Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion

by Schellenberg, J. L.

• ISBN13: 9780801443589
• ISBN10: 080144358X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-29
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr

Summary

There is no attempt here to lay down as inviolable or to legislate certain ways of looking at things or ways of proceeding for philosophers of religion, only proposals for how to deal with a range of basic issues-proposals that I hope will ignite much fruitful discussion and which, in any case, I shall take as a basis for my own ongoing work in the field.-from the Preface Providing an original and systematic treatment of foundational issues in philosophy of religion, J. L. Schellenberg's new book addresses the structure of religious and irreligious belief, the varieties of religious skepticism, and the nature of religion itself. From the author's searching analysis of faith emerges a novel understanding of propositional faith as requiring the absence of belief. Schellenberg asks what the aims of the field should be, setting out a series of principles for carrying out some of the most important of these aims. His account of justification considers not only belief but also other responses to religious claims and distinguishes the justification of responses, propositions, and persons. Throughout Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, Schellenberg is laying the groundwork for an elaboration of his own vision while at the same time suggesting how philosophers might rethink assumptions guiding most of today's work in analytic philosophy of religion.

Author Biography

J. L. Schellenberg is Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
1. On Religion	1	(38)
1. Why Discuss This Issue?	1	(2)
2. Religion and the Religions	3	(4)
3. The Family Resemblance Approach	7	(5)
4. A Definition of "Religion"?	12	(11)
5. Defining "Religion" for Philosophy	23	(14)
6. From Theism to Ultimism	37	(2)
2. On Belief	39	(36)
1. Propositional Belief as a Form of Thought	40	(10)
2. A Contrary View: Belief as Confidence	50	(9)
3. Thought-Plus?	59	(6)
4. The Involuntariness of Propositional Belief	65	(2)
5. A Distinct Impression: Affective Belief	67	(8)
3. On Religious Belief and Religious Disbelief	75	(20)
1. Propositional Religious Belief	75	(10)
2. Affective Religious Belief	85	(3)
3. Propositional Religious Disbelief	88	(3)
4. Affective Religious Disbelief	91	(4)
4. On Religious Skepticism	95	(11)
1. Doubts and Doubting	95	(2)
2. Four Types of Religious Skepticism	97	(4)
3. Passive and Active Skepticism	101	(5)
5. On Religious Faith (I)	106	(21)
1. Finding "Faith"	107	(2)
2. Faith and Action: The Nature of Trust	109	(11)
3. Is Trust Present in All Forms of Religion?	120	(3)
4. Trust and the Nature of Faith	123	(2)
5. Faith: Propositional and Operational	125	(2)
6. On Religious Faith (II)	127	(40)
1. Propositional Faith as a Nonbelieving State	129	(10)
2. Some Operational Corollaries	139	(2)
3. Related Views	141	(6)
4. Religious Language and the Voluntariness of Faith	147	(13)
5. Replies to Religious Objections	160	(7)
7. On the Aims of Philosophy of Religion	167	(28)
1. The Received View: Meaning and Justification	168	(5)
2. The Nature of Justification	173	(11)
3. Building on the Received View: Theory and Practices	184	(7)
4. The Aims of Philosophy of Religion—A Proposal	191	(4)
8. On Principles of Evaluation in Philosophy of Religion	195	(28)
1. Some Principles of Response Justification	197	(9)
2. Truth or Consequences?	206	(14)
3. Evaluating Responses to Ultimism: Priority and Strategy	220	(3)
Index	223