Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion – serie

This book provides in one volume a map of 100 years of 20th-century western philosophy of religion. Divided into four divisions approximating four chronological periods, the book begins at the turn of the 20th century with absolute idealism, personal idealism, neo-Kantianism, positivism and the science of religion. The period between the two World Wars includes discussions of neo-realism, phenomenology, American pragmatism, personalism and the philosophy of history. The primary strands of philosophy of religion after mid-century are philosophical analysis, existential philosophy, neo-Thomism and process philosophy. The final division, which leads to the turn of the 21st century, includes discussions of analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and deconstruction, critical theory, comparative philosophy and feminist philosophy. The primary task of the book is interpretative. However, brief remarks intended to highlight central issues and raise critical questions are included at the end of each chapter and in the concluding chapter of the book.The work should be useful to persons working in the fields of philosophy of religion and theology and to persons more generally interested in the variety and scope of philosophical reflection on religion in the 20th century.

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of the central topics in the contemporary philosophy of religion from a Thomist point of view. After an overview of Thomism in the 20th century, the remaining chapters treat the relationship between religious claims and other truth claims, religious language (especially analogy), theology and science, suffering and evil, religion and morality, human nature and destiny, God, and religious pluralism. The aim is to provide the reader with an overview of the spectrum of Thomist positions, beginning with Aquinas himself and then moving through his most important interpreters. By cross-referencing related topics, the book situates particular problems within the larger context of Thomism. Ample bibliographical references direct the reader to the most important resources.

This is a thorough examination of the major issues that have occupied 20th-century Anglo-American, analytic philosophy of religion and the positions that have been developed by the major figures in the field. The author also develops his own critical reactions to these positions and, in many cases, his own positions as well. Attention is focused on what have proven to be the enduring, major problems of analytic philosophy of religion: the development and nature of analytic philosophy, the problem of religious language, the nature of God, arguments for the existence of God, religious experience, religious epistemology, religion and science, the problem of evil, naturalism and humanism, religion and ethics, and religious pluralism. This book should prove to be a useful resource and reference for both scholars and students interested in any problem in the area of analytic philosophy of religion.

This first volume should be of particular interest to persons working in the fields of philosophy of religion and theology and to persons more generally interested in the variety and scope of philosophical reflection on religion in the 20th-century. The text provides in one volume a map of one hundred years of 20th-century western philosophy of religion. Divided into four divisions approximating four chronological periods, the book begins at the turn of the 20th-century with absolute idealism, personal idealism, neo-Kantianism, positivism and the science of religion. The period between the two world wars includes discussions of neo-realism, phenomenology, American pragmatism, personalism and the philosophy of history. The primary strands of philosophy of religion after mid-century are philosophical analysis, existential philosophy, neo-Thomism and process Philosophy. The final division, which leads to the turn of the 21st century, includes discussions of analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and deconstruction, critical theory, comparative philosophy and feminist philosophy. The primary task of the book is interpretative.However, brief remarks intended to highlight central issues and raise critical questions are included at the end of each chapter and in the concluding chapter of the book.

The Thomistic tradition takes it name from the thirteenth-century religious thinker and saint who is its source and inspiration: the Dominican Friar Thomas 1 Aquinas. Aquinas understood himself to be a theologian, and that is what he was. This obvious biographical fact needs to be underlined at the beginning, however, 2 since it has often since been lost sight of in treatments of his thought. The reason for this is that Aquinas also developed a powerful, innovative, and comprehensive philosophy which has proved to be at least as perennial, if not more so, than the theological synthesis that it was originally designed to serve. His followers have kept both strains of his thought alive until this day, but not always combining the same dual expertise. Theology and philosophy have since become more distinct, and as each has fragmented into sub-disciplines of academic specialization, it becomes harder and harder for anyone to master the thought of Aquinas as a as evidenced by the whole. Yet grasping the whole is essential to grasping the part, master work of Aquinas's mind: his Summa theologiae. You cannot understand any part of the Summa unless you understand its place within the whole, and much violence has been done to Aquinas's thought by abstracting it from the larger context in order to present it in discrete units.

This book should prove to be an invaluable resource and reference for both scholars and students interested in any problem in the area of analytic philosophy of religion. Analytic Philosophy of Religion is a thorough examination of the major issues that have occupied twentieth-century Anglo-American, analytic philosophy of religion and the positions that have been developed by the major figures in the field. The author also develops his own critical reactions to these positions and, in many cases, his own positions as well. Attention is focused on what have proven to be the enduring, major problems of analytic philosophy of religion: the development and nature of analytic philosophy, the problem of religious language, the nature of God, arguments for the existence of God, religious experience, religious epistemology, religion and science, the problem of evil, naturalism and humanism, religion and ethics, and religious pluralism. For contents and a free preview for all three volumes: www.new-in-philosophy.com

This is the first book that provides access to twelve Continental philosophers and the consequences of their thinking for the philosophy of religion. Basically, in the second half of the twentieth century, it has been treated from within the Anglo- American school of philosophy, which deals mainly with proofs and truths, and questions of faith. This approach is more concerned with human experience, and pays more attention to historical context and cultural influences. As such, it provides challenging questions about the way forward for philosophy of religion in the twenty-first century.