| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | David Anderson davidjanderson@tamu.edu Philosophy |
| Faculty Mentor: | Dr. Michael Hand, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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TBA |
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Team Size:
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8
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| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Participants will write an essay for possible publication in the Undergraduate Philosophy Journal.
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Team Needs:
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Each participant will be required to register for between 0-3 PHIL 491 credit hours to ensure accountability to the faculty supervisor and team leader as well as to ensure their participation is documented on their transcript. Participants must agree to write a final essay. Participants are welcome regardless of gender identification or sexual orientation. Participants need not be members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, nor necessarily be “allies,” however all participants must agree to respect their team leader, teammates and conduct themselves and their discussions in a respectful manner. |
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Description:
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It has been said that “God is love,” but what does this mean (and is it true)? What is the conceptual relationship between beliefs about God and beliefs about the nature of love and interhuman relationships? How can deep-seated disagreements between religious and/or irreligious people be mediated and resolved when they touch on the profoundly personal (and possibly private) level of religion, sexuality, and social values? This project takes the form of a reading intensive philosophical community of inquiry at the intersection of theology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of love and sex, and queer theory. Participants will assist a senior graduate student in philosophy prepare a research paper for an academic conference. They will do so by reading through some of the source materials relevant to the research. Specifically, participants will analyze traditional and contemporary arguments regarding the nature of love and (primarily male) homosexuality from the history of philosophy and theology (by, e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Origen, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Aquinas, Foucault, Grisez, Lawler, Boyle, and Moore). To this end, participants will read three books, each of which will nuance discussion of the tense and ongoing conflicts between traditional conservative religions (particularly Roman Catholic Christianity) and the LGBTQIA+ communities. Besides assisting their graduate team leader, participants will generate their own argument regarding religion and sexuality in the form of a final research paper. |