Professor James Hall invites you on a 36-lecture, intellectual journey to explore the questions of divine existence which humankind has debated for centuries. You will find the tools of logic and argument the professor applies in this course offer benefits you can take far beyond the issue of God's existence or the broader subject of religion. Enjoy wrapping your mind around questions for which every potential answer triggers a new set of questions.
Philosophy of Religion
Join an esteemed professor of philosophy in exploring the question of divine existence by using the tools of epistemology.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
JPM54 from
Nice class to take; Interesting and easy
I thoroughly enjoyed professor's Hall lectures. This is a well rounded course with an introduction to philosophy and a good overview of arguments for an against the existence of God. Someone else said that it was biassed. Well he said upfront where he stood so any slight bias was simply a confirmation of what was said but no harm as far a the contents of the class and no push to follow one way or another. Other reviewer mentioned the many side anecdotes and digressions from the main topic. Yes there were quite a few but I found most of them enjoyable and worth listening to. Perhaps it is true that they unnecessarily lengthen the course but then again none of the classes that I have taken here at Wondrium has been "perfect" and probably none will be.
As far a the different topics covered, I thought that the discussion of the various Theodicies was particularly enjoyable and well presented. The only topic where I felt it as a bit over the top was the discussion around paradigms towards the end of the course. But nothing to really complain about. I learn a lot from professor Hall and I appreciated his down to earth conversational style that was easy to follow.
Date published: 2022-12-28
Rated 3 out of
5
by
D Oliver from
Disappointed
Professor Hall is obviously an expert in this area, but the course would have been better delivered in 24 lectures instead of the 36 lectures contained in the course. He provides many examples of the topics being discussed but sometimes the examples seem to be disconnected from each other and the topic of the lecture.
Date published: 2022-05-02
Rated 2 out of
5
by
MarkG Ohio from
Below Average in Some Respects
Let me provide four brief comments. Dr. Hall comes across as nice person whom you would enjoy having lunch with. However, there is insufficient attention to what philosophers and theologians throughout history have believed. There are too many solely personal opinions and stories. The presentation is not truly balanced, but leans toward atheism, rather than agnosticism or Christian belief.
Date published: 2022-03-30
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Retired MD from
Want food for the soul? This leaves you hungry.
Primary reason to acquire this course: You want a very superficial presentation of the subject matter with no in-depth analysis given.
Primary reason to avoid this course: You want to acquire at least a little insight into arguments for and against the existence of "God". You don't want a very superficial presentation of a complex series of issues.
Many of the reviews of this course seem to approach the topic with an attitude of "Dr. Hall doesn't agree with me, therefore this lecture series is poor." I am trying to approach this review with an attitude of: does Dr. Hall give me insight that will help me analyze a religious argument made by another individual? Regrettably, I have to say "No". Other reviewers have mentioned Dr. Hall's lecture style in a negative manner. His style certainly is not one that I would recommend that others adopt. He discusses the various issues in an indirect, vague manner utilizing many anecdotes; I don't personally find this style useful for retention of the presented material. I could overcome this aspect of his lecture style if he gave me useful information.
Dr. Hall's invariably concludes, for all the presented arguments for and against the existence of "God", that the argument is "Not proven". This final analysis may well be correct, but I fail to see how that conclusion is supported by the little information provided in the various lectures. For some arguments, no evidence/information is provided at all before Dr. Hall dismissed that specific argument and moves on.
It may be that the nature of religious philosophy is such that no positive or negative argument regarding the existence of the ethical monotheistic god (Dr. Hall's preferred nomenclature) can be proven; all arguments are "not proven". If so, I submit that a more useful and informative lecture course would be "Why the Existence of God Cannot be Proven or Disproven" with at least some depth of analysis of the various arguments for and against.
In summary, I conclude that these lectures fail to prove that the various discussed arguments are "Not Proven".
Date published: 2022-03-21
Rated 4 out of
5
by
neurologist from
Watch last lecture 1st
I watched this to get a handle on how to decide on the question of God and religion. He has brilliant insights. His style is somewhat dilatory, repetitive and anecdotal. Easy to understand and very good points but hard to always see how he is building to his key conclusions. Not until the last lecture did it come together, and then it was a real revelation. With his final lecture, with every sentence pertinent and crucial, it all came together. I got the answers to the questions I was looking for. Patience paid off. Highly recommended, but better if you watch the last lecture 1st, then at the end again.
Date published: 2022-03-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Babybobcat from
Philosophy of Religion
Extraordinarily well organized and presented from the staandpoint of philosophy, with religion as the topic, rather than the driving force. The best presentation I have had yet from TGC!
Date published: 2022-03-02
Rated 5 out of
5
by
BaruchCXX from
The paradox of passionate detachment
As this course developed I found it more and more compelling impressed me not only by the scrupulous exploration of Ethical Monotheism but also by his scrupulous commitment to revealing his own perspective. That is neccessary but o sadly only to rare. But there is no mistaking the intellectual challenge he presented and it has prompted me to review and revise my own perspectrive and attitudes.
.The style of the lectures was more accessible by the manner and style of the presentation. In examining the content of an argument he is scrupulouly rigorous but in discussing the implications of an argument if taken too dogmatically or exclusively there is no doubt that he enlists in his commentary personal conviction and passion and that is both compelling and desirable in the discussion of such vexed quesions as religious belief and action
Benedict Cowell
Date published: 2021-11-12
Rated 3 out of
5
by
otrman from
Mixed But Still Worth The Viewing
Considering its almost 20 years old and a lot happens to thinking about this topic over nearly 20 years, it was helpful to me to learn the many different ways that the existence of GOD can be argued and even considering I believe that the answer is is unknowable I found value here.
I would score it at 3.5.
If one has absolutely minimal knowledge of this topic and is willing to have an open mind, I would recommend it. My only brickbat is the course guide - just not worthy of the importance of the topic and hand.
Date published: 2021-08-09
Overview
About
Dr. James Hall is the James Thomas Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the University of Richmond, where he taught for 40 years. He earned his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, his Master of Theology from Southeastern Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the University of Richmond, Professor Hall was named Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty Member of the Year (2005) and Student Government Association Faculty Member of the Year (2005), and he received the University Distinguished Educator Award (2001). He has written many articles and essays and is the author of three books: Knowledge, Belief and Transcendence; Logic Problems; and Practically Profound: Putting Philosophy to Work in Everyday Life. Professor Hall specializes in 20th-century analytic philosophy, epistemology, logical empiricism, and the philosophy of religion. At Richmond, he was noted for developing cross-disciplinary courses combining physics, chemistry, economics, psychology, and literature with his own field of philosophy.
01: What is Philosophy?
We examine philosophy as a practical matter, dispensing with a variety of misconceptions and then focusing on a variety of subjects for, and methods of, inquiry, allowing actual philosophy to be "done" in the lectures to come.
33 min
02: What is Religion?
Because there are as many ideas of religion as there are societies—and perhaps even people—we narrow the definition, for the purposes of this course, to "ethical monotheism," the core of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, contrasting it to other ideas and bringing its most salient features into clear relief.
31 min
03: What is Philosophy of Religion?
Notions of what philosophy of religion is are as varied as the definitions of religion itself. This lecture narrows the playing field, so that the best way in which philosophical analysis and synthesis can be brought to bear on religious belief and practice can emerge.
31 min
04: How is the Word "God" Generally Used?
This lecture examines the presuppositions and implications of the common religious claim that there is or are one or more gods and offers close examination of the word itself and how it is used in a variety of settings.
31 min
05: How Do Various Theists Use the Word "God"?
The focus is narrowed from the polyglot of religious contexts explored in Lecture 4 to the use of the word in ethical monotheism, identifying presuppositions, internal logic, and the implications that are woven into this particular way of thinking.
30 min
06: What is Knowledge?
To ask what can be known in religious contexts, and especially about the existence of god(s), requires being clear about what it is to know anything at all. We examine a wide array of things one might know, believe-but-not-know, doubt, disbelieve, or flatly deny as we begin an exploration of the traditional understanding of knowledge as "justified true belief."
30 min
07: What Kinds of Evidence Count?
If evidence is what makes the difference between mere belief and real knowledge, then it is important to discover what kind(s) of evidence work, as well as what quality of evidence is required for effectiveness in a given setting.
30 min
08: What Constitutes Good Evidence?
Even after identifying what kinds of evidence are preferable (e.g., firsthand experience over hearsay, coherent inference over free association), we still need to figure out the characteristics of evidence of a given kind that enable it, in a context, to move us from disbelief to belief, from opinion to solid knowledge.
30 min
09: Why Argue for the Existence of God?
This lecture introduces the cosmological, teleological, and ontological patterns of argument, illustrating the function of argument when one is trying to explain everyday events, and enumerating a few caveats to keep in mind when weighing the merits of the theists' arguments.
31 min
10: How Ontological Argument Works
Is divine existence entailed by the very concept of godhood? To assert so is to argue ontologically, and this lecture focuses on arguments to that end put forth by both St. Anselm and Descartes—including a brief foray into geometry—to explain how ontological arguments work.
30 min
11: Why Ontological Argument is Said to Fail
Several classical lines of argument hold that a priori arguments about matters of fact are generally sterile and that ontological arguments for the existence of God thus fail as well. An examination of these arguments prepares us for possibly more profitable efforts to infer the existence of God from the occurrence and/or nature of the world, rather than the meaning of a concept.
30 min
12: How Cosmological Argument Works
We examine the principle of explanation known as "sufficient reason" and its use in basing a case for divine existence on the existence of the world itself—the cosmological argument—as well as its use in everyday settings.
30 min
13: Why Cosmological Argument is Said to Fail
What happens when "Ockham's Razor,"a classical principle of philosophical restraint, is applied to sufficient reason and the cosmological arguments for divine existence? This lecture lays the groundwork for the consideration of a more sophisticated "sufficient reason" argument.
31 min
14: How Teleological Argument Works
Is divine design apparent in nature itself? St. Paul thought so, as did William Paley. This lecture explores the use of "sufficient reason" arguments to claim that the detailed characteristics of the world and its commonplace events demand the inference of an obviously divine external cause.
30 min
15: How Teleological Argument Works (continued)
Some teleological arguments offer God as the best explanation for not only the mere occurrence of the world and its general events, but for the occurrence of works that are special or even miraculous. Granting for the sake of argument that the events in question do occur, this lecture traces from them the inference of divine existence.
30 min
16: Why Teleological Argument is Said to Fail
This lecture looks at a number of reasons why skeptics have found the teleological argument wanting, whether for what might be called "explanatory overkill" or for selective bias.
30 min
17: Divine Encounters Make Argument Unnecessary
The failure of ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments to make their case for a god is of little concern to many ethical monotheists, who cite historical claims of "direct awareness" of God through "encounters"—a notion fleshed out in terms of both contemporary and historical experiences.
30 min
18: Divine Encounters Require Interpretation
Continuing to assume the good faith of those who claim to have experienced divine encounters, this lecture focuses on a two-step line of rebuttal to the notion that direct, non-inferential knowledge of divine existence occurs in such encounters.
31 min
19: Why is Evil a Problem?
The occurrence of evil in the world has long been a basis for dismissing teleological arguments as inconclusive. But the presence of evil has another implication as well, not as grounds for rebutting teleological arguments for theism, but as grounds for affirming dysteleological arguments for atheism.
30 min
20: Taking Evil Seriously
We continue to examine why evil constitutes such a problem for ethical monotheists, grouping into categories the arguments about evil that are said to lead to the conclusion that no god exists, and laying the groundwork for the rebuttals to those arguments that will be presented in the next four lectures.
30 min
21: Non-Justificatory Theodicies
Rebuttals to the argument from evil are called theodicies. Most try to justify the evils that occur. This lecture explores the more radical notion that no justification is required, either because no evils occur, or because those that do occur don't have anything to do with God or are logically unavoidable (and, hence, nobody's fault).
31 min
22: Justifying Evil
Theodicies that attempt to justify evils usually do so by claiming that they are necessary for the fulfillment of one or another greater good. This lecture lays the foundation for this line of argument, which will be further examined in the next two lectures in terms of both "natural" and "human" evils.
30 min
23: Justifying Natural Evil
Clearly, bad things happen in this world, often with no discernible human involvement, lack of involvement, intention, or negligence. These "natural evils" provide ammunition for those who say the world's designer (if it has one) cannot be deserving of worship. This lecture examines four of the theodicies used to rebut such arguments.
30 min
24: Justifying Human Evil
The most widely cited theodicy for human evil (and, many claim, the most effective) relies on the idea that the possibility of such evil is a necessary precondition for human freedom and autonomy, which are of such great value that they balance out whatever evils their occurrence requires. Explaining and appraising this theodicy is the primary target of this lecture.
30 min
25: Evidence is Irrelevant to Faith
Does faith allow one to move beyond evidence and arguments? Are evidence and arguments, in fact, impediments to faith? This lecture examines several classical approaches to this line of thinking, with a preliminary look at a postmodern version that suggests religious faith constitutes its own paradigm, immune from external applications of evidence and argument.
31 min
26: Groundless Faith is Irrelevant to Life
We explore the way the notion of relevance works, showing that if the events that occur are irrelevant to the truth value of a claim, than the truth value of that claim is also irrelevant to the events that occur—a reciprocal relationship with important implications for the questions raised in this course.
30 min
27: God is Beyond Human Grasp, But That's O.K.
The most radical disconnect between divine existence and the rules of ordinary cognition is voiced in the claim that god transcends the world and everything in it. This lecture explores three notions of transcendence and the implications each of them carries for knowing whether God exists and, if so, knowing God.
30 min
28: Transcendental Talk is "Sound and Fury"
This lecture considers the implications of the "verificationist" contention (by Logical Positivists and others) that talk of God is vacuous because claims of a truly transcendent God can be neither proved nor disproved, as well as what such verificationism might have overlooked.
31 min
29: Discourse in an Intentionalist Paradigm
An introduction to paradigms and how they work prepares us to compare the paradigms with which ethical monotheism and natural science operate and consider how their respective inclusion and exclusion of intentionality as a category of understanding separates them.
30 min
30: Evaluating Paradigms
If a paradigm is important in coming to grips with the world, it is important to use one that works. This lecture explores the criteria for assessing paradigms and then offers examples of how those criteria can be used to assess some sample paradigms in concrete applications.
30 min
31: Choosing and Changing Paradigms
There is no doubt that paradigm shifts occur, but there are several possible answers to the question of "how?" This lecture looks at whether one's paradigm can be "chosen"—an important issue that speaks to intentionality.
30 min
32: Language Games and Theistic Discourse
This lecture introduces Wittgenstein's notion of "language games" and explores its role in theistic discourse.
30 min
33: Fabulation—Theism as Story
This lecture begins an analysis of religious discourse as fabulation: the telling of stories—myths, parables, fables, etc.—for a purpose; laying out the conditions for purposeful storytelling in everyday settings; drawing on familiar stories for examination; and examining religious discourse itself as purposeful storytelling.
31 min
34: Theistic Stories, Morality, and Culture
We examine the hypothesis that the primary functions of ethical monotheists' stories are to identify, give weight to, and motivate moral behavior, as well as to underwrite the core culture of their societies. We also consider the counterhypothesis—that such stories, in fact, have a far different result.
30 min
35: Stories, Moral Progress, and Culture Reform
The priestly and prophetic dimensions of ethical monotheism and its stories are added to the mix identified in the previous lecture, with interesting implications for the debate.
30 min
36: Conclusions and Signposts
This lecture summarizes the philosophical reasoning undertaken through the previous lectures—and the conclusions this reasoning supports—and suggests some issues that invite continued philosophical reflection.
31 min
