SECTION III: How do I Know?

In this section of the course, we delve into epistemology, the theory of knowledge. In epistemology, we are concerned to know just what it is to know something - i.e., we want to know what knowledge is. Knowledge, obviously, is a broad and fundamental feature of human life and experience. Where philosophy generally studies the humans and their relationship to their world, our states of knowledge and the relationship that these strike between us and the rest of the world provide a rich source for philosophical investigation.

We will proceed in this section by first narrowing the focus of our study to rational belief and in particular the rationality of religious belief. To this end, read the following, introductory document describing this topic.

Lesson III.1: Rational Belief

Then, we will consider a number of views by prominent philosophers that bear on the question whether religious belief should be regarded as rational. These include readings from the following:

• III.1 St. Aquinas
• The Problem of Evil (Dostoevsky, Hick)
  • III.2 Introduction: the Problem of Evil
  • III.3a Dostoevsky I
  • III.4 Hick
  • III.3b Dostoevsky II
• III.5 Soren Kierkegaard
• III.6 Ludwig Feuerbach
• III.7 Friedrich Nietszche

As previously, please bring all texts to class, for reference.

Following our discussion of these writers' views, you will take the second exam of the course. Here is a link to the study guide for the exam:

Exam Two Study Guide