Undergraduate - UnitATS2860 - After the death of God: Continental philosophy of religion from Nietzsche to today

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Philosophy
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Mark Kelly

Notes

Previously coded PHL2010

Synopsis

The unit provides an overview of major developments in Continental philosophy of religion. The beginning of the unit explores the influential critiques of religion made by Kant, Nietzsche and Feuerbach, analyses the significance of the announcement that God is dead, and examines the philosophical implications of atheism. The remainder of the unit addresses major figures in the Continental tradition for whom the death of God opens new ways for thinking about religion. These thinkers include Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Rosenzweig, Levinas, Derrida, Marion and Vattimo. The unit also provides an introduction to the philosophical methods of 'phenomenology' and 'hermeneutics'.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students will:

Understand the major developments in Continental philosophy of religion
Appreciate the distinct contribution of major Continental thinkers to the critique of philosophical theology and to its renewal
Be able to analyse seminal texts from Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and others
Have gained an introduction to the methods of phenomenology and hermeneutics and appreciate their usefulness for the philosophy of religion and philosophy generally
Demonstrate the capacity to interpret and evaluate important concepts, arguments and texts, as well as to put forward ideas and arguments of their own in a clear and cogent way.