Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Second term
Wednesday from 14:00 to 16:00 at Préfecture P50

French

This course proposes an introduction to the philosophical approach of the “religious fact”. It is therefore not a science of religions course, stricto sensu (history, sociology or psychology of religions, etc...), let alone “religion classes”, which would be the development of a religious commitment. The questioning is philosophical and aims here, just as it does in art, science, or law, to grasp a human phenomenon : the religious - in the most integral sense; thus it aims at trying to situate it critically considering the general structures of human experience, where a relation to the "divine" that can take many forms is proposed.

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The course (a) emphasises the multiple nature of phenomena and logics that fall within the religious sphere, (b) it integrates this work in a questioning on history and modernity;
It develops three successive approaches:

1. A first approach of the "religious fact": starting from examples (the carnival, the thought of Wittgenstein, the biblical story of the exodus, the pillars of Islam, creationism...), we take a step back from the current interpretation of the religious ("belief in the supernatural"), and we suggest an articulation of the different polarities of the "divine" on which it can orient itself: the cosmic depth, the source, the ultimate horizon, the radical otherness.
2. A schematic and reflective journey from the history of religion to contemporary secularisation, taking Marcel Gauchet as particular guide (The disenchantment of the world)
3. A second approach, more reflexive, of the religion fact:
a) some suggestions of general interpretation, relying especially on Kant and Ricoeur;
b) an introduction to some key references of criticism of religion: alienation, ideology, superstition, idolatry ...

The course is therefore part of the philosophical tradition that has not ceased, since its origin, to ask how, and with which, admissible or not, sense(s) “religion” takes its place in the human, personal and institutional experience. For this purpose, philosophical reflection is concerned with different sciences of religion - history, sociology, psychology… and also “theologies” where religious commitments are reflected.

Lecture; the intention of the course is reflexive and (a little) documentary; it is often based on texts read in class. Usually the reduced number of students facilitates exchanges (however the course is not a discussion forum).

As the students have very different situations, the examination arrangements are very flexible and are to be agreed with the professor: classic examination, prepared oral presentation; written work...

Bibliographical references will be provided to the students in class and are also available on the course website. By way of example, we mention here three recent and excellent general works:
Fr. LENOIR and Y. TARDANT - MASQUELIER (dir.), Encyclopédie des religions, Bayard, 2000, 2 volumes. This encyclopaedia is very informative (volume 1) and reflexive (volume 2), and a very useful working tool.
Jean GREISCH, Le buisson ardent et les lumières de la raison. L'invention de la philosophie de la religion, Paris, Beauchesne, 2002-2004, 3 volumes. This work retraces the development of philosophy of religion since the Enlightenment (and even slightly before). We only regret that such a work has not been made about Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Ph. QUINN, A companion to the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999. This is a remarkable Anglo-Saxon handbook, which offsets the “continental” nature of the two previous references.

Generally speaking, a favoured resource for philosophy of religion is the collection “Archivio di filosofia”, which publishes each year (and mainly in French) the acts of the prestigious “Colloques Castelli”. A series of these acts has been entirely translated in French, published by Aubier.
We will also refer to the numerous publications of the FUSL, from “Mort pour nos péchés” (1976) to “Qu'est-ce que la religion ?” (2005) and “Variations sur Dieu” (2005), as well as the collection “Philosophie” of the Beauchesne editions, directed by the philosophers of the Catholic Institute of Paris.

Much of the course is based on texts that are distributed to the students, and some of them posted on the course website.
When possible, course notes can also be posted online.