RELS 285 Religious Atheism

"We have killed God," Nietzsche explained. But the "Death of God" has not meant, and does not mean, the end of religion. If 'religion' and 'theism' are not the same thing, if human religious concerns and instincts go beyond a belief in God or gods, then what is religion? What is religion without God? This course will examine and compare two versions of 'religious atheism' -- the Buddhist tradition and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In the Buddhist tradition, we find a religious tradition that began without even addressing the question of God or gods and that has continued to develop a non-theistic spirituality for over two millennia. In juxtaposition to that tradition, we interpret Nietzsche's philosophy, which rises out of the ashes of the "Death of God," as a radical revolution in Western spiritual understanding and explore its implications in relation to Buddhism.