-
27The Limits of PowerPhilosophy and Theology 5 (2): 115-124. 1990.One argument that there cannot exist a being who creates all laws of nature was first outlined by J. L. Mackie, and further developed by Gilbert Fulmer. Fulmer’s version of the argument is examined, together with a recent neoCartesian counter-argument. The Menzel-Morris thesis holds that God’s power extends to creating his own nature. I argue that Fulmer’s argument is false, but that it can sustain counter-arguments of the type formulated by Menzel-Morris.
-
Going beyond property dualismIn Kevin Corcoran (ed.), Soul, body, and survival: essays on the metaphysics of human persons, Cornell University Press. 2001.
-
1We argue that glory, while seductive, should not be sought for its own sake. We employ some Greek ethics, personalism, and the superhero figures "The Fantastic Four"
-
29Emergentism and consciousness: Going beyond property dualismIn Kevin J. Corcoran (ed.), Soul, Body, and Survival: Essays on the Metaphysics of Human Persons, Cornell University Press. 2001.
-
Soul, Body, and Survival: Essays on the Metaphysics of Human PersonsCornell University Press. 2001.
-
15Revelation Today (review)Philosophia Christi 13 (2): 427-435. 2011.There is much to appreciate in Samuel Fleischacker’s Divine Teaching and the Way of the World: A Defense of Revealed Religion. In the tradition of Tolstoy, Fleischacker argues that secular philosophy does not have the resources to provide for a meaningful life; a life of meaning is to be found principally through revealed religion. In the end, however, his concept of revelation seems very thin, ruling out even the intelligibility of experiencing God. We critically assess his atrophied concept of…Read more
-
23Peter Van Inwagen and Dean Zimmerman (eds) persons: Human and divine (oxford: Clarendon press, 2007). Pp.IX+380. £60.00 (hbk). ISBN 9780199277516 (review)Religious Studies 44 (4): 499-504. 2008.
-
660Divine and Human Agency from the Standpoint of Historicalism, Scientism, and Phenomenological RealismEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 7 (3): 3--25. 2015.Phenomenological realism, in the tradition of Dietrich von Hildebrand, is advanced as a promising methodology for a theistic philosophy of divine and human agency. Phenomenological realism is defended in contrast to the practice of historicalism -- the view that a philosophy of mind and God should always be done as part of a thoroughgoing history of philosophy, e.g. the use of examples in analytic theology should be subordinated to engaging the work of Kant and other great philosophers. The crit…Read more
-
The soul of the runnerIn Michael W. Austin (ed.), Running and Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind, Blackwell. 2007.
-
Consciousness and the Mind of GodAmerican Journal of Theology and Philosophy 17 (1): 107-112. 1996.
-
22Kenny, Anthony. A Brief History of Western Philosophy (review)Review of Metaphysics 53 (3): 712-714. 2000.
-
39The Ideal Observer’s Philosophy of ReligionThe Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 4 51-58. 1999.Philosophical assessments of different religious traditions face two substantial objections, among others. According to one, the very nature of religious traditions as embedded forms of life prevents this philosophical undertaking. According to the other, a philosophical inventory is possible but under its guise no religious tradition will be left standing. I reply to both and then comment on whether there is (or can be) an ideal observation post from which to philosophically elucidate and compa…Read more
-
359Eleonore Stump. Wandering in Darkenss: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering. Oxford University Press, 2010European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 3 (2): 455--459. 2011.
-
35The Divine Attributes (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 70 (3): 742-745. 2005.This book is a first-rate contribution to analytic philosophy of religion. The divine attributes that are the focus of this analytic enterprise are constitutive of theism. They include substantiality, incorporeality, necessary existence, eternality, omniscience, perfect virtue, moral admirability, and omnipotence. Hoffman and Rosenkrantz limit themselves to a conceptual goal; they argue for the coherence of theism not its truth. The book contains a useful glossary and terms are introduced with c…Read more
-
25A Defense of First and Second-Order Theism: The Limits of Empirical Inquiry and the Rationality of Religious BeliefEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 8 (3): 213-235. 2016.We argue that the use of the term “supernatural” is problematic in philosophy of religion in general, and in the contribution by Thornhill-Miller and Millican in particular. We address the disturbing parallel between Hume’s case against the rationality of belief in miracles and his dismissal of reports of racial equality. We do not argue that because Hume was a racist therefore his view against miracles is faulty, but we draw attention to how Hume sets up a framework that, for similar reasons, d…Read more
-
16Review of John Clayton, Religions, Reasons and Gods: Essays in Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2007 (7). 2007.
-
53Possibilities in Philosophy of MindPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 57 (1): 127-137. 1997.This paper seeks to overturn the claim that Cartesian arguments for dualism based on the conceivable separation of person and body lack warrant, since it is just as conceivable that persons are identical with their bodies as it is that persons and their bodies are distinct. If the thesis of the paper is cogent, then it is not as easy to imagine person-body identity as many anti-Cartesians suppose.
-
69Contemporary Philosophy of ReligionWiley-Blackwell. 1997.This volume provides a vivid and engaging introduction to contemporary philosophy of religion.
-
28Cumulative Argument, Sustaining Causes, and MiraclesPhilosophia Christi 8 (2). 2006.This is a critique of J. H. Sobel’s ’Logic and Theism’, defending the use of cumulative arguments, and the coherence of theistic metaphysics
-
33The give and take of biological naturalism: John Searle and the case for dualismPhilosophia Christi 7 (2): 447-462. 2005.
Northfield, Minnesota, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Religion |