Philosophy of Religion

A complementary major is taken in addition to a student’s main program. There is no direct admission in a complementary program; the choice is made after admission and registration in a bachelor program.

Compulsory Courses (27 credits)

 

• PHI1105 Introduction to Philosophical Reasoning
• PHI2110 Methodologies in Philosophy and Ethics
• PHI2153 Christian Philosophers
• PHI2184 Philosophy of Religion
• PHI3107 Thomas Aquinas
• PHI3112 Philosophical Theology
• PHI3141 Augustine
• PHI3309 Ethics and Religion
• PHI4135 Religion and Modern Criticism

Optional Courses (15 credits)

9 credits from:

• PHI1106 Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
• PHI2111 History of Ethics
• PHI2154 Moral Philosophy
• PHI2182 Human Existence
• PHI2382 Philosophy in the Middle Ages (UO)

6 credits from:

• PHI3307 Ethics and Multiculturalism
• PHI4112 Social Justice
• PHI4156 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Religion
• ISC4304 Medias and Religious Traditions

 

ISC 4304 - Media and Religious Traditions

Historical clashes between the media and religious traditions. Culture, religious traditions and the media. Possible divergences and convergences. Religious traditions and new technologies.

PHI 1105 - Introduction to Critical Thinking

Explores the various sides of Critical Thinking: the nature of arguments, common errors in reasoning as well as evaluating evidence and information. Enables students to acquire and develop research and writing skills.

PHI 1106 - Philosophy and the Meaning of Life

This course discusses the role of philosophy in understanding the meaning of life.

PHI 2110 - Methodology in Philosophy and Ethics

Acquiring skills for research and writing, including how to critically appraise an article; how to structure an essay; and specific methodology in philosophy and ethics. Contains an overview of different theories in epistemology.

PHI 2111 - History of Western Ethics

When offered, this course would take one of the following three forms: I. Ancient and Medieval Ethics: Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman Ethics. Selection from Plato’s Dialogues, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Selection from the Epicureans, Stoics, Neoplatonists, and Aquinas. II. Early Modern Ethics: Renaissance Humanists, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, and Hume. III. Post-Kantian Ethics. Selections from Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, J.S. Mill, T.H. Green. Selections from Moore, the positivists and post-modernists. Western ethics may be compared and contrasted to selected non-Western traditions.

PHI 2146 - Social Justice

Explores, from the perspective of social justice theories, issues such as social inequalities, poverty, refugees, war, and environmental degradation. Examines criticisms of this perspective.

PHI 2153 - Christian Philosophers

Great Christian philosophers. Relationships between faith and reason. The reciprocal influence of theology and philosophy on one another.

PHI 2154 - Moral Philosophy

Survey of the major ethical systems in the Western world. Relationship between philosophical and religious thinking in ethical matters. Fundamental questions facing contemporary moral consciousness.

PHI 2154 and PHI 2174 are mutually exclusive. PHI 2154 was previously under course code PHI 3183.

PHI 2182 - Philosophical Anthropology

Study of different philosophical conceptions of the human being.

PHI 2184 - Philosophy of Religion

Philosophers and religion. Questions raised by the scientific study of religion in the contemporary period. Contributions of linguistic analysis to the study of the expressions of religious faith.

PHI 3107 - Thomas Aquinas

Life, intellectual context, and philosophical thought of Thomas Aquinas. Study of selected texts.

PHI 3112 - Philosophical Theology

The philosophical question of God. The problem of the existence of God. The proofs of existence of God. Divine being and divine attributes. God and History. God and Evil. God and Human Freedom.

PHI 3141 - Augustine

Life, intellectual context, and philosophical thought of Augustine. Study of selected texts.

This course was previously PHI2155.

PHI 3307 - Ethics, Multiculturalism and Immigration

This course examines the relation of ethics, multiculturalism, and immigration, studies the questions regarding the possibility of a multicultural ethics, and addresses the issues and debates arising from cultural relativism and identity politics in the functioning of modern societies.

PHI 3309 - Ethics and Religion

This course examines the philosophical foundations of various ethical and religious traditions and addresses the possibility of their convergence in modern liberal societies.

PHI 4135 - Religion and Modern Criticism

The course combines the study of the modern tradition of the critique of religion as it was developed in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century with the study of the critical dimension present in the core of monotheistic religion.

PHI 4156 - Special Topics in Philosophy of Religion

Study of texts and topics in the domain of contemporary philosophy of religion.

Courses offered by the University of Ottawa:

PHI 2382 - Philosophy in the Middle Ages (UO)

Introduction to major thinkers of the fifth to fourteenth centuries (Augustine to Ockham) and to some of the great questions of the era, concerning such matters as the nature of universals, of knowledge, and of the mind. Particular attention is paid to developments in epistemology and metaphysics.