It is expected that the student will become familiar with the problem and scope of the concept of "religion" as a historically and systematically important element in philosophical reflection. The student should engage deeply with classical questions about the nature of religion and the meaning of concepts such as God, faith, polytheism, monotheism, pantheism, agnosticism, and atheism. The student should analyze the basic questions that the philosophy of religion has raised throughout the history of philosophy and integrate them with the most significant contributions from history, sociology, and psychology. Additionally, the student should understand the historical origin of the fundamental categories used by the most relevant schools that have developed this discipline.
1. Introduction. Main disciplines that address the religious phenomenon: theology, comparative history of religions, phenomenology of religion, anthropology, sociology, psychology. History of Religionswissenschaft (the science of religion). The philosophy of religion as a synthesis of knowledge.
2. Religion in Greek Philosophy: the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle. The birth of Christianity and attitudes towards religion: Saint Paul, Tertullian, Saint Justin, Origen of Alexandria. The idea of religion in Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The Protestant Reformation: Luther and Calvin.
3. Modern philosophy and religion: The birth of science. The case of Galileo. Rationalism and religion: Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Religion in Hume and the Empiricist school. The division between theology, natural theology, and the philosophy of religion.
4. Philosophy of religion in the Enlightenment: Deism and natural religion. Voltaire and Rousseau. Kant and the critique of natural theology. Faith and reason. Religion and ethics.
5. Romanticism, idealism, and religion: Schleiermacher and Schelling. Hegel and religion as the supreme determination of the spirit. Art, religion, and philosophy.
6. Feuerbach and the anthropological critique of religion: Religion and anthropomorphic projection. Religion and love.
7. The Marxist critique of religion: Marx, religion, and the concept of "superstructure." Bloch and hope. The Frankfurt School.
8. Nietzsche and religion: The critique of Christianity. The Übermensch (superman) and the meaning of the earth. Nihilism and the eternal return.
9. Freud, psychoanalysis, and religion: Psychogenetic explanations of the religious phenomenon.
10. Existentialism and religion: Kierkegaard, Unamuno, Heidegger, and Jaspers. Otto and the "wholly-other." Jewish philosophy of religion (Buber, Rosenzweig, and Lévinas). Religion in Barth, Bultmann, and Tillich.
11. Religion and cultural anthropology: Tylor and Morgan; Weber; Durkheim and the French sociological school; Malinowski; Lévi-Strauss; Harris and cultural materialism; Geertz and symbolic anthropology; Mircea Eliade; René Girard.
12. Religion in Anglo-Saxon philosophy: James, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ayer, and Flew. Religion and "new atheism."
For the development of the course, the following strategies will be employed:
? Expository Method: Presentation of theoretical content through in-person classes and documentation on the platform.
? Analysis of Texts and Documents: Reading texts related to the main contents of the course. Individual preparation and group discussion in sessions.
? Oral Presentation: Presentations and exposés by students.
? Written Work: Completion of an individual written assignment related to an author, book, or topic relevant to the course.
Ordinary Call: In order to be evaluated in the ordinary call, all the activities subject to evaluation must have been completed. Evaluative activities must be submitted by the dates indicated by the instructor. If, for any duly justified and communicated reason, the activities could not be submitted within the designated period, they may be submitted before the exam date, so that the instructor can grade them. However, in this case, the instructor is not obligated to provide feedback on those activities. Furthermore, the student has the right to take the final written exam even if all other evaluative activities have not been submitted, but the final grade will only be calculated if all activities have been submitted, in accordance with the evaluation criteria and weightings outlined in this course guide. If any activity has not been submitted or completed, the record will state "Not Presented" in the call.
Extraordinary Call: The evaluation criteria are the same as those in the ordinary call, meaning all the evaluation activities for the course must be completed. The grades for completed activities (including the final written exam) will be kept while pending activities are completed. In this evaluation, the same weighting criteria as in the ordinary evaluation will apply. This measure will only apply during the current academic year, so if the extraordinary call is not passed, renewing the enrollment will result in repeating the entire course.
Active participation and text commentary in the classroom: 20%.
Written work, consisting of writing a review and personal commentary on a book agreed upon between the student and the professor: 40%.
Final written exam: 40%.
The professor will upload notes, classic texts, and other materials on the philosophy of religion. He will also recommend, in due time, the reading of fundamental works that have marked this discipline. Although no specific textbook will be used, the reading of the book edited by M. Fraijó, Filosofía de la Religión. Estudios y Textos, Trotta, Madrid 1994, is recommended as a reference work for the historical part. For the systematic part, the professor will provide materials from authors such as Otto, Eliade, Campbell, Dupuis, and Panikkar. Texts related to the phenomenon of mysticism in various religious traditions will also be provided, and in the final part of the course, materials on the neurobiological bases of religion will be distributed. It is also advised to consult Tratado de Historia de las Religiones (Cristiandad, Madrid 2000) by Mircea Eliade, as well as the book: Blanco, C. Más allá de la cultura y de la religión, Dykinson, Madrid 2016. The following work is also recommended as a reference: Jean GREISCH, Le buisson ardent et les lumières de la raison. L'invention de la philosophie de la religion, 3 vols., Paris: Cerf 2002-2004. Additionally, the reading of some more introductory and general works is recommended, such as: Rémi BRAGUE, Sobre la religión, Madrid: Didaskalos 2019; Jean GRONDIN, La filosofía de la religión, Barcelona: Herder 2010.