Syllabus
The list of topics explored in the course of 30 hours:
1. Analytic philosophy of religion - recent developments (1 lecture)
2. Philosophy of religious pluralism (5 lectures)
3. Religious language and religious diversity (3 lectures)
4. Religious experience and religious diversity (3 lectures)
5. The problem of evil and religious diversity (3 lectures)
Annotation
The philosophical consequences of religious diversity (both inter-religious and intra-religious) is today the most hotly debated issue among the analytic philosophers of religion. The growing prominence of this topic is no doubt due to the recent realization (after the bankruptcy of the colonial enterprise) that cultural and religious pluralism is apparently an irreducible phenomenon. As such it seems to call into question the viability of the old style Western philosophy of religion that was based on the presumption that the defence of rationality of any religious beliefs presupposes the truth of only one set of beliefs. The goal of the present set of lectures is to explore not just the various philosophical arguments of the enthusiasts and foes of the pluralistic interpretations of religion, but also to see how religious diversity taken seriously affects the philosophical reflection of other central topics of philosophy of religion. 3 areas of philosophy of religion seem to be especially challenged by religious diversity, namely philosophies of religious language, religious experience, and the problems of the undeserved suffering and horrendous evil. As all these issues are today in the centre of attention of the analytic philosophers of religion, the present lectures may be seen as an opportunity to join the lively debate which is taking place mainly in the
English speaking countries. For this reason, while the classes will in most part have a character of lectures, considerable amount of time will be given to discussion based both on the content of the lectures and on students' own study of short selected texts provided by the lecturer.