Rethinking the Ontological Argument

Rethinking the Ontological Argument PDF

Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-05-29

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13: 1139457144

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In recent years, the ontological argument and theistic metaphysics have been criticised by philosophers working in both the analytic and continental traditions. Responses to these criticisms have primarily come from philosophers who make use of the traditional, and problematic, concept of God. In this volume, Daniel A. Dombrowski defends the ontological argument against its contemporary critics, but he does so by using a neoclassical or process concept of God, thereby strengthening the case for a contemporary theistic metaphysics. Relying on the thought of Charles Hartshorne, he builds on Hartshorne's crucial distinction between divine existence and divine actuality, which enables neoclassical defenders of the ontological argument to avoid the familiar criticism that the argument moves illegitimately from an abstract concept to concrete reality. His argument, thus, avoids the problems inherent in the traditional concept of God as static.

Rethinking Anselm's Arguments

Rethinking Anselm's Arguments PDF

Author: Richard Campbell

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-07-23

Total Pages: 547

ISBN-13: 9004363661

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This book re-examines Anselm’s famous arguments for the existence of God. It demonstrates how he validly deduces from plausible premises that God exists most truly of all. The standard criticisms are shown to be based on misreading the text.

Ontological Arguments and Belief in God

Ontological Arguments and Belief in God PDF

Author: Graham Oppy

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1996-01-26

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9780521481205

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This book is a unique contribution to the philosophy of religion. It offers a comprehensive discussion of one of the most famous arguments for the existence of God: the ontological argument. The author provides and analyzes a critical taxonomy of those versions of the argument that have been advanced in recent philosophical literature, as well as of those historically important versions found in the work of St. Anselm, Descartes, Leibniz, Hegel and others.

Ontological Arguments

Ontological Arguments PDF

Author: Graham Oppy

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-11-08

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1107123631

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An accessible and comprehensive examination of ontological arguments, their history and their importance.

Purpose in the Universe

Purpose in the Universe PDF

Author: Tim Mulgan

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2015-10-22

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0191066567

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Two familiar worldviews dominate Western philosophy: materialist atheism and the benevolent God of the Abrahamic faiths. Tim Mulgan explores a third way. Ananthropocentric Purposivism claims that there is a cosmic purpose, but human beings are irrelevant to it. Purpose in the Universe develops a philosophical case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism that it is at least as strong as the case for either theism or atheism. The book borrows traditional theist arguments to defend a cosmic purpose. These include cosmological, teleological, ontological, meta-ethical, and mystical arguments. It then borrows traditional atheist arguments to reject a human-centred purpose. These include arguments based on evil, diversity, and the scale of the universe. Mulgan also highlights connections between morality and metaphysics, arguing that evaluative premises play a crucial and underappreciated role in metaphysical debates about the existence of God, and Ananthropocentric Purposivism mutually supports an austere consequentialist morality based on objective values. He concludes that, by drawing on a range of secular and religious ethical traditions, a non-human-centred cosmic purpose can ground a distinctive human morality. Our moral practices, our view of the moral universe, and our moral theory are all transformed if we shift from the familiar choice between a universe without meaning and a universe where humans matter to the less self-aggrandising thought that, while it is about something, the universe is not about us.

The Many-Faced Argument

The Many-Faced Argument PDF

Author: John Hick

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2009-04-24

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1725225905

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The Many-Faced Argument presents a compilation of essays on the ontogical argument for the existence of God, covering responses to Anselm's position in the first half, and, in the second half, covering developments of the argument in the context of modern philosophy. Along with contibutions by editors Hick and McGill, other writers include Karl Barth, Andre Hayden, Anselm Stolz, Bertrand Russell, Jerome Shaffer, Gilbert Ryle, Aime Forest, Norman Malcolm, and Charles Hartshorne. While interest in the the ontological argument has arisen from various disciplines -- historical, theological and philosophical -- the purpose of this book is to bring these varied writings together so that scholars and students within each discipline may have contributions from other fields readily available.

Philosophy of Religion: The Key Thinkers

Philosophy of Religion: The Key Thinkers PDF

Author: Jeffrey J. Jordan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2010-11-18

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1441126538

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Arguments concerning the existence and nature of God have been a staple of western philosophy for over 2,000 years. Philosophy of Religion: The Key Thinkers offers a comprehensive historical overview of this fascinating field. Nine specially commissioned essays introduce and explore the contributions of those philosophers who have shaped the subject and the central issues and arguments therein. The book reconstructs the history of the philosophy of religion, clearly illustrating the most important attempts to address such crucial issues as the ontological argument, the cosmological argument, the problem of evil, miracles, the moral argument, the design argument, religious experience and the idea of god. Thinkers covered include Anselm, Aquinas, Pascal, Hume, Kant, Paley and James. Crucially the book demonstrates why the ideas and arguments these key thinkers developed are still relevant in contemporary thought. Ideal for undergraduate students, the book lays the necessary foundations for a complete and thorough understanding of this fascinating subject.

What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion?

What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion? PDF

Author: Elizabeth Burns

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-02

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1317595467

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What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion? grapples with the core topics studied on philosophy of religion undergraduate courses including: the meaning of religious language, including 20th century developments the nature of the Divine, including divine power, wisdom and action arguments for the existence of the Divine challenges to belief in the Divine, including the problems of evil, divine hiddenness and religious diversity believing without arguments arguments for life after death, including reincarnation. In addition to the in-depth coverage of the key themes within the subject area Elizabeth Burns explores the topics from the perspectives of the five main world religions, introducing students to the work of scholars from a variety of religious traditions and interpretations of belief. What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion? is the ideal introduction for those approaching the philosophy of religion for the first time, containing many helpful student-friendly features, such as a glossary of important terms, study questions and further reading.