Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

Belief after Philosophy: Postmodernism and Religious Faith

Unit Code: 
AP375
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

Is postmodernist suspicion an ally of religious faith, or its deadly enemy? How can anyone doubt the value of foundations and still speak meaningfully of God, or religious faith? This unit looks at how postmodern thinking bids to rework some traditional connections between faith and philosophy. Included in each week will be a tutorial segment, for which one of the students will initiate and lead discussion, or make an assessable presentation.

Lecturer/s: 
John Martis
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 2
Day: 
Monday
Time: 
10 - 1
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2013
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Graduate Diploma in Theology
Courses: 
Master of Divinity
Courses: 
Master of Theological Studies
Field: 
Field A Humanities
Disciplines: 
Philosophy
MDiv Field: 
Hermeneutics and Culture
Department Name: 
Department of Philosophy
Unit Level
GradDip Field: 
Elective
MDiv Type of Study: 
Integrative
Prerequisites: 

15 points of Foundational study in Christian Thought and History

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

3 hours of lectures and seminars weekly for 12 weeks

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours per week: 
12
Total workload hours for unit: 
144
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

Either: 2 x 3000 word essays (50% each);

or: 1 x 3000 word essay (50%),
1 x tutorial presentation (20%),
1 x 2000 word tutorial presentation (30%).
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

Appignanesi, R., and C. Garratt.  Postmodernism for Beginners.  Cambridge: Icon Books, 1995.

Descombes, Vincent. Modern French Philosophy. Trans L. Scott-Fox and J.M. Harding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Eagleton, Terry.  Literary Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.

Hart, Kevin. Postmodernism: A Beginner’s Guide.  Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2004.

Horner, Robyn. Jean Luc Marion: A Theological Introduction. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005.

Marion, Jean Luc.  God without Being: hors-texte.  Trans. Thomas A. Carlson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Reese, William.  Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion. New, enlarged ed. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, 1996.

Selden, Raman and Peter Widdowson. A Reader’s Guide to Ccontemporary Literary Theory. 3rd ed. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1993.

Sturrock, John (ed.) Structuralism and Since: From Lévi-Strauss to Derrida. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.

*Taylor, Mark C. Erring: A Postmodern a/theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.