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IMW Journal of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1
Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1 Spring 2015 Article 1 2015 IMW Journal of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal Recommended Citation "IMW Journal of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1." Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 6, no. 1 (2015). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol6/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies is designed to promote the academic study of religion at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The journal is a student initiative affiliated with the Religious Studies Program and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University. Our academic review board includes professional scholars specializing in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Mormonism, as well as specialists in the fields of History, Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, and Religion. The journal is housed in the Intermountain West, but gladly accepts submissions from students throughout the United States and around the world. INTERMOUNTAIN WEST JOURNAL Of RELIGIOUS STUDIES ‡ Advisors PHILIP BARLOW RAVI GUPTA Managing Editor CORY M. NANI Editor JEDD COX Associate Editor CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS Emeritus Editors CHRISTOPHER BLYTHE MARK BULLEN RASMUSON DAVID MUNK Cover Design CORY M. NANI ________________________________________________________________ Academic Review Board RAVI GUPTA Utah State University REID L. NIELSON LDS Church Historical Department KAREN RUFFLE University of Toronto ANNE-MARIE CUSAC Roosevelt University STEPHEN TAYSOM Cleveland State University KECIA ALI Boston University PETER VON SIVERS University of Utah R. -
Is God Great?
IS GOD GREAT? CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS AND THE NEW ATHEISM DEBATE Master’s Thesis in North American Studies Leiden University By Tayra Algera S1272667 March 14, 2018 Supervisor: Dr. E.F. van de Bilt Second reader: Ms. N.A. Bloemendal MA 1 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 1 – The New Atheism Debate and the Four Horsemen .............................................. 17 Chapter 2 – Christopher Hitchens ............................................................................................ 27 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 433 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 455 2 3 Introduction “God did not make us, we made God” Christopher Hitchens (2007) "What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence" Christopher Hitchens (2003) “Religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children." Christopher Hitchens (2007) These bold statements describe the late Christopher Hitchens’s views on religion in fewer than 50 words. He was a man of many words, most aimed at denouncing the role of religion in current-day societies. Religion is a concept that is hard -
Shipwrecked Or Holding Water Final
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DSpace at VU Penultimate version. Minor textual revisions in published version. Shipwrecked or Holding Water? In Defense of Plantinga’s Warranted Christian Believer Jeroen de Ridder Faculty of Philosophy VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands [email protected] Mathanja Berger Faculty of Philosophy VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands [email protected] Abstract Herman Philipse argues that Christian belief cannot be warranted in Alvin Plantinga’s sense. More specifically, he thinks it is impossible for intellectually responsible and modern believers to hold their religious beliefs in the manner of properly basic beliefs, not on the basis of explicit evidence or arguments. In this paper, we consider his objections to Plantinga’s work and argue that they all fail. 1. Introduction Herman Philipse thinks that Christian belief lacks the warrant of properly basic beliefs, at least for intellectually responsible modern believers. That is to say, he thinks that a modern Christian believer cannot be rational in holding on to her religious beliefs without engaging in natural 1 Penultimate version. Minor textual revisions in published version. theology, i.e., offering explicit evidence and arguments in defense of these beliefs, or at least relying on experts in her community to do so. To argue for his position, he offers a threefold — or fourfold, more on that later — criticism of Alvin Plantinga’s defense of the possible warrantedness of Christian belief.1 In this paper, we will scrutinize Philipse’s criticisms and argue that they are uncompelling. -
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA Speaking and Thinking
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Speaking and Thinking about God in Rosenzweig and Heidegger A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Philosophy Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Paul Murphy Higgins Washington, D.C. 2013 Speaking and Thinking about God in Rosenzweig and Heidegger Paul Murphy Higgins, Ph.D. Director: Holger Zaborowski, D.Phil. In the early twentieth century, many philosophers began to reject Kantian and Hegelian approaches to the question of God and the philosophy of religion. The challenge was then to formulate a new way of talking about God within philosophy without necessarily having to revert to pre-modern accounts. These thinkers saw the importance of retaining the insights of modernity while also taking into account the Romantic and post-Romantic critiques of modernism as a one- sided or overly rationalistic enterprise. This dissertation seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of the approaches of Franz Rosenzweig and Martin Heidegger to rethinking the question of how philosophy is to proceed, especially in light of religious phenomena. Placing Rosenzweig and Heidegger in dialogue helps to further our understanding of both figures, particularly insofar as Rosenzweig’s thought might be used as a corrective to possible shortcomings in the later Heidegger. Many scholars have argued that there is something problematic about Heidegger’s religious thought, but Rosenzweig has been almost completely overlooked as an important corrective resource. Both Rosenzweig’s comprehensive account of the basic phenomena of human existence and his grammatical method for formulating this account share many of Heidegger’s insights, yet surpass them insofar as Rosenzweig is able to address the topic in a more philosophically cogent manner. -
On Richard Swinburne and the Failings of Christian Theistic Evidentialism
On Richard Swinburne and the Failings of Christian Theistic Evidentialism Raphael Lataster Contra Theism Earlier this year I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to present a paper at the University of Oxford, having been invited by the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies. Although this is not one of the more prestigious Religious Studies conferences, the allure of presenting in the historic Old Library of the University Church of St Mary, the chance to receive helpful and non-helpful criticisms before submitting my thesis, and the support of my faculty made the decision to attend very easy.1 The papers were surprisingly of a very high quality, with the topics ranging from the always-contentious definition of religion, to the need for ‘liberal’ forms of traditional religions, to those Mormons who buck the trend regarding the commonly perceived inverse relationship between formal education and ‘religiosity’.2 We of the former European colonies did not fail to surprise and entertain, with one highlight coming from a spirited and elderly Latin American scholar disputing with the host, Canon Brian Mountford MBE, about the time she had left. The diverse attendees and presenters were generally very respectful and supportive of each other. Most were also very sociable, eager to indulge in the occasional celebratory snifter and/or to go on adventures around the University and its surrounds.3 Raphael Lataster is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney. 1 I wish to acknowledge and thank the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences for subsidising this trip via the Postgraduate Research Support Scheme. -
Questioning the Plausibility of Jesus Ahistoricity Theories—A Brief Pseudo-Bayesian Metacritique of the Sources
Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1 Spring 2015 Article 5 2015 Questioning the Plausibility of Jesus Ahistoricity Theories—A Brief Pseudo-Bayesian Metacritique of the Sources Raphael Lataster University of Sydney Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal Recommended Citation Lataster, Raphael "Questioning the Plausibility of Jesus Ahistoricity Theories—A Brief Pseudo- Bayesian Metacritique of the Sources." Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 6, no. 1 (2015). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol6/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 63 IMW Journal of Religious Studies Vol. 6:1 Raphael Lataster is a professionally secular PhD researcher at the University of Sydney (Studies in Religion) and teaches on religion at various institutions. His main research interests include Philosophy of Religion, Christian origins, logic, Bayesian reasoning, sustainability, and alternative god-concepts such as pantheism and pandeism. He is also an avid rock climber. Raphael Lataster: Questioning the Plausibility of Jesus Ahistoricity Theories 64 ‡ Questioning the Plausibility of Jesus Ahistoricity Theories—A Brief Pseudo-Bayesian Metacritique of the Sources1 ‡ There have been recent efforts to introduce Bayes’ -
The Edge of Violence Described As a Process of Radicalisation
Edge of violence cover 11/17/10 5:01 PM Page 1 The path into terrorism in the name of Islam is often The Edge of Violence | described as a process of radicalisation. But to be radical is “Tackling home-grown not necessarily to be violent. Violent radicals are clearly enemies of liberal democracies, but non-violent radicals might sometimes be powerful allies. This pamphlet is a terrorism requires a summary of two years of research examining the difference between violent and non-violent radicals in Europe and Canada. It represents a step towards a more nuanced radical approach…” understanding of the behaviour of radicalised individuals, the appeal of the al-Qaeda narrative, and the role of governments Jamie Bartlett · Jonathan Birdwell · Michael King and communities in responding. The Edge of Violence suggests that government policy must distinguish clearly between radicalisation that leads to THE EDGE OF VIOLENCE violence and radicalisation that does not: ways must be found to ensure young people can be radical and dissenting without Jamie Bartlett violent consequences. The pamphlet argues that the best way to fight radical ideas is with a liberal attitude to dissent, as Jonathan Birdwell silencing radical views can create a taboo effect that Michael King inadvertently makes such ideas more appealing. The threat of violent radicalisation can never be ‘solved’ or completely neutralised, it can only be managed. The process of radicalisation to violence still eludes complete understanding: any response will entail controversial decisions and unintended consequences. Therefore, governments must focus on the things they can realistically change, while the lead role in prevention must be played by society: individuals, groups, organisations and communities. -
Reason and Religion Herman Philipse
FI Feb-Mar 07 Pages 12/26/06 12:56 PM Page 33 Reason and Religion Herman Philipse some of the most spectacular examples. On the morning of November 2, 2004, the Dutch secularist filmmaker and columnist Theo van Gogh was brutally slaugh- tered in Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri, a radicalized sec- eing a secularist in Europe today is a mixed ond-generation Muslim immigrant from Morocco. Whereas this blessing, particularly for those who publicly was to some extent a Dutch drama—both victim and murderer criticize religion. On the one hand, secularists were riding bicycles when the killing began—the imported reli- Bin Western Europe may feel victorious, since reason now seems gious motivation of the murder was obvious. After firing seven to override faith in the population at large. Religious institutions bullets into his victim’s body from behind, Bouyeri cut Van are withering in most countries. Between 1970 and 2003, for Gogh’s throat in accordance with what he thought of as Muslim example, weekly church attendance declined in the Netherlands ritual and used a knife to pin a letter on the corpse, saying that from 41 percent to 12 percent and in France from 23 percent to critics of Islam such as Van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali would be 8 percent. Personal religious beliefs are becoming less common, punished by death. Hirsi Ali, a Dutch Member of Parliament and as well. In 1947, 80 percent of the Dutch believed that the a refugee from Somalia with whom Van Gogh had made a short Christian god exists, whereas in 2004 only around 50 percent film criticizing the religious justification of violence against held this belief. -
Lataster R. How to Show That Christian Theism Is True: a Call to the Next Copyright© Lataster R
Philosophy International Journal ISSN: 2641-9130 How to Show That Christian Theism is True: A Call to the Next Generation of Christian Apologists Lataster R* Conceptual Paper The University of Sydney, Australia Volume 2 Issue 2 Received Date: February 21, 2019 *Corresponding author: Raphael Lataster, PhD, The University of Sydney, Woolley Published Date: April 10, 2019 A20, NSW, Australia, Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.23880/phij-16000116 Abstract It is one thing to know that Christian theism is true. It is another thing altogether to show that Christian theism is true**. Building on the recent work of theistic and atheistic philosophers of religion, I briefly explain the (near) ideal way to go about demonstrating the truth or likelihood of Christian theism to non-believers. Whilst generally trying to avoid making the much-sought probabilistic judgements, I explain the many steps involved in firstly arguing that theism is the superior hypothesis, and then arguing that the Christian interpretation of theism is the best one. Realising the enormity of the task, I also offer some practical advice for this important work. Keywords: Theism; Naturalism; Polytheism; Deism; Pantheism; Panentheism; Pandeism ** We shall put aside discussions about fideism, which I do, of course, accept as a valid option. The (Probably) Best Way to Argue are: to argue from certainty, which is unrealistic, even if only because of the justifiable uncertainties about our Christian theists typically have many and varied cognitive ability to arrive at or convincingly argue for reasons for believing as they do, but these reasons are not certainty about things, and would almost always be always convincing to the non-believer. -
Ambiguity of the Sacred
AMBIGUITY OF THE SACRED PHENOMENOLOGY, POLITICS, AESTHETICS JONNA BORNEMARK & HANS RUIN (EDS.) SÖDERTÖRN PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES is a series connected to the Department of Philosophy at Södertörn University. It publishes monographs and anthologies in philosophy, with a special focus on the Continental-European tradition. It seeks to provide a platform for innovative contemporary philosophical research. The volumes are published mainly in English and Swedish. The series is edited by Marcia Sá Cavalcante Schuback and Hans Ruin. Cover photo: Helene Schmitz, from the series “Sunken gardens” AMBIGUITY OF THE SACRED PHENOMENOLOGY, POLITICS, AESTHETICS SÖDERTÖRN PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES 12 2012 Ambiguity of the Sacred Edited by Jonna Bornemark & Hans Ruin SÖDERTÖRN PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES 12 Södertörn University The Library SE-141 89 Huddinge www.sh.se/publications © The authors Cover image: Helen Schmitz, from the series “Sunken gardens” Graphic Form: Jonathan Robson & Per Lindblom Printed by E-print, Stockholm 2012 Södertörn Philosophical Studies 12 ISSN 1651-6834 Södertörn Academic Studies 49 ISSN 1650-433X ISBN 978-91-86069-47-6 Contents Introduction HANS RUIN & JONNA BORNEMARK 5 Sacredness as a Social Strategy MUNIZ SODRÉ 15 Religion, Religiosity and Political Sacredness Remarks on Muniz Sodré’s Paper MATTIAS MARTINSON 25 You Shall Kill the One you Love Abraham and the Ambiguity of God JAKOB ROGOZINSKI 29 You Shall not Commit Murder The Ambiguity of God and the Character of Moral Responsibility ELENA NAMLI 43 Ambiguities of Immanence Between Stanislas Breton and Louis Althusser (or, Why an Apostle Recycles as an Exemplar of Materialist Subjectivity) WARD BLANTON 49 Strange Crossings Commentary to Ward Blanton HANS RUIN 73 Minimalist Faith, Embodied Messianism The Ambiguity of the Sacred and the Holy BETTINA BERGO 79 Life as Limit-drawing Event Comments on Bergo’s Discussion of Formalism vs. -
This Is a Draft. Please Do Not Cite! the Final Version Is Available in European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol
This is a Draft. Please do not Cite! The final version is available in European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 10, No. 1., Direct Link THE PROBLEM OF ALTERNATIVE MONOTHEISMS: ANOTHER SERIOUS CHALLENGE TO THEISM Raphael Lataster1 University of Sydney Abstract. Theistic and analytic philosophers of religion typically privilege classical theism by ignoring or underestimating the great threat of alternative monotheisms.2 In this article I discuss numerous god- 10.24204/EJPR.V10I1.1801 models, such as those involving weak, stupid, evil, morally indifferent, and non-revelatory gods. I find DOI: that theistic philosophers have not successfully eliminated these and other possibilities, or argued for their relative improbability. In fact, based on current evidence — especially concerning the hiddenness of God and the gratuitous evils in the world — many of these hypotheses appear to be more probable than theism. Also considering the — arguably infinite — number of alternative monotheisms, the inescapable conclusion is that theism is a very improbable god-concept, even when it is assumed that one and only Final Version: Version: Final one transcendent god exists. I. THE PROBLEM Numerous sceptical scholars analyse and scrutinise arguments for the existence of at least one god, generally finding them wanting.3 Furthermore, when such arguments are combined, and contrasted against contra arguments, critical scholars conclude that such cases are not sufficient to make probable the existence of a god or gods. Whilst I concur, I shall reflect on what can be known about the existence of god/s if (many or most of) the arguments are DRAFTgenerally assumed to be persuasive.4 In other words, for the sake of argument, and whilst formulating my argument within the framework of a Bayesian approach,5 I shall temporarily suppose that there is good evidence that supports divine existence, and overlook the many good arguments for ontological naturalism, in the sense of the thesis that there are no gods. -
Science and the Ethics of Belief. an Examination of Philipse's
J Gen Philos Sci DOI 10.1007/s10838-015-9313-9 ARTICLE Science and the Ethics of Belief. An Examination of Philipse’s ‘Rule R’ 1 1 Rene´ van Woudenberg • Joelle Rothuizen-van der Steen Ó The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract It has recently been argued that the following Rule should be part of any characterization of science: Claims concerning specific disputed facts should be endorsed only if they are sufficiently supported by the application of validated methods of research or discovery, and moreover that acceptance of this Rule should lead one to reject religious belief. This paper argues, first, that the Rule, as stated, should not be accepted as it suffers from a number of problems. And second, that even if the Rule were to be acceptable, it should not lead one to reject religious belief. Keywords Ethics of belief Á Scientism Á Alvin Plantinga Á Herman Philipse An ‘‘Ethics of Belief’’ is an answer to such questions as: ‘‘What should we believe if we want to believe rationally, or responsibly?’’, ‘‘What should we do, if our aim is to acquire true rather than false beliefs?’’, ‘‘What intellectual and doxastic obligations are binding for us if we want to be rational and responsible believers?’’1 One set of answers to these questions has sometimes, pejoratively, been named scien- tism.2 According to this set of answers, what we should believe is what science tells us; what we should do when it is truth that we want, is do science, or to accept the testimony of scientists when they are writing or speaking in their capacity as scientists; the obligations we have if we want to be responsible believers, is to take science, and science alone, seriously.