Two Dozen (or so) Arguments for God The Plantinga Project

by Walls, Jerry; Dougherty, Trent

• ISBN13: 9780190842222
• ISBN10: 0190842229
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-09-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Thirty years ago, Alvin Plantinga gave a lecture called "Two Dozen (or so) Theistic Arguments," which served as an underground inspiration for two generations of scholars and students. In it, he proposed a number of novel and creative arguments for the existence of God which have yet to receive the attention they deserve. In Two Dozen (or so) Arguments for God, each of Plantinga's original suggestions, many of which he only briefly sketched, is developed in detail by a wide variety of accomplished scholars. The authors look to metaphysics, epistemology, semantics, ethics, aesthetics, and beyond, finding evidence for God in almost every dimension of reality. Those arguments new to natural theology are more fully developed, and well-known arguments are given new life. Not only does this collection present ground-breaking research, but it lays the foundations for research projects for years to come.

Author Biography

Jerry L. Walls is Scholar in Residence and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He is the author or co-author of over fifteen books, including, most recently, God and Cosmos, with David Baggett (OUP, 2016).

Trent Dougherty is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University. He is the editor or co-editor of several books, including Evidentialism and Its Discontents and Skeptical Theism. He is the author of The Problem of Animal Pain.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction
· Jerry L. Walls and Trent Dougherty

I. Half a Dozen (or so) Ontological (or Metaphysical) Arguments

(A) The Argument from Intentionality (or Aboutness)
· Lorraine Keller

(B) The Argument from Collections
· Christopher Menzel

(C) The Argument from (Natural) Numbers
· Tyron Goldshmidt

(D) The Argument from Counterfactuals
· Alex Pruss

(E) The Argument from Physical Constants
· Robin Collins

(F) The Naive Teleological Argument
· C. Stephen Evans

(H) The Ontological Argument
· Elizabeth Burns

(I) Why is there Anything at All?
· Josh Rasmussen and Christopher Gregory Weaver

II. Half a Dozen Epistemological Arguments

(J) The Argument from Positive Epistemic Status
· Justin Barrett

(K) The Argument from the Confluence of Proper Function and Reliability
· Alex Arnold

(L) The Argument from Simplicity and (M) The Argument from Induction
· Bradley Monton

(N) The Putnamian Argument (the Argument from the Rejection of Global Skepticism) [also, (O) The Argument from Reference and (K) The Argument from the Confluence of Proper Function and Reliability]
· Evan Fales

(N) The Putnamian Argument, (O) The Argument from Reference, and (P) The Kripke-Wittgenstein Argument from Plus and Quus
· Dan Bonevac

(Q) The General Argument from Intuition.
· Rob Koons

III. Moral Arguments

(R) Moral Arguments (actually R1 to Rn)
· David Baggett

(R*) The Argument from Evil
· Hud Hudson

IV. Other Arguments

(S) The Argument from Colors and Flavors
· Richard Swinburne

(T) The Argument from Love and (Y) The Argument from the Meaning of Life
· Jerry Walls

(U) The Mozart Argument and (V) The Argument from Play and Enjoyment
· Philip Tallon

(W) Arguments from Providence and from Miracles
· Tim McGrew

(X) C.S. Lewis's Argument from Nostalgia
· Todd Buras and Mike Cantrell

(Z) The Argument from (A) to (Y)
· Ted Poston

V. "Or so": Three More Arguments

The Kalam Cosmological Argument
· William Lane Craig

The Argument from Possibility
· Brian Leftow

The Argument from the Incompleteness of Nature
· Bruce Gordon

Afterword - Trent Dougherty and Alvin Plantinga: An Interview on Faith and Reason

Appendix 1: Plantinga's Original "Two Dozen or (So) Theistic Arguments"