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143Perhaps almost all non-theists will agree that ‘the problem of evil’ has some role in their reasons for rejecting traditional Western theism. When they consult their intuitions, non-theists typically do not find it credible to suppose that this is the kind of world which could have been created by an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good being. Moreover, when they review their reasons for non-belief, non-theists typically find that a catalogue of the amounts and kinds of evils which are to be foun…Read more
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3719Paley’s Argument for DesignPhilo 5 (2): 161-173. 2002.The main aim of this paper is to examine an almost universal assumption concerning the structure of Paley’s argument for design. Almost all commentators suppose that Paley’s argument is an inductive argument---either an argument by analogy or an argument by inference to the best explanation. I contend, on the contrary, that Paley’s argument is actually a straightforwardly deductive argument. Moreover, I argue that, when Paley’s argument is properly understood, it can readily be seen that it is n…Read more
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586Consciousness, theism, and naturalismIn J. P. Moreland, Chad Meister & K. Sweis (eds.), Debating Christian Theism, Oxford University Press. pp. 131-46. 2013.I discuss J. P. Moreland's arguments from consciousness. I argue for the conclusion that considerations about consciousness favor naturalism over theism.
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151Reading Philosophy of Religion: Selected Texts with Interactive Commentary (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2010._Reading Philosophy of Religion_ combines a diverse selection of classical and contemporary texts in philosophy of religion with insightful commentaries. Offers a unique presentation through a combination of text and interactive commentary Provides a mix of classic and contemporary texts, including some not anthologized elsewhere Includes writings from thinkers such as Aquinas, Boethius, Hume, Plantinga and Putnam Divided into sections which examine religious language, the existence of God, reas…Read more
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242Introducing Philosophy of Religion, by Chad Meister (review)Ars Disputandi 10. 2010.Review of Chad Meister's "Introducing Philosophy of Religion".
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845On some alleged consequences of 'the Hartle-Hawking cosmology'Sophia 36 (1): 84-95. 1997.In [3], Quentin Smith claims that `the Hartle-Hawking cosmology' is inconsistent with classical theism in a way which redounds to the discredit of classical theism; and, moreover, that the truth of `the Hartle- Hawking cosmology' would undermine reasonsed belief in any other varieties of theism which hold that the universe is created.
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1934Cosmological argumentsNoûs 43 (1): 31-48. 2009.This paper provides a taxonomy of cosmological arguments and givesgeneral reasons for thinking that arguments that belong to a given category do not succeed.
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184God, God* and God'In Anthony Fisher & Hayden Ramsay (eds.), Faith and Reason: Friends or Foes in a New Millennium?, Atf Press. pp. 171-186. 2004.This paper compares overall cases for the existence of God, an evil God, and a morally neutral God. It argues that, while atheists can reasonably believe that the overall case for the existence of God is no better than the case for the existence of an evil God, and is perhaps worse than the case for the existence of a morally neutral God, theists can reasonably believe that the case for the existence of God is better than the cases for the existence of an evil God and the existence of a morally …Read more
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179The Turing testStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2003.This paper provides a survey of philosophical discussion of the "the Turing Test". In particular, it provides a very careful and thorough discussion of the famous 1950 paper that was published in Mind.
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188On an argument about reference to future individualsPhilosophical Quarterly 45 (178): 84-87. 1995.This paper critically examines Roger Teichmann's defence of the claim that it is impossible to refer to future individuals. (Bibliographical details are provided in the article.)
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993Arguments from Moral EvilInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 56 (2/3). 2004.In this paper, I argue that -- contrary to widely received opinion -- logical arguments from evil are well and truly alive and kicking.
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158Review of D. Jacquette, Meinongian logic (review)Mind 107 (428): 877-908. 1998.This is a review of *Meinongian Logic* (by Dale Jacquette).
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213Evolution vs creationism in Australian schoolsIn Warren Bonett (ed.), The Australian Book of Atheism,, Scribe. pp. 139-53. 2010.This paper discusses the teaching of -- and opposition to the teaching of -- evolutionary theory in Australian schools in the early twenty-first century.
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432More than one flaw: Reply to MillicanSophia 46 (3): 295-304. 2007.Millican (Mind 113(451):437–476, 2004) claims to have detected ‘the one fatal flaw in Anselm’s ontological argument.’ I argue that there is more than one important flaw in the position defended in Millican (Mind 113(451):437–476, 2004). First, Millican’s reconstruction of Anselm’s argument does serious violence to the original text. Second, Millican’s generalised objection fails to diagnose any flaw in a vast range of ontological arguments. Third, there are independent reasons for thinking that …Read more
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1188Minimalism and truthNoûs 31 (2): 170-196. 1997.This paper canvasses the various dimensions along which theories of truth may disagree about the extent to which truth is minimal.
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465Review : 'God and Design', ed. by N. Manson (review)Sophia 43 (1): 127-31. 2004.Review of Neil Manson's excellent anthology on arguments for design.
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560Semantics for propositional attitude ascriptionsPhilosophical Studies 67 (1). 1992.This paper provides a semantics for propositional attitude ascriptions. (In this respect, the title of the paper is quite well chosen.)
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666Molinism and divine prophecy of free actionsReligious Studies 50 (2): 1-10. 2014.Among challenges to Molinism, the challenge posed by divine prophecy of human free action has received insufficient attention. We argue that this challenge is a significant addition to the array of challenges that confront Molinism.
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617Review: Daniel A. Dombrowski: Rethinking the Ontological Argument: A Neoclassical Theistic Response (review)Mind 117 (467): 690-693. 2008.Critical review of Daniel Dombrowski's "Rethinking the Ontological Argument".
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679Perfection, near-perfection, maximality, and Anselmian TheismInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 69 (2): 119-138. 2011.Anselmian theists claim (a) that there is a being than which none greater can be conceived; and (b) that it is knowable on purely—solely, entirely—a priori grounds that there is a being than which none greater can be conceived. In this paper, I argue that Anselmian Theism gains traction by conflating different interpretations of the key description ‘being than which no greater can be conceived’. In particular, I insist that it is very important to distinguish between ideal excellence and maximal…Read more
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961DisagreementInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 68 (1-3): 183-199. 2010.There has been a recent explosion of interest in the epistemology of disagreement. Much of the recent literature is concerned with a particular range of puzzle cases (discussed in the Cases section of my paper). Almost all of the papers that contribute to that recent literature make mention of questions about religious disagreement in ways that suggest that there are interesting connections between those puzzle cases and real life cases of religious disagreement. One important aim of my paper is…Read more
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363Theism in Western PhilosophyIn Charles Taliaferro, Victoria Harrison & Stewart Goetz (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Theism, Routledge. pp. 11. 2012.This chapter provides a quick sketch of the history of western philosophy of religion as it bears on theism.
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369Response to GettingsAnalysis 60 (4): 363-367. 2000.This article is a reply to Michael Gettings' criticisms of a previous paper of mine on Godel's ontological argument. (All relevant bibliographical details may be found in the article.) I provide a patch to my previous -- faulty -- attempt to provide a parody of Godel's ontological argument on the model of Gaunilo's parody of Anselm's Proslogion 2 argument.
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259Late-Twentieth-Century atheismIn Nick Trakakis & Graham Oppy (eds.), Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Religion: The History of Western Philosophy of Religion, Volume 5, . pp. 301-12. 2009.This chapter provides a brief account of atheistic philosophy of relgion in the second half of the twentieth century.
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1325The ontological argumentIn Paul Copan & Chad V. Meister (eds.), Philosophy of religion: classic and contemporary issues, Blackwell. 2008.General discussion of ontological arguments. (Extended the discussion of ontological arguments in the then current version of my SEP entry on ontological arguments.)
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1036Critical notice of J.P. Moreland's Consciousness and the Existence of God: A Theistic ArgumentEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 3 (1): 193-212. 2011.This paper is a detailed examination of some parts of J. P. Moreland's book on "the argument from consciousness". (There is a companion article that discusses the parts of the book not taken up in this critical notice.).
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155Contemporary Readings in the Foundations of Metaphysics (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 77 (4): 519-521. 1999.Book review.
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311"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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556Weak 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
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |