Readings in the Philosophy of Religion : East Meets West

by Eshleman, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781405147170
• ISBN10: 1405147172
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-28
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Through a diverse collection of carefully chosen selections,Readings in Philosophy of Religion: East Meets Westoffers an enlightening fusion of Western and non-Western religious thought that makes meaningful trans-cultural connections with the contemporary Western literature in philosophy of religion. Includes a substantial selection of non-Western religious perspectives that are accessible to both students and instructors Draws on carefully selected non-Western readings from contemporary secondary sources to supplement current religious philosophy discussions Provides further clarity with comprehensive chapter introductions to orient reader to upcoming selections Incorporates strands of thinking often neglected, such as religious non-realism, post-modernism, and feminism

Author Biography

Andrew Eshleman is Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Holding degrees in philosophy (a Ph.D. from the University of California at Riverside) and religion (an M.A. from Claremont Graduate University), Dr. Eshleman has published several works on the philosophy of religion and moral responsibility.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface to the Instructor

A Note on the Treatment of Non-English Names and Terms

What is Philosophy of Religion?

Characterizing Ultimate Sacred Reality

Introduction

The Divine Attributes: What is God Like?

The Female Nature of God: A Problem in Contemporary Religious Life

God as Creative-Responsive Love

The Vedic-Upanisadic Concept of Brahman (The Highest God)

Emptiness in Mahayana Buddhism

Reality and Divinity in Chinese Philosophy

How the Supreme Nature Exists through Itself: Anselm of Canterbury

Of the Unicity of God: Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

The Omnipotence of God

Thinking and Speaking about God by Analogy

Everything Has Its Self in Brahman

An Analysis of Nirv?&ndot;a

Non-Polar and Yet Supreme Polarity!

The Role and Limits of Reason in Supporting Belief in an Ultimate Sacred Reality

Introduction

A Cosmological Argument for GodÆs Existence

al-Gh?z?li and the Kal?m Cosmological Argument

Cosmological Arguments

How the Existence of God Explains the World and Its Order

Are We the Outcome of Chance or Design?

The Message of the M?&ndot;&udot;d?kya Upani⋅ad: A Phenomenological Analysis of Mind and Consciousness

Antirationalism in Zhuangzi and Kierkegaard

Truly There is a God: Anselm of Canterbury

Whether God Exists?

Evidence of Design

On the Argument from Design

Truth is Subjectivity

The Rationality of Religious Belief in the Absence of Evidence

Introduction

The Will to Believe

Is Belief in God Properly Basic?

Plantinga on Belief in God as Properly Basic

Religious Experience Justifies Religious Belief

Do Mystics See God?

Mystical Knowledge: Knowledge by Identity

The Difference between Union and Rapture: Teresa of Ávila

Divine Intoxication

Manifesting Suchness

Evil and the Rationality of Religious Belief

Introduction

Evil and Omnipotence

The Logical Problem of Evil

An Irenaean Theodicy

The Evidential Problem of Evil

The Concept of God after Auschwitz: A Jewish Voice

?a&mdot;karaÆs Theodicy

Karma, Rebirth, and the Problem of Evil

Evil as a Privation of Good: Augustine of Hippo

The Argument from Evil

Brahman, Creation, and Evil

Life after Death, Human Nature, and Personal Identity

Introduction

A Naturalistic Case for Extinction

Brain Science and the Soul

The Resurrection of the Dead

The Idea of Reincarnation

Not-Self, Kamma, and Rebirth

Nondualistic Problems of Immortality

The Immortality of the Soul

The Conscious Subject Persists in the State of Release

What is Reborn is Neither the Same Nor Another: Anonymous

Making Sense of Conflicting Religious Truth Claims

Introduction

A Religious Understanding of Religion: A Model of the Relationship between Traditions

In Defence of a Contented Religious Exclusivism

John Hick and the Question of Truth in Religion

A Process Approach to Pluralism

A Dynamic Unity in Religious Pluralism: A Proposal from the Buddhist Point of View

Questioning the Foundations of Inquiry and Mapping New Territory

Introduction

Anti-Realist Faith

The Religious Necessity of Realism

Postmodernism and Religious Reflection

The Ends of Metaphysics

Feminism and Analytic Philosophy of Religion

Heidegger and Buddhism

Li and the A-theistic Religiousness of Classical Confucianism

Glossary

Text Sources and Credits

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