How do we arrive at the idea of God, at the awareness of his existence? The course ponders this question in terms of such issues as whether knowledge of God is immediate (innate, “a priori”) or inferential (“a posteriori”); whether affirmation of God’s existence is a function primarily of some (non-cognitive) human need (e.g., for security); whether the act by which we reach God is a matter of freedom or intelligence (or affectivity), of supernatural faith or man’s natural capacities. The course considers the sense in which the idea of God operates in every act of human consciousness, and in which the memory of God is necessary for the integrity of human experience (human thinking, acting, and being). Readings for the course will be drawn from among the following: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hume, Locke, Kant, de Lubac, Balthasar, Ratzinger, and Polanyi.