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312Knowledge, Belief and God: New Insights in Religious Epistemology Edited by Matthew A. Benton, John Hawthorne and Dani Rabinowitz (review)Analysis 79 (2): 381-384. 2019.This is a review of *Knowledge, Belief and God: New Insights in Religious Epistemology* (edited by Matthew Benton, John Hawthorne, and Dani Rabinowitz). The review briefly discusses the contributed essays by Benton and Isaac Choi.
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1746The Tristram Shandy ParadoxPhilosophia Christi 4 (2): 335-349. 2002.This paper is a response to David Oderberg's discussion of the Tristram Shandy paradox. I defend the claim that the Tristram Shandy paradox does not support the claim that it is impossible that the past is infinite.
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792Evidential Arguments from Evil and Skeptical TheismPhilo 8 (2). 2004.In this paper we respond to criticisms by Michael Bergmann and Michael Rea in their “In Defense of Sceptical Theism : A Reply to Almeida and Oppy,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 83.
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19History of Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand (edited book)Springer. 2014.This two volume works provides a comprehensive history of philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Volume one provides a chronological history, with one chapter devoted to the early years in which idealism dominated Australasian philosophy, and then chapters that cover each of the decades from the second world war. Volume two provides a thematic history, with treatment of most of the major areas to which Australasian philosophers have made significant contributions.
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260Wagering on an Ironic God: Pascal on Faith and Philosophy by Thomas S. Hibbs (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 56 (2): 372-373. 2018.This is a short review of Thomas S. Hibbs' book: *Wagering on an Ironic God: Pascal on Faith and Philosophy*.
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93Atheism and AgnosticismCambridge University Press. 2018.This is a Cambridge *Element*, on the topic of atheism and agnosticism. It contains four main parts. First, there is an introduction in which atheism and agnosticism are explained. Second, a theoretical background to assessment. Third, a case for preferring atheism to theism. Fourth, a case for preferring agnosticism to theism.
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13Early Modern Philosophy of Religion: The History of Western Philosophy of Religion Volume 3 (edited book)Acumen Publishing. 2013.The History of Western Philosophy of Religion brings together an international team of over 100 leading scholars to provide authoritative exposition of how history's most important philosophical thinkers - from antiquity to the present day - have sought to analyse the concepts and tenets central to Western religious belief, especially Christianity. Divided chronologically into five volumes, The History of Western Philosophy of Religion is designed to be accessible to a wide range of readers, fro…Read more
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475On Functional Definitions Of Art: A Response to RoweBritish Journal of Aesthetics 33 (1): 67-71. 1993.This paper is a critical assessment of M. W. Rowe's functional definition of art.
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160The Semantics of Media (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 79 (4): 582-583. 2001.Book Information The Semantics of Media. By Jeff Ross. Dordrecht, Kluwer. 1997. Pp. vii + 137. £56.75.
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26A companion to philosophy in Australia & New Zealand (edited book)Monash University Publishing. 2011.This work is a companion to philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. It contains over two hundred entries on: Australasian philosophy departments; notable Australasian philosophers; significant events in the history of Australasian philosophy; and areas to which Australasian philosophers have made notable contributions.
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134The Best Argument Against GodPalgrave-Macmillan. 2013.Preface -- Introduction -- Preliminary matters -- Some big ideas -- Minimal theism and naturalism -- Standard theism and naturalism -- Conclusion.
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42The Antipodean philosopher (edited book)Lexington Books. 2011.v. 1. Public lectures on philosophy in Australia and New Zealand -- 2. Interviews with Australian and New Zealand philosophers
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167Contemporary Readings in the Foundations of Metaphysics (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 77 (4): 519-521. 1999.Book review.
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317"Humean" Supervenience?Philosophical Studies 101 (1): 77-105. 2000.As with many aspects of David Lewis’s work, it is hard to provide a better summary of his views than he provided himself. So the following introduction to what the Humean Supervenience view is will follow the opening pages of Lewis (1994a) extremely closely. But for those readers who haven’t read that paper, here’s the nickel version.
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565Weak agnosticism defendedInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 36 (3). 1994.Agnosticism has had some bad press in recent years. Nonetheless, I hope to show that agnosticism can be so formulated that it is no less philosophically respectable than theism and atheism. This is not a mere philosophical exercise; for, as it happens, the formulated position is--I think--the one to which I subscribe. I include a qualification here since it may be that the position to which I subscribe is better characterised as fallibilist atheism--but more of that anon
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2153On defining art historicallyBritish Journal of Aesthetics 32 (2): 153-161. 1991.This paper is an extended critical discussion of Jerrold Levinson's historical definition of art. I try out various different avenues of attack; it is not clear whether any of them is ultimately successful.
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254Analysis of Existing: Barry Miller's Approach to God, by Elmar J. Kremer: New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, pp. xiv + 143, AU$148 (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 93 (2): 409-410. 2015.Review of Kremer's book on Barry Miller's approach to God. (I have discussed Miller's argument from contingency in other publications.)
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1467From the Tristram Shandy Paradox to the Christmas Shandy Paradox: Reply to OderbergArs Disputandi 3 172-195. 2003.This paper is a response to David Oderberg's criticisms of a previous paper of mine. (Bibliographical details are provided in the article.)
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565The Ontological Argument (Cambridge Classic Philosophical Arguments Series) (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2018.In this Introduction, we begin with two relatively uncontroversial matters: the broad contours of the history of discussion of ontological arguments, and the major topics that require discussion in connection with ontological arguments. We then move on to consideration of the much more difficult task of the characterisation of ontological arguments—i.e. the task of saying exactly what ontological arguments are and explaining how they differ from, say, cosmological, teleological, and moral argume…Read more
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307Natural theologyIn Deane-Peter Baker (ed.), Alvin Plantinga: Contemporary Philosophy in Focus, Cambridge University Press. pp. 15-47. 2007.This paper is a careful examination of the various approaches that Alvin Plantinga has taken towards natural theology over the course of his academic career (from *God and Other Minds* to *Warranted Christian Belief*). In his earliest works, Plantinga has a very clear and strict conception of the project of natural theology, and he argues very clearly (and correctly) that that project fails. In his middle works, Plantinga has a tolerably clear and slightly less strict conception of the project o…Read more
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1557Anselm and the ontological argumentIn Jeff Jordan (ed.), Philosophy of Religion: The Key Thinkers, Continuum. pp. 22-43. 2011.This chapter gives an exposition and critique of Anselm's Proslogion II argument.
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165Review of "Bangs, crunches, shrieks, whispers" by J Earman (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 76 (2): 352-4. 1998.Positive review of John Earman's *Bangs, Crunches, Shrieks, Whispers*.
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327The Philosophical Insignificance of Gödel's SlingshotMind 106 (421): 121-142. 1997.This paper is a critical examination of Stephen Neale's *The Philosophical Significance of Godel's slingshot*. I am sceptical of the philosophical significance of Godel’s Slingshot (and of Slingshot arguments in general). In particular, I do not believe that Godel’s Slingshot has any interesting and important philosophical consequences for theories of facts or for referential treatments of definite descriptions. More generally, I do not believe that any Slingshot arguments have interesting and i…Read more
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478Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology (review)Faith and Philosophy 13 (1): 125-133. 1996.This paper is a critical review of *Big Bang Cosmology* by Quentin Smith and William Lane Craig. (The book is a collection of previously published papers; most are concerned, in one way or another, with kalam cosmological arguments for the existence of God.).
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521Maydole’s 2QS5 ArgumentPhilo 7 (2): 203-211. 2004.This paper is a reply to Robert Maydole’s “The Modal Perfection Argument for the Existence of a Supreme Being,” published in Philo 6, 2, 2003. I argue that Maydole’s Modal Perfection Argument fails, and that there is no evident way in which it can be repaired.
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880Where’s the biff?Erkenntnis 68 (2): 149-68. 2008.This paper presents an attempt to integrate theories of causal processes—of the kind developed by Wesley Salmon and Phil Dowe—into a theory of causal models using Bayesian networks. We suggest that arcs in causal models must correspond to possible causal processes. Moreover, we suggest that when processes are rendered physically impossible by what occurs on distinct paths, the original model must be restricted by removing the relevant arc. These two techniques suffice to explain cases of late pr…Read more
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987Professor William Craig’s Criticisms of Critiques of Kalam Cosmological Arguments By Paul Davies, Stephen Hawking, and Adolf GrunbaumFaith and Philosophy 12 (2): 237-250. 1995.Kalam cosmological arguments have recently been the subject of criticisms, at least inter alia, by physicists---Paul Davies, Stephen Hawking---and philosophers of science---Adolf Grunbaum. In a series of recent articles, William Craig has attempted to show that these criticisms are “superficial, iII-conceived, and based on misunderstanding.” I argue that, while some of the discussion of Davies and Hawking is not philosophically sophisticated, the points raised by Davies, Hawking and Grunbaum do …Read more
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270Reply to Richard DavisPhilosophia Christi 11 (2): 423-436. 2009.This paper is a response to a paper by Rich Davis in which he argues that David Lewis' modal realism is inconsistent with classical theism. I provide what I take to be a coherent modal realist formulation of classical theism.
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439What I believeIn Russell Blackford & Udo Schuklenk (eds.), 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why we are Atheists, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 50-56. 2009.This article gives a brief sketch of the naturalistic beliefs that I hold. It is not intended as a *defence* of those beliefs; the aim of the paper is simply to get the beliefs out onto the table.
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |