Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

God’s Existence: Defensible or Delusion?

Unit Code: 
AP285/385
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

Does God exist? And can this be proved to the satisfaction of a non-believer, or even the doubter in myself? This unit looks at how philosophers – from Plato’s time to ours – have sought to answer these questions. It explores traditional moves, such as ontological and cosmological proofs, Leibniz’ argument and Pascal’s wager, as well as more recent discussion, including the intelligent design argument, and Richard Dawkins’ characterisation of this and other proofs as “deluded”. Gradually, great philosophers – Aquinas and Descartes, Hume and Kant – are seen to shine within an ongoing quest, to which we ourselves might be drawn: the search for a God whom philosophy can persuasively defend, but never enclose.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. distinguish between the arguments comprising various traditional proofs for God’s existence, and identify the proponents of these proofs
  2. debate the question of whether particular philosophical proofs enhance faith claims for God’s existence
  3. construct and / or critique modern versions of the traditional proofs
  4. [level 3 only] explain the reasoning patters by which proofs of God’s existence are proposed as either enhancing or devaluing faith culture
  5. [level 3 only] demonstrate an understanding of both the continuity and discontinuity exhibited by modern proofs of God’s existence, in relation to traditional proofs
Lecturer/s: 
Sandy Yule
Lecturer/s: 
João Vila-Chã
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 2
Day: 
Monday
Time: 
2:15 - 5:15
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2010
Years Offered: 
2012
Years Offered: 
2014
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Bachelor of Theology
Field: 
Field A Humanities
Disciplines: 
Philosophy
Department Name: 
Department of Philosophy
Unit Level
Undergraduate Level: 
2
Undergraduate Level: 
3
Prerequisites: 

level 2: 15 points of Philosophy at level 1

level 3: 15 points of Philosophy at level 2

Corequisites: 

none

Prohibited Combinations: 

none

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures and tutorials

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
6
Total workload hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours for unit: 
108
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

1 x 1000 word essay

Weighting: 
20%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
1, 3
Assessment Type: 

Level 2: 1 x 1500 word essay

Level 3: 1 x 2000 word essay

Weighting: 
30%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
2, 4
Assessment Type: 

1 x 2 hour written examination

Weighting: 
50%
Learning Outcomes Assessed: 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

  • Davies, Brian. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1982.
  • Davies, Paul. The Mind of God. London: Penguin Books, 1992.
  • Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Paperback ed. Boston: Mariner Books, 2007.
  • Descartes, Discourse on Method and the Meditations. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.
  • *Hick, J.H. Arguments for the Existence of God. London: Macmillan, 1970.
  • Hume, David. Principal Writings on Religion including Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and the Natural History of Religion. Pref. J.C.A. Gaskin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Küng, Hans. Does God Exist? New York: Crossroad, 1991.
  • Mackie, J. L. The Miracle of Theism. Paperback ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
  • Melchert, N. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002.
  • Swinburne, Richard. The Existence of God. Rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  • Swinburne, Richard. Is There a God?  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.