ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY

LOYOLA SCHOOLS
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy of Religion
Catalogue PH 103 (3 units)
Course Syllabus for the Second Semester, SY 2018-2019
Teacher: Martin Philipp Hein
Class Schedules: MWF 800 – 900, SOM 202
1000 – 1100, CTC 407
1100 – 1200, CTC 406
1300 – 1400, B305
1400 – 1500, SEC A 203 A

Course Description
In this course, we will talk about the different philosophical traditions of religions. Every religious
tradition developed its own unique and distinct philosophical schools. Those schools often
developed elaborate arguments to support or clarify a certain religious idea but also often
criticized religious views and habits if they were considered harmful or dangerous. This was and is
part of an ongoing and vivid rational debate, and ‘rational’ here means based on arguments that
are reasonable, convincing and logically coherent. We will encounter many arguments of such kind
in the course of the class.

The topics of the course are not limited to the Christian tradition only but include the perspectives
of religions from other cultures as well, particularly the Buddhist and Hindu tradition.
We will start the class with a tradition that we have heard of but usually do not know much about,
especially regarding philosophical details. This tradition is Buddhism. We will discuss important
Buddhist concepts that defined and shaped the Buddhist religion and its cultural expression over
the centuries until now. Some of those key concepts entail the notion of no-self, impermanence,
and a specific form of existential suffering that humans are subject to as long as they don’t reach
enlightenment and liberation. Enlightenment and liberation themselves, which is often called
Nirvana, will be critically examined as well.

After that we will go to two western philosophers within the Christian tradition who developed
proofs of God’s existence with the help of rational arguments. Those two philosophers are Anselm
of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas. Both lived in the era of the Middle Ages (in the history of
Europe) and influenced all subsequent philosophical schools immensely. Anselm developed an
argument based on the idea of an absolute being whose absoluteness is necessary and undeniable
and which also strictly (logically) entails existence. This absolute he called God. Thomas developed
five arguments, called “Five Ways” in his treatise, to prove the existence of God. Thomas’
arguments revolve around notions of motion, causation, contingency (contrasted to that which is
not contingent (or dependent)), degrees of excellence, and harmony (an inherent drive to a goal
in all things). The arguments of these philosophers will be elucidated in detail.

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Following that, we will come back to Indian Philosophy which includes Hinduism and again
Buddhism. We will talk about two essential concepts that were discussed about, namely Self and
Ultimates. Questions about both the nature of the self as well as ultimate realities (divine realities)
were of crucial importance, because they were at the same time related to questions about
liberation, enlightenment and immortality. And those states of being and realization were
considered as forms of salvation, the highest goal and good that was to be achieved. Central for
this endeavor were the questions: What exactly is the self? How exactly is the relation of the self
to the absolute?

Afterwards, we will analyze an influential work of a German scholar, Rudolf Otto, from the early
20th century. He wrote about a very specific form of religious experience, which he called “the
holy” (or “the sacred”). That is also the title of his work. Standing in the tradition of Christianity as
well as the Age of Enlightenment in Europe’s history, he criticizes an understanding of and
approach to God that is merely rational or based on rational concepts (ideas) alone. In contrast,
he emphasizes the importance and irreducibility of a deep emotional component that is not
rational. This emotional component is a feeling of awe and mystery that emerges in religious
people if confronted with what they interpret as God or the divine.

Connected to that, we will investigate another seminal work about the religious experience. It is a
work from Romanian scholar of religion Mircea Eliade. In this work he refers to Otto’s
understanding of the emotional experience of the sacred but extends it to other areas of human
life as well. Eliade follows the questions: How does the sacred manifest itself in human cultures
and societies? Where can it be seen? In what places? At what times? What meanings does it have
for the people of a certain culture?

Towards the end of the course, we will talk about a modern description of a religious or spiritual
experience in the context of Hinduism. We will carefully read two texts from Sri Aurobindo, who
is often described as a philosopher, yogi, spiritual master, poet and Indian politician. He lived in
the early 20th century and delivers an impressive and wordy description of higher mental states
that can be achieved in a spiritual development.

Finally, the course might be concluded with Rene Descartes’ first three Meditations. Descartes,
who lived in the 17th century, belonged to those who influenced the Scientific Revolution and the
emergence of the social and intellectual movement of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. In the
first three Meditations, Descartes starts with radical doubt to find something which is not doubtful
anymore. He finds the source of all real knowledge and certainty in a self-evident and inevitable
(undeniable) consciousness from which he proceeds to more and higher forms of knowledge. He
then articulates a proof of God’s existence based on a deep analysis of innate (inborn) ideas within
himself.

Learning Outcomes
The main objective of this course is to become aware of the complexities, similarities, and
differences of the philosophical ideas in different religions.
We will therefore:
- identify key notions in different philosophical traditions, analyze them and then
understand why and how they influenced the people in certain cultures
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 - be more aware that there are many different approaches to the absolute (divine) possible
- learn to appreciate other cultures more by being able to properly understand their deeper
reasons that have developed in the course of their unique history
- develop an idea what ‘rational’ can mean in the context of Philosophy of Religion
- get in touch with some key thoughts from the Christian tradition that are prominent in
philosophical debates
- carefully start comprehending a rational elaboration of extraordinary spiritual states that
are themselves supra-rational, which means they are beyond a mere rational grasp
- recognize the importance of emotions and feelings in religious life and expression
- be able to compare the ideas of different religions and detect similarities as well as
differences

Course Outline
The outline and timetable are subject to change, because we will flexibly discuss the topics and
may need more time to go into the thoughts and arguments.
The structure of the class and order of texts and topics are as follows:
1. Mark Sideritis: Buddhism as Philosophy
2. Anselm of Canterbury: Proslogion
3. Thomas Aquinas: Five Ways
4. Roy W. Perrett: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy (Self, Ultimates)
5. Rudolf Otto: The Idea of the Holy
6. Mircea Eliade: The Sacred and the Profane
7. Sri Aurobindo: The Synthesis of Yoga (The Cosmic Consciousness, The Ananda Brahman)
8. René Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (Meditations 1 – 3)
The midterm exams are in week 8, and the final exams are in week 15.

Required Readings
- Mark Sideritis: Buddhism as Philosophy (Chapter 2: pp. 15 – 31; Chapter 3: pp. 32 – 46 (3.1
– 3.3))
- Anselm: Proslogion (Introduction, Chapters 1 – 4)
- Aquinas: The Five Ways (all five arguments)
- Roy W. Perrett: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy (Chapter 6, “Self”; subchapters:
Introduction, The problem of the self, Nyaya-Vaisheshika dualism, Samkhya-Yoga dualism,
Samkhya-Yoga and the mind-body problem, Advaita Vedanta non-dualism, Buddhist ‘no-
self’ theory; chapter 7, “Ultimates”; subchapters: Introduction, Ultimate concern and
maximal greatness, Ishvara and Yoga, Ishvara in Nyaya-Vaisheshika, Brahman and the
varieties of Vedanta, Shankara on Brahman, Ramanuja on Brahman, Madhva on Brahman)
- Rudolf Otto: The Idea of the Holy (Chapters 1 – 4, pp. 1 – 24)
- Mircea Eliade: The Sacred and the Profane (Introduction and Chapters 1 – 2; Introduction
and Chapter 1: pp. 8 – 32; Chapter 2: 68 – 85)
- Sri Aurobindo: The Synthesis of Yoga (Chapters: The Cosmic Consciousness, The Ananda
Brahman)
- René Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (The first three meditations)

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Course Requirements
- Class presentation (35%): The class presentation is a group presentation of 4-5 students
who will prepare a text. These presentations will start around 4 weeks after the beginning
of the semester. The texts will be provided and are to be prepared independently and
without prior discussion in the class (this is part of the task). The presentations will be held
once the week until all students have completed this requirement. One presentation
should be around 30 minutes long.
The book that contains the relevant texts is Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand
Faces. The specific chapters we will determine in the class.
- Midterm exam (30%): The midterm exam is a 10-minute oral exam of a topic the student
can choose and prepare at home. The topics belong to those we have talked about in class
up to that point.
- Final exam (35%): The final exam is a 15-minute oral exam of a topic the student can choose
and prepare at home also. It covers all topics of the class up to that point. The difference
to the midterm exam is that it takes 5 minutes longer and includes some questions from
me.

Grading System
The official grading system is described as follows:
- Grade A: Fulfillment of the requirements set for the course to a high degree of academic
performance as shown by both an intelligent grasp and superior critical appreciation of the
subject matter. Quality point value: 4.
- Grade B: Fulfillment of the requirements set for the course to a degree above satisfactory
performance as shown by both an intelligent grasp and rudimentary critical appreciation
of the subject matter. Quality point value: 3.
- Grade C: Satisfactory fulfillment of the requirements set for the course as shown by a fairly
intelligent grasp of the course content. Quality point value: 2.
- Grade D: Passing fulfillment of the minimum requirements set for the course. Quality point
value: 1.
- F Failure: Non-fulfillment of the minimum course requirements. Quality point value: 0.
- The grade of C+ (quality point value: 2.5) and B+ (quality point value: 3.5) are given for
those inevitable borderline cases which, in the professor’s estimation, do not merit the
grade and at the same time definitely deserve better than the lower grade or mark.

Participation:
If a student is very active in class and is regularly participating, I want to acknowledge that and give
him or her a grading bonus on top of his or her exam results. With this I want to appreciate and
value a student’s active participation.
However, I don’t want any student to feel forced or pressured to participate always even if the
student does not want to or does not fully feel like it in certain class times. Additionally, some
students generally prefer to remain silent in class. For these reasons, students who want to remain
silent will not get any penalties or other subtractions from the grade. They can still get the best
grades if they do their exams well.
With this I want to acknowledge and appreciate active students while at the same time not force
or pressure more silent students. Everyone should feel free and relaxed and act according to his
or her true personality.
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Classroom Policies
- Attendance: The Students are not allowed to miss more than 9 hours in this course, which
means students can have up to 9 cuts. Tardiness will be counted as a half cut. If a student
extends beyond the allowed 9 cuts, he will receive a W for the final grade.
- Electronic devices: Put your mobiles on silent and only use a laptop in class for your notes
and files.
- Behavior: Stay calm and focused in class and don’t make any unnecessary noise. I want the
class to create a good learning, discussing, and listening atmosphere. You are allowed to
drink in the class, but eating is not allowed during the course, simply because it causes
noise and distracts.
- The beadles will take care of the attendance record and the organizing of the exams.

Consultation Hours
You can approach me in the department at the following times:
- Mondays 9am to 10am, and 12pm to 1pm