Richard E. Creel

Philosophy of Religion (eBook, PDF)

The Basics

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Philosophy of Religion: The Basics offers a concise introduction to philosophy of religion, distilling key discussions and concepts of the subject to their succinct essence, providing a truly accessible entry into the subject. * A truly accessible introduction to philosophy of religion for beginners * Takes a topical approach, starting with the nature of religion and moving the reader through the major concepts, explaining how topics connect and point to one another * Offers a thorough and full treatment of diverse conceptions of God, the ontological argument, and divine attributes and dilemmas * A genuinely concise introduction, this text can be used alongside other resources without overtaxing students * Represents 30 years of experience teaching to undergraduates * Includes a free downloadable file with key excerpts and additions to help students study

---

Dieser Download kann aus rechtlichen Gründen nur mit Rechnungsadresse in A, B, BG, CY, CZ, D, DK, EW, E, FIN, F, GR, HR, H, IRL, I, LT, L, LR, M, NL, PL, P, R, S, SLO, SK ausgeliefert werden.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. August 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781118619452
• Artikelnr.: 39477693

Autorenporträt

Richard E. Creel taught Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College, New York, for 30 years, during which time he served as Chair of his Department and President of the New York State Philosophical Association. Creel published numerous articles in philosophy journals and three books: Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue (Blackwell, 2001), Divine Impassibility: An Essay in Philosophical Theology (1986), and Religion & Doubt: Toward a Faith of Your Own (1991, 1st edition 1977). After retirement, Creel was designated an Emeritus Professor for outstanding contributions.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface for Teachers xi Acknowledgements xii Introduction 1 1 What Is
Religion? 6 1.1 Creed 6 1.2 Code 7 1.3 Cult 8 1.4 Community 9 1.5 Toward a
Definition of Religion 11 1.6 Ze, Zer, Mer 13 2 Six Conceptions of God 17
2.1 Experiential Sources of Concepts of God 17 2.2 Six Conceptions of God
21 2.3 Religious Naturalism 21 2.4 Pantheism 23 2.5 Panentheism (Process
Theism) 25 2.6 Deism 28 2.7 Classical Biblical Theism is based on divine
revelation 29 2.8 Classical Philosophical Theism 31 3 Divine Attributes and
Dilemmas 34 3.1 What Is a Dilemma? 39 3.2 Ways to Respond to a Dilemma 40
3.3 Divine Attribute Dilemmas 41 3.4 Proposed Solutions to the Preceding
Dilemmas 45 3.4.1 Unsurpassability 45 3.4.2 Omnipotence 46 3.4.3 Are
Omnipotence and Omnibenevolence Incompatible? 47 3.4.4 Immutability and
Personhood 48 3.4.5 Divine Omniscience and Human Freedom 49 3.5 Open Theism
53 4 Human Language and Talk about God 57 5 Arguments about the Existence
of God 72 6 The Ontological Argument 77 6.1 Is Anselm's Argument Decisive?
82 6.2 A Version of Duns Scotus' Ontological Argument 83 7 The Cosmological
Arguments 88 7.1 The First Three of "The Five Ways" of Thomas Aquinas 89
7.2 Paul Edwards' Infinite Regress Argument against the Cosmological
Argument 92 7.2.1 Two Criticisms of Edwards 93 7.3 The Oscillatory Theory
93 7.3.1 Criticism of the Oscillatory Theory 94 7.4 The Kalam Cosmological
Argument 95 8 The Teleological or Design Arguments 101 8.1 The Anthropic
Principle 108 8.2 The Multiverse 109 9 God and Morality 118 9.1 Two
Arguments from Morality for Belief in the Existence of God 118 9.2 The
Relation of Morality to God 119 9.2.1 The Divine Command Theory 119 9.2.2
Theocentric Ethics 120 9.2.3 Natural Law Ethics 121 10 Religious Experience
and Belief in God 128 10.1 The Principle of Credulity and the Rationality
of Belief in God 128 10.2 Religious Experience as Evidence for the
Existence of God 132 10.3 Toward a Cumulative Argument for God 134 11
Arguments against Belief in the Existence of God 137 11.1 Evidentialism and
the Burden of Proof 137 11.2 Conceptual Arguments: Analysis of the Concept
of God 138 11.2.1 The Argument from Meaninglessness 138 11.2.2 The
Arguments from Incoherence and Self-Contradiction 138 11.3 Arguments from
Science 139 11.3.1 The Natural Sciences: The Adequacy of Science 139 11.3.2
Criticisms of Naturalism 141 11.3.3 The Social Sciences: Religion and
Emotion 142 11.4 The Problem of Divine Hiddenness 145 11.5 The Problem of
Many Religions 147 12 The Problem of Evil 152 12.1 G.W. Leibniz (1646-1716)
153 12.2 The Logical Argument from Evil: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
153 12.3 The Evidential Argument from Evil: Edward Madden, Peter Hare,
William Rowe 153 12.3.1 Criticisms of Arguments from Evil against the
Existence of God 154 12.4 Charles Hartshorne's Panentheist or Process
Theodicy 156 13 God and Life after Death 164 13.1 Cessationism 165 13.2
Immortalism 167 13.3 Resurrectionism 170 13.4 Personal Identity and
Continuity 173 14 Miracles, Revelation, and Prayer 179 14.1 Miracles 179
14.2 Revelation 182 14.3 Prayer 183 15 Rationality without Evidence 185
15.1 Pascal's Wager 185 15.2 Evidentialism vs. the Right to Believe 187
15.3 Fideism 188 15.3.1 Faith as Action or Leap 188 15.3.2 Faith as Passion
or Gift 189 15.4 Agathism, Agatheism, and Religious Hope 190 Glossary 194
Biographical Notes 203 Index 209

Rezensionen

"This text covers all the major topics in the philosophy of religion. It is clearly written in a style that is attractive and easy to understand and it is constructed with maximum critical candor. A rare find."

--William L. Power, The University of Georgia

"Richard Creel provides an informative guide to standard topics in philosophy of religion that draws on his years of experience in teaching the subject. He writes in a conversational style that should appeal to beginning students and stimulate them to develop their own thinking on these issues."

--David M. Holley, University of Southern Mississippi