What is the relationship between faith and reason? Most often they are thought to be antithetical: if rational grounds can be provided to support a particular knowledge claim (for example, by developing an argument that proves the existence of God), then faith is unnecessary; conversely, if faith is the basis for a particular knowledge claim, then this amounts to an admission that no rational grounds of support are available. In other words, it seems that either one can be rigorously rational-accepting as true only what can be demonstrated on the basis of empirical evidence and argument-or one can accept the truth of certain claims on faith, but only at the cost of admitting to irrationality. The greatest European thinkers of the eighteenth century confronted this dilemma head-on. Defenders of the Enlightenment firmly rejected irrationality, so those who also rejected atheism strove to produce sound arguments for the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. Skeptics insisted that these arguments all failed, and that atheism is therefore a necessary consequence of a commitment to reason that disdains all faith. Kant, however, suggested a third possibility: namely, that faith itself might be rational. In other words, he argued that although religious claims cannot be proven, reason nonetheless commands us to adopt a certain form of faith. This course will examine the relationship between faith and reason by means of a careful study of these eighteenth-century debates. Authors to be read may include Leibniz, Lessing, Mendelssohn, Herder, Jacobi, Kant, and Hegel. Requirements: final paper, several shorter assignments, attendance and participation. Prerequisite: Philosophy 102 recommended but not required.