philosophy

Week 4: The Problem of Suffering and God’s Existence and the Mind/Body Problem

Overview

A 2012 Pew survey demonstrated that 68% of Americans believe in the notion of God or a “universal spirit.” This week’s materials will provide you with a portal for examining philosophical arguments for and against God’s existence.

You will investigate one of the primary reasons for skepticism about God’s existence – the problem of suffering. Suffering is part of the human condition, and we have all experienced it in varying degrees. For many, the fact of suffering means it is impossible to believe in an all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing God.

Richard Rubenstein, a Jewish rabbi and religious studies scholar, is an example. He famously argued that it was no longer possible to believe in God after Auschwitz, for surely an all-good and all-powerful being would have intervened in human affairs to stop the brutal suffering of millions of people (1992). But another rabbi and scholar, Eliezer Berkovits comes to the opposite conclusion. He argues that the problem of suffering, specifically the Holocaust, is not a problem for God, but a problem for human beings (Berkovits, 1973). It was human beings who perpetrated the crimes against humanity, not God. You will wrestle with problem of suffering and determine where you stand on the issue.

You will also explore the mind/body problem. This branch of philosophy raises questions about the relationship between the mind and body. Specifically, we will investigate the nature of the self. At some point in our lives, most of us have asked the question, “Who am I”? This topic will allow you to investigate modern and contemporary conceptions of the self and determine how they might help you better understand the nature of the self.

There are a number of important questions that arise when addressing this topic. Do human beings possess a soul? If so, what is a soul, and how does it differ from a body? Is the soul the essence of who we are as human beings? (In other words, is the soul the nature of the self?) Dualism, most famously popularized by Descartes, maintains that human beings possess an immaterial, rational soul housed in a physical body. Importantly, the soul is the essence of the self.

Dualism allowed Descartes to maintain his commitment to Christianity, but it has been soundly criticized for its failure to account for the interaction between the soul (or mind) and body: how does an immaterial substance like the soul (or the mind) interact with a physical body? A number of alternatives to Cartesian dualism have been proposed. These run along a continuum, ranging from the behaviorism (there is no self/soul) to physicalism (the self is reducible to brain functions). As you work through this material, ask yourself which account provides the best explanation for the nature of the self and why?

References

Berkovits, E. (1973). Faith after Auschwitz. New York, NY: KTAV Publishing House, Inc.

Most of the skeptically unaffiliated still keep belief in God. (2012). Pew Research Center, November 15. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/most-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-still-keep-belief-in-god/.

Rubenstein, R. (1992). After Auschwitz: History, theology, and contemporary Judaism (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MY: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Outcomes

When you complete this week, you should be able to:

1. Evaluate the arguments for and against God’s existence.

2. Determine your own position on the question of God’s existence.

3. Articulate a philosophical argument that characterizes your position on the mind/body problem.

Required Readings

· Warburton. (2013): Chapters 1 and 7.

· Warburton. (2014): Chapters 6 and 12.

· Sacks, O. (1985). A matter of identity. In The man who mistook his wife for a hat. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, p. 108-115. (Ereserves)

· Wiesel, E. (1982). Night. New York, NY: Bantam Books, p. 60-62. (Ereserves)

Context: This week’s readings will allow you to explore philosophical arguments concerning God’s nature and existence and the mind/body problem. As you work through the materials, think about the strengths and weaknesses of each viewpoint.

Additional Resources

· Narrated Presentation by Dr. Janet Rumfelt: “Does God Exist?”

· Watch the interview with Dr. Francis Collins, a former director for the National Center for Human Genome Research, where he discusses why he believes in God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfbPZd2DXlE (Transcript)

· Listen to the Philosophy Bites podcast: Tim Crane on Mind and Body: http://philosophybites.com/2007/09/tim-crane-on-mi.html(Transcript)

Learning Activities

Activity 1: Are There Good Reasons to Believe in God?

Context: This week’s activity will help you determine your view on the arguments for and against God’s existence. After reading the materials and viewing the video clip with Dr. Francis Collins, classify and assess his arguments for God’s existence.

Dr. Collins was the former director for the National Center for Human Genome Research. He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University.

Description: Craft a post (250-400 words) in which you do the following. First, outline Dr. Collin’s argument for God’s existence and classify it. Second, assess the merits of his arguments by comparing and contrasting viewpoints with at least one other perspective from the readings. Third, do you find his position compelling? Why/why not?

Delivery: Post your response to the forum, and reply to at least one of your classmates. Due dates will be provided by the facilitator, and the point value is located in the Gradebook.

Assessment: The Discussion Rubric will be used to assess this activity.

Activity 2: The Problem of Suffering and God’s Existence

Context: The Nazis murdered almost twelve million people during the Holocaust. Six million were Jews (one and a half million of whom were children). Political dissidents, Roma, gays and lesbians, and mentally and physically challenged people comprised the other five million.

They died because of a madman’s desire for ethnic purity. Adolf Hitler wanted to “cleanse” the German bloodline of “impure” genes, which would enable him to build a master German race – one that would not only restore Germany’s honor after its defeat in World War I, but also enable them to assume their “rightful” place in the geo-political sphere.

Jews were viewed as a “degenerate” race, owing to their supposed genetic inferiority. Hitler authorized a systematic program of concentration (ghettoization), deportation, and selection. Jews were taken from their homes and locked inside ghettos where their freedom of movement was constricted and food and medical care was scant.

The Nazis emptied the ghettos by posting a deportation order, an order demanding Jews to appear to train station for departure. They were not told their destination, and baggage was limited. We now know they were sealed into cattle car trains and sent to labor or death camps. Many did not survive the trip. There was often no food or water available, and the temperatures were often so severe that the sick, elderly, and young did not make it.

If they survived the journey, they were herded off the train for selection. Healthy adults were selected for labor. (But this was often a slow death because conditions in the camp were substandard). Pregnant women, sick people, and children were usually selected for death.

Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was taken to Auschwitz in 1944 at the age of fifteen. He survived the nearly year and a half ordeal, but his father did not. One of the most horrific events he recounts in his memoir, Night, concerns the hanging of a thirteen-year-old boy. Read the short and tragic excerpt on Ereserves.

Gallows in Auschwitz. © Janet Rumfelt, 2014.

Description: Craft a forum post (300-500 words) in which you do the following. First, discuss your reaction to the reading. What questions does this raise for you? Does it shake your faith in God, or is it simply more confirmation that God does not exist? Second, can God’s existence be defended in light of such monumental human suffering? If so, how? If not, why not?

Delivery: Post your response to the form, and reply to at least one of your classmates. Due dates will be provided by the facilitator, and the point value is located in the Gradebook.

Assessment:The Discussion Rubric will be used to assess this activity.

Activity 3: The Mind/Body Problem

Context: This activity will enable you to explore the philosophical question of the relationship between mind and body. Our investigation will focus on the question of the nature of self. Do you have an immaterial essence (a mind or soul) that is the core of who you are, or is your sense of self reducible to or an emergent property of your brain functions?

Description: The Oliver Sacks reading describes Mr. Thompson, a patient who has Korsakov’s, a disease that is characterized by loss of short-term memory. This reading raises question about the relationship between our bodies and identities (self). We rely on memory and sense perception to identify people and objects, including our sense of self. Your memory, for example, tells you where you were born, who your family is, etc. What happens to our sense of self if these faculties fail us? Are we the same person? Is there a sense of self that remains apart from our faculty losses? If so, what is it? If not, why not?

Craft a 250-500 word post in which you do the following. First, describe Mr. Thompson’s problem. Second, discuss whether Mr. Thompon’s sense of himself can remain stable (or constant) despite the failure of memory. If so, why? If not, why not? Your discussion should demonstrate engagement with this week’s readings on the mind/body problem.

Delivery: Post your response to the form, and reply to at least one of your classmates. Due dates will be provided by the facilitator, and the point value is located in the Gradebook.

Assessment: The Discussion Rubric will be used to assess this activity.