Philosophy of Religion An Anthology

by Taliaferro, Charles; Griffiths, Paul J.

• ISBN13: 9780631214700
• ISBN10: 0631214704
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-07
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This substantial anthology of classical and contemporary readings serves as a survey and analysis of the key issues, figures, and concepts in the philosophy of religion. The readings examine a wide variety of topics, including religious identity, theism and divine attributes, explanations of religion, theistic arguments, nontheistic religions, evils and goods, religious values, personal identity, and death. The integration of the key issues concerning students today makes this book distinctive and accessible. Edited and introduced by distinguished scholars, these essays are essential reading for anyone interested in the philosophy of religion.

Author Biography

Charles Taliaferro is Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf College. He is author of Consciousness and the Mind of God (1994), Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Blackwell 1998), and co-editor of A Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Blackwell, 1997).

Paul J. Griffiths is Schmitt Chair of Catholic Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is author of On Being Buddha: The Classical Doctrine of Buddhahood (1994), Religious Reading: The Place of Reading in the Practice of Religion (1999), and Problems of Religious Diversity (Blackwell, 2001).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Part I Religious Identity	1	(44)
Introduction	3	(4)
What Makes Religious Beliefs Religious?	7	(14)
W. D. Hudson
World Religions and World Orders	21	(10)
Stephen R. L. Clark
Religion	31	(14)
Paul J. Griffiths
Part II Theism and Divine Attributes	45	(54)
Introduction	47	(4)
God	51	(7)
Richard Swinburne
Omnipotence and Omniscience	58	(15)
T. V. Morris
Eternity	73	(5)
Brian Leftow
Divine Freedom and Creation	78	(13)
Laura L. Garcia
The Idea of God in Feminist Philosophy	91	(8)
Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki
Part III Explanations of Religion	99	(128)
Introduction	101	(4)
Theology and Falsification: A Symposium	105	(6)
Antony Flew
R. M. Hare
Basil Mitchell
Psychoanalysis and Theism	111	(12)
Adolf Grunbaum
Psychoanalytic Theory and Theistic Belief	123	(18)
William Alston
The Varieties of Religious Experience	141	(5)
William James
The Numinous	146	(16)
Rudolf Otto
Religious Experience	162	(20)
Caroline Franks Davis
The Groundlessness of Belief	182	(7)
Norman Malcolm
Thought-Project	189	(7)
Soren Kierkegaard
The Ethics of Belief	196	(4)
W. K. Clifford
Religious Belief as ``Properly Basic''	200	(27)
Alvin Plantinga
Part IV Theistic Arguments	227	(68)
Introduction	229	(4)
The Cosmological Argument	233	(9)
Richard Swinburne
Cosmological Arguments	242	(12)
J. L. Mackie
Teleological Argument	254	(5)
David Hume
The Argument from Design	259	(12)
Robert Hambourger
Anselm's Ontological Arguments	271	(11)
Norman Malcolm
The Ontological Argument	282	(13)
Michael Martin
Part V Nontheistic Religions	295	(62)
Introduction	297	(2)
Darsana, Anviksiki, Philosophy	299	(14)
Wilhelm Halbfass
The Purview of the ``Real''	313	(16)
Georges B. J. Dreyfus
Finding a Self: Buddhist and Feminist Perspectives	329	(16)
Anne Carolyn Klein
How Many Nondualities Are There?	345	(12)
David Loy
Part VI Evils and Goods	357	(92)
Introduction	359	(2)
The Problem of Natural Evil	361	(7)
Mary Midgley
The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism	368	(7)
William L. Rowe
The Problem of Evil	375	(15)
Brian Davies
The Problem of Evil, the Problem of Air, and the Problem of Silence	390	(17)
Peter van Inwagen
Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God	407	(8)
Marilyn McCord Adams
Selves and Shadows	415	(9)
Mary Midgley
Buddhism and Evil	424	(8)
Martin Southwold
Evil and Ethical Terror	432	(17)
Nel Noddings
Part VII Religious Values	449	(104)
Introduction	451	(2)
Pluralism, Tolerance, and Disagreement	453	(9)
Edward Langerak
A Modified Divine Command Theory of Ethical Wrongness	462	(15)
Robert Merrihew Adams
Morality and Religion Reconsidered	477	(8)
Baruch A. Brody
Religion and the Queerness of Morality	485	(8)
George I. Mavrodes
Pure Love	493	(11)
Robert Merrihew Adams
The Possibility of Incarnation	504	(13)
Richard Swinburne
Religious Pluralism	517	(6)
John Hick
The real or the Real? Chardin or Rothko?	523	(7)
Anthony O'Hear
Does Nature Need to be Redeemed?	530	(14)
Holmes Rolston III
Pascal's Wager	544	(2)
Blaise Pascal
Why is Faith a Virtue?	546	(7)
Tim Chappell
Part VIII Personal Identity and Death	553	(47)
Introduction	555	(2)
The Metaphysical Self	557	(8)
Roger Trigg
Of Miracles	565	(9)
David Hume
Do We Need Immortality?	574	(8)
Grace M. Jantzen
Why We Need Immortality	582	(7)
Charles Taliaferro
Is Liberation (moksa) Pleasant?	589	(11)
A. Chakrabarti
Index	600