1. M. Martin ed., The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (CUP, 2007), [C]

2. L. M. Anthony ed., Philosophers Without Gods (OUP, 2007), [P]

3. Handouts

4. Online material to be downloaded from my homepage: http://www.siue.edu/~evailat

A nice companion book for this course is E. K. Wielenberg, Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe (Cambridge: CUP, 2005)

A good and cheap collection of both historical and contemporary atheistic literature is C. Hitchens, The Portable Atheist. Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever (New York: Da Capo Press, 2007)

Schedule

Week 1: A brief account of positive and negative atheism and some facts about atheists. Readings: C 47-65, 300-313. Download: H. L. Menken, Memorial Service

The attack on atheism. Reading: C 69-85. Download a few notes on mathematical infinity

Week 2-3: The argument from design and its problems. Download Paley’s argument.

Dawkins’ handout;

Handout by Davies;

Handout of Martin’s Atheistic Teleological Arguments.

End of week 3: first quiz

Week 4: Standard atheistic critiques of the Cosmological Argument. Download Clarke’s argument. Reading:

C 86-101

C 182-198.

Week 5 (first half): Experiencing God? Mysticism and Sensus Divinitatis

End of week 5: second quiz

Weeks 5-6: An influential argument for positive atheism: the argument from evil. Reading:

C 166-181

P 231-242

Handout: Schellenberg’s Divine Hiddenness justifies Atheism.

Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk: http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/ProblemEvil.htm

Week 7: Showing of Shadowlands. Class discussion

End of week 7: third quiz

Weeks 8- 9: An evolutionary analysis of religion. Reading: C 283-299.

Week 10: Becoming an atheist. Readings:

Handout from Darwin’s letters and autobiography

P 41-58

P 69-79

P 80-89

Handout: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, How( and why) I became an Infidel

End of week 10: fourth quiz

Weeks 11-12: Is an atheistic system of ethics possible or desirable? Can an evolved morality be objective?

Reading: Download Craig Lane’s article.

P 215-230

C 149-65.

End of week 12: fifth quiz

Week 13: The meaning of life. Readings:

Handout from Nagel;

Selection form Wilenberg’s Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe.

Download SEP article http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life-meaning/

Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk: http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/MeaningofLife.htm

Week 14: Death. Reading:

Download: Epicurus’ Letter to Menoeceus; Selection from Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things.

End of week 14: sixth quiz; Paper due Paper topics

Week 15: Showing of Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

Atheism and freedom of religion. Reading:

C, 250-66.

A brief history of atheism. Reading: C, 11-46.

Final discussion

Requirements

· One 5 page double spaced paper, worth 30% of the course grade.

· 6 quizzes, some take-home, some in-class, cumulatively worth 30% of the course grade.

· A presentation, worth 20% of the course grade.

· A final exam, worth 20% of the course grade.

There may also be some pop quizzes for extra points. Only students in class when these quizzes are administered will be allowed to take them. No exceptions, ever.

Paper

You are encouraged to give me rough drafts of your paper up to one week before the paper is due. Understand that the closer to a finished paper your rough draft, the more precise and useful my comments will be.

Presentation

A presentation should last about 15 minutes and have the following structure:

1. Statement of the main point made by the author(s) you discuss

2. Brief statement of the main argument(s) supporting the point

3. Brief discussion of the difficulties of the author’s position and arguments

Make sure your presentation is clear and well organized so that students who have read the material can follow it.

Conduct

Please, try to remember to turn off your phones. Avoid texting, reading the newspaper or material irrelevant to the course. Be respectful of other people. This does not mean that you should not criticize their views, even forcefully; however, avoid personal invectives.