CUHK course: Atheism and Naturalism

[Alex]

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Department of Philosophy

PHI 3743: Special Topics: Interdisciplinary Problems (Atheism and Naturalism)
Lau Chong-Fuk
2009/10 2nd Term • W 09-10 • UCA 103
http://phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/phiCourseDetail.php?mid=22-23&course_id=42
 
I. Course Outline

In this course, we will discuss issues related to atheism and naturalism and problems inherent to Judeo-Christian theology. Topics may include the creation-evolution controversy, organismic and cosmic design arguments, impossibility arguments, the problem of evil, scientific explanations of religious experience and naturalistic ethics. Related aspects of evolutionary biology, game theory, probability theory and cognitive science will be covered. The aim is to provide students with an interdisciplinary overview and stimulate them to reflect critically on their own beliefs.

III. References

Barbour, Ian G., Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues, San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997.
Behe, Michael J., Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, New York: Free Press, 1996.
Behe, Michael J., The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, New York: Free Press, 2008.
Colins, Francis, The Language of God, Free Press, 2007.
Dalrymple, B, The Age of the Earth, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991.
Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design, New York: Norton, 1987.
Dawkins, Richard, The God Delusion, London: Bantam Press, 2006.
Dawkins, Richard, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, Free Press, 2009.
Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, 30th anniversary ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Dembski, William A., Intelligent Design: the Bridge Between Science & Theology, InterVarsity Press, 2007.
Dembski, William A., No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Dembski, William A., The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Dembski, William A., The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Dembski, William A./McDowell, Sean, Understanding Intelligent Design: Everything You Need to Know in Plain Language, Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2008.
Dembski, William A./Ruse, Michael, ed., Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Dembski, William A./Wells, Jonathan, ed., The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence In Biological Systems, Foundation for Thought and Ethics, Dallas: Foundation for Thought and Ethics, 2008.
Dennett, Daniel, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Penguin Group 2006.
Dennett, Daniel, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Dennett, Daniel, Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting, MIT Press 1984.
Flew, Anthony, There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind, HarperOne, 2008.
Futuyma, Douglas J., Evolutionary biology, 3rd ed., Sunderland: Sinauer Associates, 1998.
Futuyma, Douglas J., Science on Trial, New York: Pantheon, 1983.
Godfrey, L. R., ed., Scientists Confront Creationism, New York: W. W. Norton, 1983.
House, H. Wayne, ed., Intelligent Design 101: Leading Experts Explain the Key Issues, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2008.
Kitcher, Philip, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism. MIT Press, 1982.
Kitcher, Philip, In Mendel’s Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on Biology, Oxford University Press, 2003
Kitcher, Philip, Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith, Oxford University Press, January 2007
Martin, Michael, Atheism, Morality, and Meaning, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2002.
Martin, Michael, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989.
Martin, Michael, The Case Against Christianity, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991.
Martin, Michael, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.
Martin, Michael/Monnier, Ricki, ed., The Impossibility of God, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2003.
Martin, Michael/Monnier, Ricki, ed., The Improbability of God, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2006.
Miller, Kenneth R., Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, New York: Perennial, 2007.
Miller, Kenneth R., Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul, New York: Viking Adult, 2008.
Montagu, A., ed., Science and Creationism, New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Monton, Bradley, Seeking God in Science: An Atheist defends Intelligent Design, Broadview Press, 2009.
Nagel, Thomas, "Public Education and Intelligent Design," in Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 36, No. 2. (2008), pp. 187-205.
NOVA, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial (DVD), 2008.
Pennock, Robert T., Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999.
Pennock, Robert T., ed., Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.
Pennock, Robert T./Ruse, Michael, ed., But is it Science? The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy, Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2009.
Ruse, Michael, The Evolution-Creation Struggle, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Sober, Elliott, Evidence and Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Sober, Elliott, Philosophy of Biology, 2nd ed., Boulder: Westview Press, 2000.
Strahler, Arthur Newell, Science and Earth History: The Evolution/Creation Controversy, Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1987.
Whitcomb, J. C./Morris, H. M., The Genesis Flood, Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1961.