct approach to the study of religion. So any given mode of inquiry course in Philosophy and Religion will achieve many but not necessarily all of the following outcomes.

  • will have reflectively engaged foundational epistemological or methodological issues;
  • will be able to employ one or more of the methods of philosophy and religious studies: for example,
    • (a)conceptual, linguistic, and logical analysis; or
    • (b) philosophical reflection on other disciplines, institutions, and practices, such as natural science, social science, mathematics, law, religion, or the arts; or
    • (c) close interpretation of philosophical texts or of diverse elements of religious practice and experience; or
    • (d) investigation of how the study of religion is informed by other disciplines in the humanities or social sciences; or
    • (e) historical investigation of the development of philosophical perspectives or religious traditions; or
    • (f) interpretation and critical evaluation of ethical and political issues and practices;
  • will have studied materials appropriate to those methods: for example, primary historical texts and figures, contemporary scholarly arguments, proofs, scriptures, religious myths and practices, social practices, or literary texts with philosophical or religious merit;
  • will have produced their own work consistent in form with one or more of the methods of philosophy and religious studies, at a challenging undergraduate level;
  • will have honed skills common to all intellectual activity but given particular attention by scholars of philosophy and religion: oral and written acuity, critical but faithful reading, argument analysis and evaluation, thesis development and defense
  • will have investigated philosophical and religious phenomena in relation to worldviews: comprehensive perspectives or ways of apprehending the world and valuing and acting, both historical and contemporary;
  • will be able to balance and discriminate between insider and outsider, empathetic and critical views of philosophy and religion, with attention to ethical and cultural sensitivity and tolerance.


(4 February 1997 Statement of the Faculty of the Philosophy and Religion Discipline. Passed by the Social Science Division, Undergraduate Council, and Faculty Senate. Reaffirmed through all levels of governance during the 2004-2005 academic year. Now printed correctly in the 2005-2007 General Catalogue (p.53), but misrepresented in all other publications.)