Studying at York
Philosophy of Islam - PHI00111H
- Department: Philosophy
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. David Efird
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2019-20
Module summary
This module uses the concepts, views, and arguments in analytic philosophy to clarify philosophical problems raised by Islamic theology, to offer solutions to those problems, and to evaluate those solutions using a cost/benefit analysis.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2019-20 |
Module aims
Subject Content
- To explore some key philosophical issues in Islamic theology;
- To provide a research-led approach to understanding and participating in contemporary debates in the Philosophy of Islam.
Academic and Graduate Skills
To develop students' abilities to apply philosophical concepts, views, and arguments, in order to advance the understanding of intellectual problems.
Module learning outcomes
Subject Content
By the end of this module you should be able to explain
- key theological claims of the major schools of Islam,
- the philosophical problems they give rise to,
- how these problems can be solved using the concepts, views, and arguments of analytic philosophy.
You should then be able to evaluate these solutions using a cost/benefit analysis with reference to Scripture (the Quran), tradition (the differing schools of Islam), and reason (philosophical, scientific, and other secular sources of knowledge). Finally, you should be able to argue for your preferred solution, or that there is no satisfactory solution.
Academic and graduate skills
By the end of this module you should be able to explain the concepts, views, and arguments of theological and philosophical material, critically engage with these concepts, views, and arguments, and defend your own view on these matters.
Module content
This module examines key claims in Islamic theology that raise philosophical problems. These include:
- Islamic accounts of religious faith and its relation to reason, especially as reason relates to the Quran and to tradition,
- Islamic accounts of the human person, especially the immortality of the soul,
- Islamic accounts of the world, especially its eternity,
- Islamic accounts of Allah, especially his omnipotence, omniscience, perfect goodness, and oneness, and
- Islamic accounts of a religious life, both in this world in the next.
In this module, students will use the concepts, views, and arguments of analytic philosophy
- to clarify these theological claims and the philosophical problems they raise,
- to give solutions to these problems,
- to evaluate these solutions using a a cost/benefit analysis with reference to Scripture (the Quran), tradition (the differing schools of Islam), and reason (philosophical, scientific, and other secular sources of knowledge), and
- to argue for their preferred solution, or that there is no satisfactory solution.
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The Formative essay will be submitted on Friday of Week 7.
The Formative essay plan will be submitted on Monday of Week 10.
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive feedback on the 1500-word essay two weeks after they submit it.
Students will receive feedback on the essay plan during office hours in Week 10 (at least six office hours will be offered).
Students will receive feedback on the 4000-word summative assessment and re-assessment four weeks after they submit it.
Indicative reading
Oliver Leaman, Controversies in Contemporary Islam (Routledge, 2013)
Oliver Leaman, Islamic Philosophy: An Introduction (Polity, 2009)
Anthony Robert Booth, Analytic Islamic Philosophy (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017)
