RELG 290 - Religion, Reason, and Empire

FC ARHU WINT

4 credits
This course introduces students to fundamental texts and topics in the philosophy of religions through an exploration of the relationship between religion, reason, and empire in the early modern period. We will consider questions including: what is the relationship between faith and knowledge? How were ideas of European reason and Christian religion shaped by the practices of European empire? How did debates over religion and reason intersect with modern ideas of racial difference? Course readings will include canonical thinkers such as Descartes, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, and Hegel alongside travelogues, missionary reports, and contemporary scholarship in the study of religion.