Exploring Philosophy of Religion An Introductory Anthology

by Cahn, Steven M.

• ISBN13: 9780190461386
• ISBN10: 0190461381
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-12-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Steven M. Cahn is Professor of Philosophy at The City University of New York Graduate Center. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books. Recently, he wrote From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor (2008) and coauthored Happiness and Goodness: Philosophical Reflections on Living Well (2015). Dr. Cahn is the editor of The World of Philosophy (OUP, 2015), Ethics, Sixth Edition (OUP, 2015), Exploring Philosophy, Fifth Edition (OUP, 2014), Political Philosophy, Third Edition (OUP, 2014), and Exploring Ethics, Third Edition (OUP, 2013).

Table of Contents

*=New to this Edition
INTRODUCTION
* What Is Religion? Beverly Clack and Brian R. Clack
* What is Reason? Steven M. Cahn, Patricia Kitcher, and George Sher
PART I: THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
A. Goodness
God and Goodness, James Rachels
* A Modified Divine Command Theory, Robert M. Adams
B. Omnipotence
Some Puzzles Concerning Omnipotence, George Mavrodes
* The Logic of Omnipotence, Harry G. Frankfurt
C. Timelessness
* The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius
* God Everlasting, Nicholas Wolterstorff
D. Omniscience
* Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action, Nelson Pike
* Power Over the Past, William L. Rowe
E. Forgiveness and Love
God and Forgiveness, Anne Minas
* God as Lover, Sallie McFague
PART II: PROOFS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
A. The Ontological Argument
The Ontological Argument, St. Anselm and Gaunilo
The Ontological Argument: A Critique, Immanuel Kant
* The Ontological Argument: A Reassessment, William L. Rowe
B. The Cosmological Argument
The Five Ways, St. Thomas Aquinas
* The Cosmological Argument, Richard Taylor
* The Cosmological Argument: A Critique, J. L. Mackie
* The Kalam Cosmological Argument, William L. Rowe
C. The Teleological Argument
The Evidence of Design, William Paley
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (II, V-VII), David Hume
* The Argument from Design, Robert Hambourger
* Darwin and Design, Nicholas Everitt
D. About the Arguments
* What Question does a Theistic Argument Answer? Linda Trinkhaus Zagzebski
* Theistic Arguments and Religious Commitment, Steven M. Cahn
PART III: AVENUES TO THE DIVINE
A. Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James
* Fallibilism and Faith, Susan Haack
Perceiving God, William Alston
Perceiving God: A Critique, William L. Rowe
B. Miracles
Of Miracles, David Hume
On Miracles, Paul J. Dietl
* Miracles as Evidence Against the Existence of God, Christine Overall
* Do Miracles Occur? Monroe C. Beardsley and Elizabeth Lane Beardsley
C. Ritual, Prayer, and Worship
* Euthyphro, Plato
* Petitionary Prayer, Eleonore Stump
The Concept of Worship, James Rachels
D. Speaking of God
Experience and Metaphor, Janet Martin Soskice
Metaphors Without Meaning, Paul Edwards
* Speaking in Parables, Sallie McFague
* Beyond God the Father, Mary Daly
* Reimagining the Unimaginable, Judith Plaskow
PART IV: BELIEF WITHOUT PROOF
The Wager, Blaise Pascal
Pascal's Wager: A Critique, Simon Blackburn
* Pascal's Wager: An Assessment, Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski
The Ethics of Belief, W. K. Clifford
The Will to Believe, William James
The Will to Believe: A Critique, Nicholas Everitt
Belief Without Argument, Alvin Plantinga
Belief Without Argument: A Critique, Michael Martin
PART V: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (X-XI), David Hume
* Hume on Evil, Nelson Pike
* The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism, William L. Rowe
Why God Allows Evil, Richard Swinburne
* Knowledge, Freedom, and the Problem of Evil, Eleonore Stump
* Christianity and Horrendous Evils, Marilyn McCord Adams
* Who is Committing Evil, and Against Whom? Grace M. Jantzen
The Hiddenness of God, Robert McKim
PART VI: THE AFTERLIFE
* Two Christian Concepts of Heaven, Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang
* The Problem of Hell, Marilyn McCord Adams
Resurrection, John H. Hick
* A Naturalistic Case for Extinction, Linda Badham
Do We Need Immortality? Grace M. Jantzen
PART VII: RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
Religious Pluralism and Salvation, John H. Hick
A Defense of Religious Exclusivism, Alvin Plantinga
* The Problem of Religious Diversity, Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski
Religion Without God, Steven M. Cahn