Pantheologies: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, World
RELI 305
Spring 2021 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
FGSS 304, SISP 305 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Health Studies |
Pantheism teaches that the world itself is divine. The idea seems simple enough, yet it has suffered extraordinary ridicule at the hands of western philosophers and theologians, who have considered "matter" to be lifeless, dark, and feminine (which is to say, as different as possible from "God.") This course will explore this generalized panic over pantheism--in particular, the anxieties it encodes over gender, race, nationality, and class, and the contribution such anxieties have made to an unequally distributed attack on the "environment."
Seeking an alternative to our raced and gendered ecocidal metaphysic, the course then turns to contemporary pantheologies. To what extent are recent theories of cosmology, complexity, and materiality setting forth subtle pantheisms? What are the feminist, anti-racist, and ecological stakes of these theories? Properly conceived, what is pantheism; is it ultimately distinguishable from atheism; and what use are any of these platforms in developing an ethic and politic of environmental justice? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(RELI-MN)(RELI)(STS) |
Major Readings:
Pseudo-Dionysius, THE MYSTICAL THEOLOGY
David Hume, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION
Edward Tylor, PRIMITIVE CULTURE
Stephen Moore, ed., DIVINANIMALITY (selections)
Catriona Mortimer-Sandilands, ed., QUEER ECOLOGIES (selections)
Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan, WHAT IS LIFE?
Jane Bennett, VIBRANT MATTER
Mel Chen, ANIMACIES
Bill Connolly, A WORLD OF BECOMING
Annie Dillard, HOLY THE FIRM
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Examinations and Assignments:
3 brief oral presentations, 5 2-page papers, one final 15-page paper |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
In addition to submitting the electronic POI, please send an email to the instructor by November 13, with a brief paragraph stating your interest and background in the course material. Specifically, please detail any background you may have in philosophy of religion; the history of western philosophy and/or theology; environmental philosophy; or feminist philosophy, theory, or ethics.
This course fulfills the "Thematic Approach" OR "Method and Theory" requirements for the Religion department major. |
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