A2 Philosophy: Module 6, Miss Badgercarina.badger@lambeth-academy.org

Miracles, Life after Death and the Soul

Plan for the module

9/6: intro to miracles; expectations for the module; handing out papers and reading lists. Essay homework set.

14/6: trip to Jewish Museum.

15/6: defining 'miracle' (Aquinas vs Hume) and looking at examples in the Bible and in recent times. The Catholic miracle-verification process. Essay homework set.

20/6: trip to Down House.

23/6: Hume's induction problem; Wiles; problems with 'miracles'. Essay homework set.

28/6: summary and consolidation lesson on miracles.

29/6: intro to concepts of life after death; intro to dualism; Plato and Aristotle on the 'soul'. Essay homework set.

7/7: trip to University of Hertfordshire (law conference). Essay homework set.

12/7: Dawkins and Hick on the 'soul' and life after death.

13/7: Buddhist and Hindu views on the soul and life after death; problems of dualism; summer reading lists and tasks. Essay homework set.

Homework: Essay homework each week, largely based on past papers where appropriate.

9/6, due 15/6: Explain what is meant by the term ‘miracle’. (Write this as a part (a) question on the AS paper).

15/6, due 23/6: 'A belief in miracles leads to the concept of a God who favours some but not all of His creation.' Discuss. [35] (Jan 2010)

23/6, due 28/6: Evaluate Hume's claim that miracles are the least likely of events. [35] (Jan 2011)

29/6: due 7/7: Explain what is meant by the term ‘soul’. (Write this as a part (a) question on the AS paper).

7/7, due 12/7: To what extent is belief in an afterlife necessary in resolving problems raised by the existence of evil? [35] (June 2010)

13/7, due first lesson in September: 'Resurrection is more likely to be true than reincarnation.' Discuss. [35] (Jan 2011)

Miracles, Life after Death and the SoulKey Words and Key Philosophers

Miracles

Arbitrary David Hume

Miracle Maurice Wiles

Bias Keith Ward

Cumulative argument Richard Swinburne

Deist Paul Tillich

Theist R F Holland

Immanent John Polkinghorne

Omnipotent Arthur Peacock

Lourdes Thomas Aquinas

Petitionary prayer Richard Dawkins

Providence Anthony Flew

Quantum Mechanics

Transcendent

Joshua 10

Necessary

Anthropomorphic

The covenant

Inductive problem

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Life after Death, the Soul

Atman Epicurus

Disembodied existence Plato

Dualism Aristotle

Monism Gilbert Ryle

Karma Descartes

Life after death Anthony Kenny

Materialism Peter Geach

Ghost in the machine Hugh Lawson-Tancred

Reincarnation Stephen T Davis

Resurrection Dawkins

Samsara John Hick

Soul Thomas Aquinas

Anima Richard Swinburne

Catechism of the Catholic Church Bertrand Russell

Psyche Anthony Flew

Myth of Gyges

Faculty

Identity theory

Heaven and Hell

Purgatory

Gehenna

Retributive justice

A2 Philosophy of ReligionPast Exam Questions

January 2011

1. To what extent can God reveal himself through sacred writings? [35]

2. Critically compare the use of myth and analogy to express human understanding of God. [35]

3. 'Resurrection is more likely to be true than reincarnation.' Discuss. [35]

4. Evaluate Hume's claim that miracles are the least likely of events. [35]

June 2010

1 Evaluate the claim that analogy can successfully be used to express the human understanding of God. [35]

2 'Boethius was successful in his argument that God rewards and punishes justly.' Discuss. [35]

3 Critically assess, with reference to William James, the arguments from religious experience. [35]

4 To what extent is belief in an afterlife necessary in resolving problems raised by the existence of evil? [35]

January 2010

1 Critically assess the philosophical problems raised by the belief that God is omniscient. [35]

2 'A belief in miracles leads to the concept of a God who favours some but not all of His creation.' Discuss. [35]

3 Evaluate the claim that there can be no disembodied existence after death. [35]

4 Critically asses the views of Paul Tillich on religious language. [35]

A2 Philosophy: Useful Links

One of the best pages of links: http://www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org/links.htm.

The best of the rest include:

The Window: Philosophy on the Internethttp://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/

University of Liverpool Philosophy Subjectshttp://www.liv.ac.uk/pal/subject/index

Philosophy Pageshttp://www.philosophypages.com/

Guide to Philosophy on the Internethttp://www.earlham.edu/~peters/philinks.htm

The Guardian Philosophy and Ethics Linkshttp://education.guardian.co.uk/netclass/schools/links

Philosophy Onlinehttp://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/

General content

Philosophy Biteshttp://www.nigelwarburton.typepad.com/philosophy_bites/

Butterflies and Wheelshttp://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/

History of Modern Philosophyhttp://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/

Zeno's Coffee Househttp://www.ronbarnette.com/Zeno/zeno.html

BBC's In Our Timehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/index.shtml

Ask a Philosopherhttp://www.philosophypathways.com/questions/

World Question Centrehttp://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_index.html

Humour

Can Bad Men Make Good Brains Do Bad Things?http://www.mindspring.com/~mfpatton/binvat.htm

The Socrates Argument Clinichttp://www.mindspring.com/~mfpatton/sclinic.htm

Philosophical Humourhttp://consc.net/phil-humor.html

Cartoons on Philosophy http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/CartoonPhil.html

Reference works

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophyhttp://www.rep.routledge.com/

The International Encyclopedia of Philosophyhttp://www.utm.edu/research/iep/

Philosophers' Textshttp://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc0337/philosophers.html

Philosophy of Religion: Supplementary Reading List for Miracles, Life after Death and the Soul

(Texts mostly in the LRC or Miss B has copies)

Main TextMathew Taylor, OCR Philosophy of Religion for AS and A2

General Philosophy of ReligionDavies, B. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, OUP 1993 Jackson, R. The God of Philosophy, The Philosopher's Magazine 2001 Baggini, J. Atheism: a Very Short Introduction, OUP 2003Stephen Laws Philosophy Files chp 8 “Does God exist?” Stephen Laws The Philosophy Gym chp7 “Does God exist?” Nigel Warburton Philosophy, the basics chp 1 (Miss B has this)Radio programme: The Moral Maze on BBC Radio 4 (can be downloaded into iTunes)Magazine: The Philosophy Magazine (http://www.philosophersnet.com/) , also available in the school library

MiraclesVardy, P. The Puzzle of God, 3rd ed., Fount 1999 Hick, J. Philosophy of Religion, 4th ed., Prentice Hall 1990 Richard Swinburne Is there a God?, chp 7David Hume Enquiry concerning human understandingAnything by Richard Dawkins – particularly the Blind Watchmaker and the God Delusion (Miss Badger has both of these)Channel 4 The God Delusion: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-god- delusion/4od# 2919518 A War on Science (BBC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK66g09DSz4&feature=related

Life after DeathThomas Aquinas Summa Contra GentilesBertrand Russell Why I am not a christian and other essays, essay “Do we survive death?”Milton Paradise Lost, Book 1Aristotle De AnimaPlato PhaedoPlato Republic sectsions 608d - 612s