Nov [__], Nov [__]
Beliefless Prayer
This Week's Lecture
In this lecture we'll examine how those who don't believe (or even disbelieve) in God can nonetheless pray to God. We'll examine several accounts of prayer, and then settle on a view of prayer to God that requires communicative acts directed toward God. We'll discuss arguments against the possibility of this kind of prayer, including an argument that it's conceptually impossible, and an argument that it's epistemically unreasonable. We'll discuss other purported instances of beliefless, directed communication, and we'll examine how that might be said to work. Finally, we'll discuss a spectrum of acts with communicative appearance, locating multiple options for placement of beliefless prayer.
This Week's Readings
Optional:
This Week's Workshop
Workshop Topic: Drafting
To Bring:
1 page or a part of a section that you're stuck on
This is a chance for you to collaborate in groups so each person can work through a piece of their paper that they're struggling with. You might be struggling for different reasons: maybe a bit of the argument is challenging, you don't know how to support one of your premises. Maybe you are having a hard time explaining something clearly; even though you know roughly what you have in mind, you aren't sure how to accessibly communicate it. Whatever the reason, bring the snippet of your paper and we'll help one another past the hurdles.
Reminder: The first draft of your final project is due on November [_____] via email by 4pm