- Table View
- List View
Early Deism in France: From the so-called ‘déistes’ of Lyon (1564) to Voltaire’s ‘Lettres philosophiques’ (1734) (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées #104)
by C.J. Betts
Theism (Philosophical Studies Series #30)
by Clement DoreIn this book, I discuss the question whether God exists, not as a Tillichian religious symbol, but as an actual person, albeit a person who is very different from you and me. My procedure is to examine arguments bdth for and against God's existence qua person and to assess their relative merits. I shall try to show that there is more evidence that God exists than that he does not. This position is, of course, rejected nowadays, even by most religious thinkers, who hold, for one reason or another, that evidence has nothing to do with religious belief, properly understood. My reply to these thinkers is simply to ask them to examine what follows. A useful companion to Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and the Appendix of this book would be Alvin Plantinga's The Nature of Necessity.l Though I avoid technical terminology wherever possible, those chapters presuppose an elementary understanding of 'possible worlds' discourse; and a clear and concise explanation of that terminology can be found in Chapter IV of Plantinga's book. Also, I use 'logical' throughout to mean what Plantinga means by 'broadly logical' on page 2 of The Nature of Necessity.
The Social Relations of Physics, Mysticism, and Mathematics: Studies in Social Structure, Interests, and Ideas (Episteme #10)
by S. RestivoThe problems I address in this book are among the least studied in the soci ology of science and knowledge. Part I is a critique of the claim that there are parallels between ancient mysticism and modern physics, and a sociological analysis of this claim as a strategy in intellectual conflict. This study must. ultimately be rooted more firmly in a: type of sociology of knowledge that is just now beginning to crystallize (and which I discuss in Chapter 7), and a sociology of religion that is not so much unknown as underground, and timid, that is, a non-worshipful materialist sociology of religion. My study of physics-mysticism parallelism is a vehicle for exploring epistemic strategies. I thus conclude Part I by sketching a materialist, emancipatory epistemic strategy. My conclusion brings together a number of ideas formulated by myself and others over the past several years, but stops short of a systematic synthesis. A more integrated and coherent "model" than what I can sketch here must wait on the results of research now in progress in the critical (as opposed to apologetic or worshipful) sociology of knowledge.
God, Free Will, and Morality: Prolegomena to a Theory of Practical Reasoning (Philosophical Studies Series #27)
by R. Richman"He [Francis Bacon] writes of science like a Lord Chan cellor" - William Harvey "Don't say: 'There must be something common . . . ' - but look and see" Ludwig Wittgenstein In the history of western moral philosophy since Plato, there has been a pervasive tendency for the moral theorist to wri~e, in effect, like a scientist, Le. to seek completely general prin ciples of right conduct. Of late, moreover, there has been an attempt to set forth a theory underlying the general principles, not of right conduct, admittedly, but of justice. To be sure, we are sometimes warned that the principles (which must exist?) may be too complex to be formulated. Also they may not exist prior to action - nonetheless, we are told, they serve as guides to conduct! One inight argue that Baconian inductivism provides one basis for skepticism with respect to a number of familiar epistemological problems. Thus, the skeptic argues, a certain conclusion - say, the existence of another's pain - is not justified on the basis of (behavioral) evidence either deductively or inductively, and hence it is not justified at all. Similarly, I should claim, by establishing an unattainable standard, the search for exceptionless principles may become a source of moral skepticism. After all, when con fronted with a supposed principle designed to justify a particular ix x PREFACE action, one can generally imagine a counter-example to the prin ciple without excessive difficulty.
God and Skepticism: A Study in Skepticism and Fideism (Philosophical Studies Series #28)
by T. PenelhumThis book is an exercise in philosophical criticism. What I criticize are some variations on a recurrent theme in religious thought: the theme that faith and reason are so disparate that faith is not undermined, but strengthened, if we judge that reason can give it no support. The common name for this view is Fideism. Those representatives of it that I have chosen to discuss do more, however, than insist on keeping faith free of the alleged contaminations of philosophical argument. They consider the case for Fideism to be made even stronger if one judges that reason cannot give us truth or assurance outside the sphere of faith any more than within it. In other words, they sustain their Fideism by an appeal to Skepticism. I call them, therefore, Skeptical Fideists. Skeptical Fideism is not a mere historical curiosity. Richard Popkin has shown us how wide its impact in the formative period of modern philosophy has been; and its impact on modern theological and apologetic reasoning has been immense. In my view, anyone who wishes to assess many of the assump tions current in the theologies of our time has to take account of it; I think, therefore, that there is a topical value in examining the figures whose views I discuss here - Erasmus, Montaigne, Bayle, and more importantly, Pascal and Kierkegaard.
Social Justice
by Randolph BrahamThe Conference on Social Justice was the second in the series of con ferences organized under the auspices of the Departments of Eco nomics, Philosophy, and Political Science of The City College of The City University of New York. This conference was made possible under a generous grant from the Morton Globus Fund. Its success was assured by the participation of distinguished scholars and edu cators from the organizing departments as well as from a number of other American institutions of higher learning. Not all who partici pated are included in this volume drawn from the conference, but we are grateful to all, equally, for their contribution as discussants. On behalf of the chairmen and members of the participating de partments, I would like to express thanks to the panelists for making their papers available for publication. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mr. Morton Globus for his generosity and to Acting President Arthur Tiedemann and Professor Jerome Siegel, the Acting Dean of the Social Science Division of The City College, for their consistent support of this project. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the publisher, Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, for its patience and cooperation and to my wife, Elizabeth Braham, for her ~dvice and editorial assistance.
The Philosophy of Buddhism: A “Totalistic” Synthesis (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #3)
by A. VerduThe riddles that world-causation pose to the human mind lie at the bottom of all cosmological systems of thought. In their origins, all philosophical attitudes are conditioned by partiality and "perspectivism. " The philosopher's attempted flight towards the seemingly remote kingdom of truth is often aborted by the binding twines of perspectival language. Thus his insights lose themselves in conflicting, contradictory manifestos. Greek cosmology, as it is formally set forth by the pre-Socratics, is a clear example of this weary pilgrimage of mind's embodied vision from angle to angle, from perspective to perspective. Not less is to be expected from the systems of Hinduism and, mutatis mutandis, also of Buddhist thought. More confined from the very outset to the study of reality as a study of human existence, of its awareness of embodiment, of its spatio-temporal bondage, and of its ultimate ontological status, Buddhism gave rise to truly astounding theories of "life-world" causation. The process of Buddhist thought, as it refers to the nature of the human experience as "in-the-world" existence, covers a vast range of doctrines, from original theories of pluralism and phenomenalism with sectional, multifarious and relativistic notions of causality, through the unitary conceptions of monistic idealism, up to the top of universal integrationism and dialectical totalism.
A Relational Metaphysic (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #4)
by H.H. OliverC. S. Peirce's indictment that "the chief cause of [metaphysics'] backward condition is that its leading professors have been theo (Collected Papers 6:3) falls heavily at my door. For it logians" was out of reflection upon religious experience and its meaning that the present relational metaphysic was conceived. My hope, however, is that its scope is sufficiently wider than its theological origins to justify its appearance as a work in philosophy. Having been nurtured in existential philosophy and having reached some measure of maturity with the wise counsel of Professor Dr. Fritz Buri, of Basel, I came to feel that theology as a modern discipline had reached an impasse owing to its overextended commitments to a subject-object paradigm of thought. Even those theologians who despaired of these ties seemed unable to find an independent alternative idiom for their ideas. A second tension in my thinking resulted from the inordinate neglect by theologians of the natural world. Also, my natural interest in physical understanding seemed unfulfilled within the narrow confines of theology, even of philosophical theology as then practiced. As I turned decisively toward the study of modern physics, and especially of cosmology, a new world seemed to open up to me. After extensive study with prominent astronomers and physicists, it began to dawn on me that the new physics has devised conceptual paradigms of thought which could be generalized into a metaphysical system of universal interest.
Briefe und Tagebücher (Franz Rosenzweig Gesammelte Schriften #1)
by U. RosenzweigDas Erscheinen der Gesammelten Schriften Franz Rosenzweigs stellt ein Ereignis von besonderem geistigen Rang dar. Denn es ist ganz unbestritten, daß Franz Rosenzweig zu den bedeutend sten jüdischen Denkern unseres Jahrhunderts gehört, ja, daß er vermutlich sogar weit über unsere Epoche hinaus von Bedeutung sein wird. E. Levinas hat Rosenzweig nicht zu Unrecht Gestalten wie Blaise Pascal und Sören Kierkegaard an die Seite gestellt!. Gleichwohl ist das Werk Rosenzweigs bis jetzt nur schwer zu gänglich gewesen. Und zwar nicht nur aus den Gründen, derent wegen auch sonst ein Werk, das Entscheidendes zu sagen hat, seine Zeit braucht, bis es zugänglich wird, sondern auch deshalb, weil sich dem Schicksal des Werkes Rosenzweigs die leidvollen Spuren der jüdischen Emigration deutlich eingegraben haben. Franz Rosenzweig starb 42-jährig im Dezember 1929, drei Jahre vor dem Ausbruch der braunen Diktatur. Edith Rosen zweig, seine Gattin, konnte zwar 1935 und 1937 noch die Kleine ren Schriften und eine Auswahl aus Rosenzweigs Briefen ver öffentlichen. Die beiden Bände gehören zu den wenigen umfang reicheren von Juden verfaßten Büchern, deren Druck in jenen Jahren möglich war. An weitere Veröffentlichungen war damals aber nicht zu denken.
Transcendence and Hermeneutics: An Interpretation of the Philosophy of Karl Jaspers (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #2)
by A.M. Olson''The problem of Transcendence is the problem of our time. " I Needless to say, Transcendence was a particularly lively i~sue when Karl Heim wrote these words in the mid-1930's. Within the province of philosophi cal theology and philosophy of religion, however, it is always the prob lem, as Gordon Kaufman has recently reminded us. 2Por the question concerning the nature and the reality of Transcendence has not only to do with self-transcendence, but with the being of Transcendence-Itself, that is to say, with the nature and the reality of God as experienced and understood at any given time or place. Now there are those today who would claim that any further discus sion of the latter half of this proposition, namely,Transcendence-Itse1f or God, is worthless and quite beside the point. Such persons would claim that the particular logia represented by the theological sciences has collapsed by virtue of its object having disappeared. Indeed, when one surveys the contemporary scene in philosophy and theology, there is a good deal of evidence that this is the case':"" theology of late having be come something of a "spectacle," to use Pritz Buri's term. One of the reasons for this, we here contend, is that the richness and the diversity of the meaning of Transcendence has been lost. And even though we do not here intend to resolve the issue, neither do we assume that such an enqui ry is either impossible or irrelevant.
Types, Tableaus, and Gödel’s God (Trends in Logic #12)
by M. FittingGödel's modal ontological argument is the centerpiece of an extensive examination of intensional logic. First, classical type theory is presented semantically, tableau rules for it are introduced, and the Prawitz/Takahashi completeness proof is given. Then modal machinery is added to produce a modified version of Montague/Gallin intensional logic. Finally, various ontological proofs for the existence of God are discussed informally, and the Gödel argument is fully formalized. Parts of the book are mathematical, parts philosophical.
Dialogical Rhetoric: An Essay on Truth and Normativity After Postmodernism (Argumentation Library #7)
by W. SlobContemporary developments in philosophy have declared truth as such troublesome, and not merely gaining access to it. In a systematic survey this study investigates what is at stake when truth is given up. A historical overview shows how the current problem of truth came about, and suggests ways to overcome rather than to repair the problem. A key issue resulting from the loss of truth is the lack of normativity. Truth provided an alternative understanding of normativity. Elaborating on the `dialectical shift' in logic, a dialogico-rhetorical understanding of normativity is presented. Rather than requiring truth, agreement, or rationality, dialogico-rhetorical normativity is the result of a balance of particular standards. This type of normativity is shaped within discussions - by advancing and accepting arguments - and is not located in sets of predetermined rules. The result is a `small' but strong form of normativity. If this understanding of normativity is viable, one of the central problems of contemporary philosophy, the problem of incommensurability, can be seen in a different light. As a result, truth reappears again. Surviving the postmodern criticisms, it is a matter of accountability rather than of description.
Issues in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #23)
by Eugene LongThis collection of original articles, written by leading contemporary European and American philosophers of religion, is presented in celebration of the publication of the fiftieth volume of the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. Following the Editor's Introduction, John Macquarrie, Adriaan Peperzak, and Hent de Vries take up central themes in continental philosophy of religion. Macquarrie analyzes postmodernism and its influence in philosophy and theology. Peperzak argues for a form of universality different from that of modern philosophy, and de Vries analyzes an intrinsic and structural relationship between religion and the media. The next three essays discuss issues in analytic philosophy of religion. Philip Quinn argues that religious diversity reduces the epistemic status of exclusivism and makes it possible for a religious person to be justified while living within a pluralistic environment. William Wainwright plumbs the work of Jonathan Edwards in order to better understand debates concerning freedom, determinism, and the problem of evil, and William Hasker asks whether theological incompatibilism is less inimical to traditional theism than some have supposed. Representing the Thomist tradition, Fergus Kerr challenges standard readings of Aquinas on the arguments for the existence of God. David Griffin analyzes the contributions of process philosophy to the problem of evil and the relation between science and religion. Illustrating comparative approaches, Keith Ward argues that the Semitic and Indian traditions have developed a similar concept of God that should be revised in view of post-Enlightenment theories of the individual and the historical. Keith Yandell explores themes in the Indian metaphysical tradition and considers what account of persons is most in accord with reincarnation and karma doctrines. Feminist philosophy of religion is represented in Pamela Anderson's article, in which she argues for a gender-sensitive and more inclusive approach to the craving for infinitude.
Passionate Deliberation: Emotion, Temperance, and the Care Ethic in Clinical Moral Deliberation (Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture #8)
by M.F. CarrDespite the modem recovery of virtue theory in ethics, conceptions of temperance remain largely unexamined. In this study I offer an examination ofcertain interpretive threads oftemperance as a virtue beginning in classical philosophy and moving through early to medieval Christian conceptions. I find contemporary notions oftemperance to be sorely lacking when compared and contrasted to these historical conceptions. Aristotelian and Thomistic accounts of temperance are particularly important to the normative statement of temperance I offer here. To fully understand temperance one must recognize its place among the moral virtues, in particular phronesis or practical judgment. Though I place temperance within practical judgment, this study stops short ofoffering a full account of virtue theory and how it mayor may not relate to other theories ofthe moral life. While contemporary views of temperance occasionally note its general relevance to the experience of emotion, I elaborate upon the work of temperance as an essential part of the effort to include emotion in the moral life. In present-day studies of the psychology of emotion, cognitive theories have reasserted the classical conception of emotion as consisting of both physiological and psychological elements ofhuman personhood. Temperance is the primary virtue in the moral agent's effort to appropriately include the entirety ofthe emotional experience in moral deliberation. I find it relevant to a moral response to both the physiological and psychological elements of emotion.
Millenarianism and Messianism in Early Modern European Culture Volume IV: Continental Millenarians: Protestants, Catholics, Heretics (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées #176)
by Richard Popkin John ChristianLaursenThis is the first book to bring together studies of a wide variety of millenarians who were active in the 17th and 18th centuries in France, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and eastern Europe. It provides much food for thought for students and teachers of early modern ideas, the history of philosophy and religion, and the making of the modern world. It opens up many avenues for further work.
Prophecy: The History of an Idea in Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Amsterdam Studies in Jewish Philosophy #8)
by Howard KreiselMore than any other topic, prophecy represents the point at which the Divine meets the human, the Absolute meets the relative. How can a human being attain the Word of God? In what manner does God, when conceived as eternal and transcendent, address corporeal, transitory creatures? What happens to God's divine Truth when it is beheld by minds limited in their power to apprehend, and influenced by the intellectual currents of their time and place? How were these issues viewed by the great Jewish philosophers of the past, who took the divine communication and all it entails seriously, while at the same time desired to understand it as much as humanly possible in the course of dealing with a myriad of other issues that occupied their attention? This book offers an in-depth study of prophecy in the thought of seven of the leading medieval Jewish philosophers: R. Saadiah Gaon, R. Judah Halevi, Maimonides, Gersonides, R. Hasdai Crescas, R. Joseph Albo and Baruch Spinoza. It attempts to capture the `original voice' of these thinkers by looking at the intellectual milieus in which they developed their philosophies, and by carefully analyzing their views in their textual contexts. It also deals with the relation between the earlier approaches and the later ones. Overall, this book presents a significant model for narrating the history of an idea.
Hume’s Reflection on Religion (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées #178)
by Miguel Badía Cabrera
The Apologetic Value of Human Holiness: Von Balthasar’s Christocentric Philosophical Anthropology (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #21)
by Victoria HarrisonThe Apologetic Value of Human Holiness begins by providing the first comprehensive account of the model of human holiness developed by the leading theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. In so doing, the book also provides the first detailed explication of his Christocentric philosophical anthropology. Part 2 argues that von Balthasar anticipates some key developments in late twentieth-century Anglo-American analytical philosophy, and that certain of these developments - in particular, the `internal realism' of Hilary Putnam - provide powerful support for von Balthasar's theological philosophy. The final part elucidates von Balthasar's core intuition that human holiness is of immense apologetic value for religious faith, and concludes with a new, `internalist' theory of religious pluralism. The Apologetic Value of Human Holiness will be seen as an important and original contribution to both Philosophy of Religion and Theology, and is likely to prove essential reading in upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses in both subjects.
The Concept of God, the Origin of the World, and the Image of the Human in the World Religions (A Discourse of the World Religions #1)
by PeterKoslowskiAll religions make statements about God or the Absolute and about "the beginning": about the beginning of the world and the beginning and nature of the human person. Propositions about God, the human person, and the world, statements about God's eternity or process of becoming, about the status and nature of the human person as the "image of God", and about the beginning of the world are woven into "religious speculations about the beginning". The theology, anthropology, and cosmology of the world religions determine the image of the human person and the image of the world in the world cultures shaped by the different religions. They stand in a tense relationship with the anthropologies and cosmologies of modern science, which in turn challenge the religions to deepen their image of the human person. With this volume leading thinkers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam provide the reader with a first-hand source for understanding the five world religions and their teaching about God, the human person, and the origin of the world.
Philosophical Papers and Letters: A Selection (Synthese Historical Library #2)
by G.W. LeibnizThe selections contained in these volumes from the papers and letters of Leibniz are intended to serve the student in two ways: first, by providing a more adequate and balanced conception of the full range and penetration of Leibniz's creative intellectual powers; second, by inviting a fresher approach to his intellectual growth and a clearer perception of the internal strains in his thinking, through a chronological arrangement. Much confusion has arisen in the past through a neglect of the develop ment of Leibniz's ideas, and Couturat's impressive plea, in his edition of the Opuscu/es et fragments (p. xii), for such an arrangement is valid even for incomplete editions. The beginning student will do well, however, to read the maturer writings of Parts II, III, and IV first, leaving Part I, from a period too largely neglected by Leibniz criticism, for a later study of the still obscure sources and motives of his thought. The Introduction aims primarily to provide cultural orientation and an exposition of the structure and the underlying assumptions of the philosophical system rather than a critical evaluation. I hope that together with the notes and the Index, it will provide those aids to the understanding which the originality of Leibniz's scientific, ethical, and metaphysical efforts deserve.
The Common-Sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699 (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées #77)
by Robert CarrollI. Reason and Religion "Si on soumet tout a la raison, notre religion n'aura rien de mysterieux et de surnaturel; si on choque les principes de la raison, notre religion sera absurde et ridicule",l In this passage from his Pensees Pascal summarizes what is perhaps the most basic problem for the defender of the reasonableness of Christianity: the necessity of upholding beliefs which Reason is incapable of judging, while at the same time claiming that those beliefs are reasonable. Pascal does not state the problem in precisely these terms regarding the limits of Reason, yet it seems clear that the dilemma he is indicating involves the question of the relation of religious beliefs to the compass of Reason. He does not, however-at least in the passage cited-indicate that the problem is a question of either/or: either Reason and no Religion, or Religion and Irrationality. Rather, he seems to be simply stating what he perceives to be a simple matter of fact. If Reason is allowed to be the judge of all Religion, then all Religion must abandon any elements that are either contrary to reason or cannot be shown to be in accord with Reason. On the other hand, if Reason is not allowed to judge Religion at all, then Religion will be absurd and ridiculous.
Justification in Earlier Medieval Theology
by C.P. Carlson Jr.One of the pleasures and privileges of scholarship is the opportunity to express one's gratitude to friends and colleagues upon the occasion of a publication. As with many scholarly first books, this present work had its genesis as a doctoral dissertation, and hence my first and most profound acknowledgment must be to Professor S. Harrison Thomson of the University of Colorado, whom I am honored to be able to describe as my mentor. Only my fellow "Old Thomsonians" can appreciate the common debt we owe to this great medievalist who was also a magni ficent teacher and counsellor. Presently in retirement, he continues to be our principal inspiration and model of scholarly distinction. I am also greatly indebted to another former mentor and now my senior colleague and chairman at the University of Denver, Professor Allen D. Breck, who, together with Deans Edward A. Lindell and Gerhard H. Mundinger, constantly encouraged and assisted my further progress and read the manuscript in its final stages, offering many valuable sugges tions as to style and substance. My university provided me with generous support in the form of research funds and clerical services; I am grateful to. those colleagues who made this assistance possible, as well as to friends at other institutions who shared their knowledge and frequently gave salutary advice.
The Reformist of Illuminations in the Gospels of Matilda, Countess of Tuscany: A Study in the Art of the Age of Gregory VII
by R.H. RoughThe Gospels ofMatilda, Countess ofTuscany, is a manuscript written and illuminated in Northern Italy toward the end ofthe eleventh century. A credible fourteenth century document states that it was presented by the Countess to the Benedictine monastery of Polirone, near Mantua. In the manuscript's pictorial cycle, the Cleansing of the Temple and the scenes related to it are iconographically extra ordinary. An understanding of them must begin with a study of their ideological sources, closely related historicfigures, Medieval writers who employed the figure ofthe Cleansing ofthe Temple, and the political-social movement ofthe Patarines. Then the Matilda Gospels' illuminations will stand revealed as the key artistic expression of the Gregorian Reform and as a prime document of some of the most important events and ideas ofthe Middle Ages. II. ART AND THE REFORM OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY Church reform in the eleventh century was a heroic engage ment. Norman Cantor calls it one of the four great «world revolutions» of Western history.! The authority of the papacy, theindependenceofthechurch,andtheveryleadershipofMedie val society were its mortally contested issues critical both to history and to political theory.2 Gregory VII and Matilda of Tuscany were but two of the vivid personalities among its partisans. But in the history ofart the struggle has been nearly invisible.
Gilbert Sheldon: Architect of Anglican Survival, 1640–1675 (Archives Internationales D'Histoire Des Idées Minor #12)
by V.D. SutchThe place of Gilbert Sheldon in seventeenth century history and his influence upon the events of the period have long presented a tantalizing problem. A historian exploring the archives of the time cannot help but be impressed by the ubiquitous appearances of the archbishop. Yet the frequent references too often provide little detail, so that what emerges is a wraith-like picture of the man and a very uncertain account of his activities. As a result it is difficult to know what to think of Sheldon. He has been termed a "Laudian," but Mathew Wren, Laud's loyal assistant and sharer of his imprisonment, was cempletely baffled by the initials "G. Sh." which appeared in a letter sent to him in the early 1650's. Also labeled a staunch Tory and a firm believer in the institution of monarchy, Shelden showed no compunction whatever about lecturing the king on his duties or in boldly epposing the royal wishes when his lectures were ignored. He has been described as a man of "iron character," yet he was invariably soft-spoken and gentle to those in his immediate presence. He is pictured as a ruthless persecutor, but he often offered assistance, material and otherwise, to those who had been his opponents. Supposedly he was avaricious, yet the record suggests that during the Interregnum he impoverished himself to assist needy friends and church acquain tances, seme of whem he barely knew.