Synopses & Reviews
This text acquaints students with the current state of the debate in philosophy of religion and familiarizes them with the issues that will concern philosophers of religion in the foreseeable future.
Table of Contents
Preface. 1. The Nature of God. Possible Worlds and the Concept of a Maximally Perfect Reality. Is the Concept of a Maximally Perfect Reality Coherent? Is a Perfect Reality Personal? Gods Metaphysical Attributes and the Concepts of Timelessness and Impassability. Gods Knowledge and Power. Conclusion. 2. Arguments for the Existence of God. The Ontological Argument. The Cosmological Argument. The Design Argument. Appendix: Miracles. 3. The Problem of Evil. Are God and Evil Compatible? The Greater Goods Defense. The Free Will Defense. Must God Choose the Best? Gratuitous Evil. Conclusion. 4. Immortality. The Possibility of Immortality. Arguments for Immortality. Conclusion. 5. Mysticism and Religious Experience. The Nature of Religious Experience. Do Religious Experiences Have Cognitive Value? Conclusion. 6. Anti-Evidentialism. Fideism. William James and the Will to Believe. Alvin Plantinga and Properly Basic Beliefs. Conclusion. 7. Is Theism the Best Explanation? Assessing World Views. Cumulative Arguments. Comparing Rival Worldviews. Comparing Rival Religious Systems. 8. The Diversity of Religions. Relativism. The Devaluation of Propositional Belief and Truth. Religious Pluralism. Revelation and Rival Religious Systems. Conclusion. INDEX.