Philosophy of Religion in a Global Perspective

by Kessler, Gary E.

• ISBN13: 9780534505493
• ISBN10: 053450549X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-10-29
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

This anthology on philosophy of religion is unique in that it reflects the multicultural and global realities of religious pluralism. In addition to readings dealing with Judeo Christianity, Kessler includes Native American, African, Hindu, Islamic, Confucian, and Taoist thought. Feminist, African-American, atheist, and Latin American viewpoints are also included.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi	(4)
Introduction: What Is Philosophy of Religion?	xv
Chapter 1 What Is Religion?	1	(43)
Introduction	1	(1)
1.1 The Nature of Religion	2	(9)
Ninian Smart
1.2 Religion as a Cultural System	11	(9)
Clifford Geertz
1.3 The Search for Family Resemblances of Religion	20	(4)
Rem B. Edwards
1.4 The Meaning and End of Religion	24	(10)
Wilfred Cantwell Smith
1.5 What is Religion?	34	(10)
Keiji Nishitani
Chapter 2 Diverse Views of Ultimate Reality	44	(52)
Introduction	44	(2)
2.1 The Tao	46	(4)
Lao-tzu
2.2 Non-Dualism	50	(12)
Shankara
2.3 The Nature of God	62	(7)
Avicenna
2.4 Emptiness and God	69	(12)
John B. Cobb, Jr.
2.5 The Female Nature of God	81	(6)
Rosemary Radford Reuther
2.6 Is the Concept of Ultimate Reality Coherent?	87	(9)
William J. Wainwright
Chapter 3 Can We Prove That Some Kind of Ultimate Reality Exists?	96	(54)
Introduction	69	(1)
3.1 The Seven Ways	97	(5)
Udayana
3.2 The Five Ways	102	(3)
St. Thomas Aquinas
3.3 The Cosmological Argument	105	(9)
William Rowe
3.4 A Buddhist Critique	114	(8)
Gunapala Dharmasiri
3.5 The Teleological Argument	122	(8)
David Hume
3.6 Whence This Consciousness?	130	(7)
Sir Autobindo
3.7 The Ontological Argument	137	(3)
St. Anselm
Gaunilo
3.8 Problems and Possibilities for the Ontological Argument	140	(10)
Yeager Hudson
Chapter 4 Religious Experience: What Is It and What Does It Prove?	150	(60)
Introduction	150	(2)
4.1 The Experiential Dimension	152	(10)
Ninian Smart
4.2 Black Elk's Vision	162	(8)
Black Elk
4.3 I and Thou	170	(6)
Martin Buber
4.4 Satori	176	(6)
D.T. Suzuki
4.5 Perceiving God	182	(10)
William P. Alston
Terence Penelhum
4.6 Feminists, Philosophiers, and Mystics	192	(18)
Grace M. Jantzen
Chapter 5 Why Do Suffering and Evil Occur?	210	(59)
Introduction	210	(1)
5.1 Night	211	(6)
Elie Wiesel
5.2 Does Evil Stem from Society or from Human Nature?	217	(7)
Human Nature Is Good	219	(2)
Mencius
Hsun-tzu
Human Nature Is Evil	221	(3)
5.3 Evil and Omnipotence	224	(9)
J.L. Mackie
5.4 The Free-Will Explanation	233	(5)
Kwame Gyekye
5.5 Atheism and Evil	238	(8)
William Rowe
5.6 Karma and the Problem of Evil	246	(9)
Bruce Reichenbach
5.7 Theological Explanations	255	(14)
Robert Nozick
Chapter 6 How Are Religion and Morality Related?	269	(57)
Introduction	269	(1)
6.1 Analects	270	(6)
Confucius
6.2 Master and Slave Morality	276	(4)
Friedrich Nietzsche
6.3 A Modified Divine Command Theory	280	(15)
Robert Merrihew Adams
6.4 An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity	295	(9)
Cornel West
6.5 Popular Religion and Liberation	304	(7)
Michael R. Candelaria
6.6 Religion and Women's Human Rights	311	(15)
Martha C. Nussbaum
Chapter 7 Are We Immortal?	326	(47)
Introduction	326	(2)
7.1 Death and Immortality in African Religions	328	(9)
Kofi Asare Opoku
7.2 Jewish Views of the Afterlife	337	(5)
Maurice Lamm
7.3 Human Destiny: Immortality and Resurrection	342	(9)
John Hick
7.4 The Immortality of the Soul	351	(7)
Jacques Maritain
7.5 The Problem of Rebirth	358	(6)
Sri Aurobindo
The Reincarnating Soul	360	(4)
7.6 A Naturalistic Case for Extinction	364	(9)
Linda Badham
Chapter 8 What Is the Meaning of Religious Language?	373	(55)
Introduction	373	(1)
8.1 The Nature of Religious Language	374	(9)
Paul Tillich
8.2 Does God-Talk Make Sense?	383	(7)
Antony Flew
R.M. Hare
Basil Mitchell
8.3 The Origins of the Question	390	(9)
Thomas P. Kasulis
8.4 Symbols All Around	399	(5)
John Fire
Lame Deer
8.5 Metaphorical Theology	404	(24)
Sallie McFague
Chapter 9 Do Faith and Reason Conflict?	428	(55)
Introduction	428	(3)
9.1 On the Harmony between Faith and Reason	431	(10)
Averroes
9.2 A Wager	441	(3)
Blaise Pascal
9.3 The Ethics of Belief	444	(4)
William K. Clifford
9.4 The Will to Believe	448	(8)
William James
9.5 Is Belief in God Rational?	456	(9)
Alvin Plantinga
9.6 Intellect and Intuition	465	(5)
Radhakrishnan
9.7 Kierkegaard on Rationality	470	(13)
Marilyn Gaye Piety
Chapter 10 Humanism, Science, and Miracles	483	(46)
Introduction	483	(1)
10.1 God Is a Projection	484	(8)
Ludwig Feuerbach
10.2 Religion Is an Opiate	492	(4)
Karl Marx
10.3 The Scientific Spirit and Method in Chinese Philosophy	496	(8)
Hu Shih
10.4 Religion and Science in the Global Age	504	(5)
Masao Abe
10.5 Of Miracles	509	(7)
David Hume
10.6 Miracles	516	(13)
Richard Swinburne
Chapter 11 Are All Religions True?	529
Introduction	529	(1)
11.1 Four Attitudes	530	(5)
Raimundo Panikkar
11.2 Conflicting Truth Claims	535	(11)
John Hick
11.3 Religious Pluralism and Advaita Vedanta	546	(8)
Arvind Sharma
11.4 The Transcendent Unity of Religions	554	(7)
Frithjof Schuon
11.5 Whose Objectivity? Which Neutrality?	561	(12)
Gavin D'Costa
11.6 A Problem for Radical Pluralism	573
Purusottama Bilimoria