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 2015 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

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Philosophy
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Alexei Procyshyn

Synopsis

This unit deals with the way in which 'continental' philosophers have sought to deal with the question of the divine in modernity, in the face of the growth of scientific modes of explanation and the decline of religious institutions and belief. In doing so, it furthermore introduces the continental approach to philosophy. Taking our lead from Nietzsche's provocative claim that 'God is dead', we will look primarily at French and German philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Examples of figures who may be studied include Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, Immanuel Levinas, and Jacques Derrida.

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 continental philosophy 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.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Alexei Procyshyn

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Philosophy
Religious studies

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units

Prohibitions

ATS3860