Metaphysical Naturalism and the Ignorance of Categorical Properties
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Schelling's Naturalism: Motion, Space, and the Volition of Thought
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Scholarship@Western Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 9-23-2015 12:00 AM Schelling's Naturalism: Motion, Space, and the Volition of Thought Ben Woodard The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Tilottama Rajan The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Joan Steigerwald The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Theory and Criticism A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Ben Woodard 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Woodard, Ben, "Schelling's Naturalism: Motion, Space, and the Volition of Thought" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3314. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3314 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Schelling's Naturalism: Motion, Space, and the Volition of Thought (Thesis Format: Monograph) by Benjamin Graham Woodard A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Theory and Criticism The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Ben Woodard 2015 Abstract: This dissertation examines F.W.J. von Schelling's Philosophy of Nature (or Naturphilosophie) as a form of early, and transcendentally expansive, naturalism that is, simultaneously, a naturalized transcendentalism. -
On Natural Causes: Implications for a Teleological View of the World
ON NATURAL CAUSES Implications for a teleological view of the world Joseph D. Renick1 March 15, 2020 Methodological naturalism is a guiding principle imposed on scientific methodology that limits science to the consideration of natural causes alone where “natural causes” explicitly means “non- supernatural causes”. Its principle role is to protect the teaching of biological evolution in public schools from challenges to its veracity posed by evidence of design in nature where, under the scrutiny of methodological naturalism, all such evidence is labelled “religion, not science”. However, an objective consideration of the reasoning involved in scientific methodology leads to the conclusion that the meaning of “natural causes” should be based on what a natural cause is, not on what it is not. This observation surprisingly leads to the proposition that both law and design must be viewed as natural causes. Further, it is evident that law and design are unified in nature and if they are unified in nature, they must also be unified in the natural sciences. This leads to the proposition that if law and design are unified in the natural sciences, they must also be unified in science education in public schools. We conclude that methodological naturalism has a legitimate role in its oversight of the methods of science, but that oversight must be limited to the methods themselves, not the metaphysical implications that might arise as a result of those methods. Otherwise, methodological naturalism functions as metaphysical naturalism. Methodological naturalism is a guiding principle imposed on scientific methodology that limits science to the consideration of natural causes alone. -
Studia Philosophiae Religionis 21
STUDIA PHILOSOPHIAE RELIGIONIS 21 Editores: Catharina Stenqvist et Eberhard Herrmann Ulf Zackariasson Forces by Which We Live Religion and Religious Experience from the Perspective of a Pragmatic Philosophical Anthropology UPPSALA 2002 Doctoral Dissertation in Philosophy of Religion for the Degree of Doctor of Theology at Uppsala University 2002. ABSTRACT Zackariasson, Ulf. 2002. Forces by which We Live. Religion and Religious Experience from the Perspective of a Pragmatic Philosophical Anthropology. Studia Philosophiae Religionis 21. 254 pp. ISBN 91–628–5169–1. ISSN 0346–5446. This study argues that a pragmatic conception of religion would enable philosophers to make important contributions to our ability to handle concrete problems involving religion. The term ’philosophical anthropology’, referring to different interpretative frameworks, which philosophers draw on to develop conceptions of human phenomena, is introduced. It is argued that the classical pragmatists embraced a philosophical anthro- pology significantly different from that embraced by most philosophers of religion; accordingly, pragmatism offers an alternative conception of religion. It is suggested that a conception of religion is superior to another if it makes more promising contributions to our ability to handle extra-philosophical problems of religion. A pragmatic philosophical anthropology urges us to view human practices as taking shape as responses to shared experienced needs. Religious practices develop to resolve tensions in our views of life. The pictures of human flourishing they present reconstruct our views of life, thereby allowing more significant interaction with the environment, and a more significant life. A modified version of reflective equilibrium is developed to show how we, on a pragmatic conception of religion, are able to supply resources for criticism and reform of religious practices, so the extra-philosophical problems of religion can be handled. -
The Encounter Between Naturalistic Atheism and Christian Theism
Michael Peterson The Encounter Between Naturalistic Atheism and Christian Theism Michael Peterson (b. 1950) sets the debate between atheism and theism in the larger context of a worldview conflict between naturalism, which entails atheism, and Christian belief, which entails theism. He tries to show that Christian theism has intellectual resources that can handle both arguments against theism and arguments for atheism. Then he compares the capacity of atheistic naturalism and Christian theism to generate credible explanations of many important features of reality, such as consciousness, mind, morality, and personhood. He concludes that such impressive phenomena are not likely to occur in a naturalistic universe and that naturalists provide explanations of them that are reductionistic and strained. However, in a universe described by Trinitarian Christian theism, which was cre ated by a supremely intelligent, moral, personal, and relational being, it is much more likely that finite consciousness, mind, morality, and personhood would arise. n academia and broader society, the intellectual of reality. An explanation of everything is a I conflict between theism and atheism continues. worldview-a comprehensive conceptual frame Theism is the belief that an omnipotent, omniscient, work that makes sense of important features of life and perfectly good personal spiritual being exists and the world. Both theists and atheists advance who is creator and sustainer of the universe; this key arguments and cite significant evidence for being is designated God. Positive atheism is the their positions. Thorough worldview assessment belief that God does not exist, i.e., the denial of must evaluate all of the arguments, pro and con, theism. -
The Revelation of God, East and West: Contrasting Special Revelation in Western Modernity with the Ancient Christian East
Open Theology 2017; 3: 565–589 Analytic Perspectives on Method and Authority in Theology Nathan A. Jacobs* The Revelation of God, East and West: Contrasting Special Revelation in Western Modernity with the Ancient Christian East https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2017-0043 Received August 11, 2017; accepted September 11, 2017 Abstract: The questions of whether God reveals himself; if so, how we can know a purported revelation is authentic; and how such revelations relate to the insights of reason are discussed by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, G. W. Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, to name a few. Yet, what these philosophers say with such consistency about revelation stands in stark contrast with the claims of the Christian East, which are equally consistent from the second century through the fourteenth century. In this essay, I will compare the modern discussion of special revelation from Thomas Hobbes through Johann Fichte with the Eastern Christian discussion from Irenaeus through Gregory Palamas. As we will see, there are noteworthy differences between the two trajectories, differences I will suggest merit careful consideration from philosophers of religion. Keywords: Religious Epistemology; Revelation; Divine Vision; Theosis; Eastern Orthodox; Locke; Hobbes; Lessing; Kant; Fichte; Irenaeus; Cappadocians; Cyril of Alexandria; Gregory Palamas The idea that God speaks to humanity, revealing things hidden or making his will known, comes under careful scrutiny in modern philosophy. The questions of whether God does reveal himself; if so, how we can know a purported revelation is authentic; and how such revelations relate to the insights of reason are discussed by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, G. -
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, IV-2 | 2012 Darwinized Hegelianism Or Hegelianized Darwinism? 2
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy IV-2 | 2012 Wittgenstein and Pragmatism Darwinized Hegelianism or Hegelianized Darwinism? Mathias Girel Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/736 DOI: 10.4000/ejpap.736 ISSN: 2036-4091 Publisher Associazione Pragma Electronic reference Mathias Girel, « Darwinized Hegelianism or Hegelianized Darwinism? », European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy [Online], IV-2 | 2012, Online since 24 December 2012, connection on 21 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/736 ; DOI : 10.4000/ejpap.736 This text was automatically generated on 21 April 2019. Author retains copyright and grants the European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Darwinized Hegelianism or Hegelianized Darwinism? 1 Darwinized Hegelianism or Hegelianized Darwinism? Mathias Girel 1 It has been said that Peirce was literally talking “with the rifle rather than with the shot gun or water hose” (Perry 1935, vol. 2: 109). Readers of his review of James’s Principles can easily understand why. In some respects, the same might be true of the series of four books Joseph Margolis has been devoting to pragmatism since 2000. One of the first targets of Margolis’s rereading was the very idea of a ‘revival’ of pragmatism (a ‘revival’ of something that never was, in some ways), and, with it, the idea that the long quarrel between Rorty and Putnam was really a quarrel over pragmatism (that is was a pragmatist revival, in some ways). The uncanny thing is that, the more one read the savory chapters of the four books, the more one feels that the hunting season is open, but that the game is not of the usual kind and looks more like zombies, so to speak. -
PHILOSOPHY of RELIGION Philosophy 185 Spring 2016
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Philosophy 185 Spring 2016 Dana Kay Nelkin Office: HSS 8004 Office Hours: Monday 11-12, Friday 11-12, and by appointment Phone: (858) 822-0472 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.danakaynelkin.com Course Description: We will explore five related and hotly debated topics in the philosophy of religion, and, in doing so, address the following questions: (i) What makes something a religion? (ii) Is it rational to hold religious beliefs? Should we care about rationality when it comes to religious belief? (iii) Could different religions be different paths to the same ultimate reality, or is only one, at most, a “way to God”? (iv) What is the relationship between science and religion? (v) What is the relationship between morality and religion? Must religious beliefs be true in order for morality to exist? As we will see, the philosophy of religion leads naturally into just about every other area of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and the history of philosophy, and into particular central philosophical debates such as the debate over the nature of free will. This means that you will gain insight into many fundamental philosophical issues in this course. At the same time, the subject matter can be difficult. To do well in the course and to benefit from it, you must be willing to work hard and to subject your own views (whatever they may be) to critical evaluation. Evaluating our conception of ourselves and of the world is one of the distinguishing features of philosophy. Requirements: Short reading responses/formulations of questions (150-200 words for each class meeting; 20 out of 28 required) 30% 1 paper in two drafts (about 2200 words) o first draft 10% (Due May 13) o second draft, revised after comments 25% (Due May 23) 1 take-home final exam (35%) (Due June 4, 11 am) up to 5% extra credit for participation in class group assignments and discussion. -
Ontological Arguments
Ontological Arguments Graham Oppy Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that God exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the world — e.g., from reason alone. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from nothing but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the conclusion that God exists. The first, and best-known, ontological argument was proposed by St. Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th. century A.D. In his Proslogion , St. Anselm claims to derive the existence of God from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived . St. Anselm reasoned that, if such a being fails to exist, then a greater being — namely, a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists — can be conceived. But this would be absurd: nothing can be greater than a being than which no greater can be conceived. So a being than which no greater can be conceived — i.e., God — exists. In the seventeenth century, René Descartes defended a family of similar arguments. For instance, in the Fifth Meditation , Descartes claims to provide a proof demonstrating the existence of God from the idea of a supremely perfect being. Descartes argues that there is no less contradiction in conceiving a supremely perfect being who lacks existence than there is in conceiving a triangle whose interior angles do not sum to 180 degrees. Hence, he supposes, since we do conceive a supremely perfect being — we do have the idea of a supremely perfect being — we must conclude that a supremely perfect being exists. -
Towards an Expanded Conception of Philosophy of Religion
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Springer - Publisher Connector Int J Philos Relig DOI 10.1007/s11153-016-9597-7 ARTICLE Thickening description: towards an expanded conception of philosophy of religion Mikel Burley1 Received: 30 March 2016 / Accepted: 29 November 2016 © The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract An increasingly common complaint about philosophy of religion— especially, though not exclusively, as it is pursued in the “analytic tradition”—is that its preoccupation with questions of rationality and justification in relation to “theism” has deflected attention from the diversity of forms that religious life takes. Among measures proposed for ameliorating this condition has been the deployment of “thick description” that facilitates more richly contextualized understandings of religious phenomena. Endorsing and elaborating this proposal, I provide an over- view of different but related notions of thick description before turning to two specific examples, which illustrate the potential for engagement with ethnography to contribute to an expanded conception of philosophy of religion. Keywords Thick description · Expanding philosophy of religion · Radical pluralism · Ethnography · Interdisciplinarity · Animal sacrifice · Buddhism [I]f one wants to philosophize about religion, then one needs to understand religion in all its messy cultural-historical diversity. Insofar as one considers only a limited set of traditions or reasons, one’s philosophy of religion is limited. (Knepper 2013, p. 76) What’s ragged should be left ragged. (Wittgenstein 1998, p. 51) A common and thoroughly understandable complaint about much contemporary philosophy of religion is that its scope remains abysmally restricted. -
Uncaused Beginnings" Revisited
Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers Volume 32 Issue 2 Article 8 4-1-2015 "Uncaused Beginnings" Revisited Graham Oppy Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy Recommended Citation Oppy, Graham (2015) ""Uncaused Beginnings" Revisited," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 32 : Iss. 2 , Article 8. DOI: 10.5840/faithphil20154932 Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy/vol32/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. "UNCAUSED BEGINNINGS" REVISITED Graham Oppy William Lane Craig's "Reflections on 'Uncaused Beginnings" is a sustained critique of my "Uncaused Beginnings." 1 argue that the central arguments of my essay survive that critique unscathed. When we make a fair and accurate comparison of naturalist and theist claims about global causal reality, we see that considerations about causation and the shape of causal reality do not decide between naturalism and theism. Moreover, the Edwards/Prior/Craig objection does not rule out the view that there is an initial global causal state involving none but contingently existing entities. 1 Compare two views about global causal reality. Both views suppose that there is a contingent initial global causal state involving at least one neces• sarily existent entity. Both views suppose that the initial global causal state is the only global causal state that has no cause; both views also suppose that the only further causal states that have no cause are initial states of en• tities that belong to and/or are sub-states of the initial global causal state. -
The Naturalist Challenge to Religion
Michael Ruse The Naturalist Challenge to Religion Michael Ruse (b. 1940) presents a comprehensive case for a naturalist worldview that embraces both methodological naturalism and metaphysical naturalism. Rather than seeing methodolog ical naturalism as worldview neutral, Ruse argues that it actually helps the case for metaphysical naturalism because it rules out forms of explanation that look for causes beyond the natural realm. So, Ruse's case for metaphysical naturalism is heavily influenced by how he sees the role of methodological naturalism. He cites methodological naturalism's ability to explain the origin and structure of organisms without appeal to divine design and even it~ ability to explain religion as a purely human phenomenon without assuming it relates to a divine realm. ((Naturalism'' is one of those words with many naturalism;' claiming that there is nothing beyond this meanings. When I was a teenager growing up natural world. No gods or such things. Today, many in England, it was a euphemism for "nudism:' With methodological naturalists are also metaphysical natu some regret, it is not this sense that is the subject of this ralists. This would be true of so-called "New Atheists" discussion. Another sense is that of "philosophical like Richard Dawkins. 1 But today and in the past there naturalism:' Here one is referring to an intention to let have been methodological naturalists who deny meta one's philosophical discussions be as science-like and physical naturalism. This is true of the great seven science-based as possible. You will see evidence of this teenth-century chemist Robert Boyle who spoke of the philosophy in action in this paper, but again it is not "wisdom of God" in making the world like a clock the main focus of discussion. -
Philosophy for Us
Philosophy for Us First Edition Edited By Lenny Clapp Northern Illinois University Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher Kassie Graves, Director of Acquisitions and Sales Jamie Giganti, Senior Managing Editor Jess Estrella, Senior Graphic Designer Angela Schultz, Acquisitions Editor Michelle Piehl, Project Editor Trey Soto, Licensing Associate Christian Berk, Associate Production Editor Bryan Mok, Interior Designer Copyright © 2018 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be re- printed, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regarding permissions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of reproduction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at [email protected]. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Cover image copyright © 2014 iStockphoto LP/alvarez. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 978-1-63487-487-8 (pbk) / 978-1-63487-488-5 (br) This book is dedicated to my friend and mentor Tomis Kapitan. Tomis believed that philosophy could improve the lives of everyone, and this belief influenced not only his teaching, but his courageous approach to life. This book is inspired by his example. Contents Part I: Does God Exist? 1 1. An Argument for Atheism from Naturalism ..............................................3 by Graham Oppy, Monash University 2. The Case for Divine Creation from Cosmic Fine-tuning .......................................................................................................15 by Robin Collins, Messiah College 3.