God and the Ethics of Belief: New Essays in Philosophy of Religion

by Edited by Andrew Dole , Andrew Chignell

• ISBN13: 9780521850933
• ISBN10: 0521850932
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-06
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Philosophy of religion in the Anglo-American tradition experienced a 'rebirth' following the 1955 publication of New Essays in Philosophical Theology (eds. Antony Flew and Alisdair MacIntyre). Fifty years later, this volume of New Essays offers a sampling of the best work in what is now a very active field, written by some of its most prominent members. A substantial introduction sketches the developments of the last half-century, while also describing the 'ethics of belief' debate in epistemology and showing how it connects to explicitly religious concerns and to the topics of the individual contributions. These topics include: the relationship between God and the natural laws; the metaphysics of bodily resurrection; the role of appeal to 'mystery' in the religious life; the justification of both theistic belief generally and more specific doctrinal beliefs; and the social-political aspects of religious faith and practice.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
The Ethics of Religious Belief: A Recent History	1	(30)
Andrew Chignell and Andrew Dole
PART ONE. METAPHYSICS: GOD AND CREATURES
1 Can God Break the Laws?	31	(28)
Alvin Plantinga
2 Sleeping Beauty and the Afterlife	59	(18)
Linda Zagzebski
3 Free Will, Evil, and Divine Providence	77	(22)
Derk Pereboom
4 Two Cheers for Mystery!	99	(18)
William Alston
PART TWO. EPISTEMOLOGY: GOD AND THE ETHICS OF BELIEF
5 The Probability of the Resurrection	117	(14)
Richard Swinburne
6 Is God an Unnecessary Hypothesis?	131	(19)
Peter van Inwagen
7 Direct Warrant Realism	150	(25)
Keith DeRose
PART THREE. SOCIAL-POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: GOD, ETHICS, AND BELIEF
8 The Epistemic Authority of Testimony and the Ethics of Belief	175	(27)
Robert Audi
9 Kant on the Rational Instability of Atheism	202	(17)
John Hare
10 Does Forgiveness Undermine Justice?	219	(29)
Nicholas Wolterstorff
11 Can Good Christians Be Good Liberals?	248	(29)
Philip L. Quinn
Index	277