Exploring the Philosophy of Religion

by Stewart; David

• ISBN13: 9780205645190
• ISBN10: 0205645194
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2016-09-12
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

This introduction to the philosophy of religion helps readers understand the primary sources that are essential for genuine philosophical understanding. Its careful selection of important classical and contemporary readings, along with a clear, understandable analysis and discussion of the topics, helps build a basic vocabulary of philosophical and religious terms-while becoming fluent in the main philosophical issues in religion. Chapter topics include the varieties of religious experience, religion and life, religion and human destiny, argument's for God's existence, the problem of evil, and religious language. This book presents an appealing mixture of classical and contemporary authors-from Descartes, Paley and Kierkegaard to Otto, James, and Buber-to such current writers as Wendy Doniger, Mary Daly, and David Ray Griffin. For philosophers-or anyone who likes to philosophize-about important religious questions and their relation to life.

Author Biography

David Stewart received the Ph.D. from Rice University and has over thirty years experience teaching philosophy at Rice University, North Texas State University and Ohio University. In addition to Exploring the Philosophy of Religion, He is also co-author of Fundamentals of Philosophy (7th edition, Prentice Hall, 2010).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
The Varieties of Religious Experience	p. 1
Introduction: Philosophy and Religion	p. 1
Mystical Experience	p. 6
Mysticism	p. 9
Intuitive Ways of Knowing	p. 16
Personal Experience of God	p. 17
Critique of Mysticism	p. 28
The Core of Religion	p. 29
Varieties of Religious Understanding	p. 36
The Pluralistic Hypothesis	p. 38
Retrospective: Religious Experience	p. 47
Additional Sources	p. 48
Religion and Life	p. 49
Introduction: Religion and Life	p. 49
Life's Goal Is to Obey God's Will	p. 53
Moral Obligation	p. 55
Life's Goal Is to Achieve Greatness	p. 58
The Joyful Wisdom	p. 60
Life Is Not Meaningful Without God	p. 64
A Confession	p. 65
Life Is Meaningful Without God	p. 71
Ethics Without Religion	p. 74
Retrospective: Religion and Life	p. 82
Additional Sources	p. 83
Religion and Human Destiny	p. 85
Introduction: Religion and Death	p. 85
The Immortality of the Soul	p. 88
Phaedo	p. 89
The Finality of Death	p. 96
Letter to Menoeceus	p. 98
The Hope for Resurrection	p. 101
The Death of Death	p. 102
Death in Buddhism	p. 112
The Doctrine of No-Soul: Anatta	p. 114
Retrospective: Religion and Death	p. 117
Additional Sources	p. 118
Arguments for God's Existence	p. 119
Introduction: The Existence of God	p. 119
The Ontological Argument	p. 123
The Most Perfect Being	p. 128
The Cosmological Arguments	p. 132
The Kalam Cosmological Argument	p. 136
The Design Argument	p. 142
Natural Theology	p. 144
The Moral Argument	p. 151
God as a Postulate of Practical Reason	p. 153
Retrospective: The Existence of God	p. 158
Additional Sources	p. 159
The Problem of Evil	p. 161
Introduction: God and Evil	p. 161
Evil and the Power of God	p. 168
Divine Omnipotence	p. 171
Theodicy in Process Thought	p. 177
God in Process	p. 180
Karma and Evil	p. 188
Karma in Hindu Thought	p. 190
The "Vale of Soul-Making" Theodicy	p. 195
Evil and the God of Love	p. 198
Retrospective: God and Evil	p. 204
Additional Sources	p. 207
Faith and Reason	p. 209
Introduction: Opinion, Belief, and Knowledge	p. 209
Belief and Falsification	p. 214
The Falsification Debate	p. 218
Will and Belief	p. 227
The Will to Believe	p. 233
No Rational Basis for Faith	p. 245
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion	p. 246
The Leap of Faith	p. 253
Objective and Subjective Reflection	p. 256
Retrospective: Faith and Reason	p. 260
Additional Sources	p. 261
Religion and Current Issues	p. 263
Introduction: Religion and Society	p. 263
Religion and Government	p. 266
A Letter Concerning Toleration	p. 269
Religion and Women	p. 275
The Female Nature of God	p. 277
Religion and World Origins	p. 284
Creative Evolution	p. 291
Religion and Human Origins	p. 300
Life's Dominion	p. 302
Retrospective: Religion and Current Issues	p. 311
Additional Sources	p. 312
Biographical Summaries	p. 314
Glossary	p. 318
Index	p. 324
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