• : New Essays on Theism’s Rationality (edited book)
    with Paul Copan
    Lexington Books. 2021.
    Despite its name, “naturalism” as a world-view turns out to be rather unnatural in its strict and more consistent form of materialism and determinism. This is why a number of naturalists opt for a broadened version that includes objective moral values, intrinsic human dignity, consciousness, beauty, personal agency, and the like. But in doing so, broad naturalism begins to look more like theism. As many strict naturalists recognize, broad naturalism must borrow from the metaphysical resources of…Read more
  • : New Essays on Theism’s Rationality (edited book)
    with Paul Copan
    Lexington Books. 2018.
    Despite its name, “naturalism” as a world-view turns out to be rather unnatural in its strict and more consistent form of materialism and determinism. This is why a number of naturalists opt for a broadened version that includes objective moral values, intrinsic human dignity, consciousness, beauty, personal agency, and the like. But in doing so, broad naturalism begins to look more like theism. As many strict naturalists recognize, broad naturalism must borrow from the metaphysical resources of…Read more
  •  69
    Din Felsefesi Başlangıç Rehberi
    DTA Yayıncılık. 2025.
    Bu kitap, felsefenin en eski konu başlıklarından birini keşfetmeye başlamak için bir rehber görevi görmesi amacıyla kaleme alınmıştır. Zira dini öneme sahip konulardaki felsefi düşünce (veya din felsefesi), felsefenin kendisi kadar eskidir. Bu başlangıç, günümüz Türkiye’sinin batı kıyısındaki antik dünyada önemli çalışmalarla ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Felsefe tarihinin büyük filozoflarından birisi olan Aristoteles, bir zamanlar Türkiye’nin kuzeybatı kıyılarında yaşamıştı. Tarihsel olarak Türkiye top…Read more
  •  29
    A Brief History of Western Philosophy (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 53 (3): 712-713. 2000.
    A Brief History of Western Philosophy is a stimulating, impressive work by one of Britain’s leading philosophers. It is valuable both as an introduction to the history of ideas as well as a record of a distinguished philosopher’s mature reflections. In the Preface, Anthony Kenny aligns his book with Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy for, like Russell, he seeks to reach “the general educated reader, who has no special training, and who wishes to learn the contribution that philos…Read more
  •  49
    Morality; Does “God” Make a Difference? (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 59 (3): 650-651. 2006.
    Chapter 1, “A Theory About Moral Theories,” sets forth Johnson’s central theme: “Normative ethical systems are best understood as attempts to seek out and justify ways of living a fulfilled human life in terms of the kind of fulfillment one believes to be possible given one’s beliefs about human nature and the ultimate nature of all things. Furthermore, any normative ethical system must also indicate just how one’s own quest for fulfillment is related to the experiences of other people and senti…Read more
  •  87
    An argument that Pamela Sue Anderson’s critique of Irigaray commits her to a version of the Ideal Observer Theory, a theory Anderson rejects. This paper was delivered in the APA Pacific 2007 Mini-Conference on Models of God
  •  137
    Relativising the ideal observer theory
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 49 (1): 123-138. 1988.
    THIS PAPER IS A DEFENSE OF AN OBJECTIVIST VERSION OF\nRODERICK FIRTH'S IDEAL OBSERVER THEORY OF ETHICS. IT\nANALYZES AND CRITIQUES A POWERFUL, RELATIVIZED IDEAL\nOBSERVER THEORY ADVANCED BY THOMAS CARSON
  •  43
    The Virtues and Vices of Agnosticism
    Philosophies 9 (4): 130. 2024.
    This essay begins with preliminary observations about the nature of agnosticism. Based on the term’s etymology, in this essay an agnostic about some proposition (e.g., God exists) is someone who does not know whether the proposition is true. Being an agnostic about the truth of a proposition is compatible with the proposition appearing to be true or the state of affairs obtains but incompatible with an agnostic knowing its truth or that the state of affairs obtains. (Reference to propositions an…Read more
  •  120
    On dedications
    with J. Decker
    Analysis 71 (4): 620-627. 2011.
    What is it to dedicate a thing or event to some person or thing? In the spirit of—and using the same techniques as—J.L. Austin, we advance an analysis of the practice of dedications. We propose that dedicating is an intentional activity involving reverence and honour. We identify the different ways a dedication can go awry and highlight the values that explain why dedications have merit (e.g. they can involve an honorable, evident self-subordination of the donator to the recipient and also bring…Read more
  •  6
    This volume exposes naturalism's unnaturalness and defends theism's naturalness and greater explanatory power to account for wide-ranging phenomena in the world and human experience. A broadening of naturalism to accommodate these features means borrowing heavily from-and thus...
  •  15
    This volume exposes naturalism’s unnaturalness and defends theism’s naturalness and greater explanatory power to account for wide-ranging phenomena in the world and human experience. A broadening of naturalism to accommodate these features means borrowing heavily from—and thus more closely resembling—a theistic worldview.
  •  37
    Constructive Comparative Philosophy of Religion: Translations of Christianity and Islam and a Case Study of Ibn Tufayl and Ralph Cudworth
    with Christophe Porot
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 25 (3): 27-36. 2023.
    We point out how some Christian-Muslim comparative philosophies of religion may be enhanced with certain translations or interpretations of Christianity: a modalist view of the trinity and a high Christology. While perhaps of only limited significance, we argue in more detail that a comparison of two leading philosophers, one Islamic, the other Christian, can bring to light a shared philosophy of innate ideas or nativism, grounding moral and theological views of goodness and the divine.
  •  14
    In _Contemporary Philosophical Theology_, Charles Taliaferro and Chad Meister focus on key topics in contemporary philosophical theology within Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, as well as Hinduism and Buddhism. The volume begins with a discussion of key methodological tools available to the philosophical theologian, such as faith and reason, science and religion, revelation and sacred scripture, and authority and tradition. The authors use these tools to explore subjects including language, ine…Read more
  •  63
    The Routledge Companion to Theism (edited book)
    with Victoria S. Harrison and Stewart Goetz
    Routledge. 2012.
    There are deep and pervasive disagreements today in universities and colleges, and popular culture in general, over the credibility and value of belief in God. This has given rise to an urgent need for a balanced, comprehensive, accessible resource book that can inform the public and scholarly debate over theism. While scholars with as diverse interests as Daniel Dennett, Terry Eagleton, Richard Dawkins, Jürgen Habermas, and Rowan Williams have recently contributed books to this debate, "theism"…Read more
  •  11
    The third volume of The History of Evil encompasses the early modern era from 1450–1700. This revolutionary period exhibited immense change in both secular knowledge and sacred understanding. It saw the fall of Constantinople and the rise of religious violence, the burning of witches and the drowning of Anabaptists, the ill treatment of indigenous peoples from Africa to the Americas, the reframing of formal authorities in religion, philosophy, and science, and it produced profound reflection on …Read more
  •  22
    Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology (edited book)
    with Paul J. Griffiths
    Wiley-Blackwell. 1964.
    This substantial anthology is a comprehensive, authoritative collection of the classical and contemporary readings in the philosophy of religion, providing a survey and analysis of the key issues, figures and concepts. Comprises the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of the classical and contemporary readings in the philosophy of religion. Provides a survey and analysis of the key issues, figures and concepts. Examines religious identity, theism and divine attributes, explanations o…Read more
  •  34
    The Soul in Locke, Butler, Reid, Hume, and Kant
    with Stewart Goetz
    In Stewart Goetz & Charles Taliaferro (eds.), A Brief History of the Soul, Wiley-blackwell. 2011.
    This chapter contains sections titled: Locke Butler Reid Hume Kant.
  •  62
    Hume’s Racism and His Case against the Miraculous
    with Anders Hendrickson
    Philosophia Christi 4 (2). 2002.
    Hume’s case against the reliability of reports of intelligent Blacks is analogous to his case against the reliability of reports of miracles
  •  115
    A Companion to Philosophy of Religion (edited book)
    with Philip L. Quinn
    Wiley-Blackwell. 1997.
    In 85 new and updated essays, this comprehensive volume provides an authoritative guide to the philosophy of religion. Includes contributions from established philosophers and rising stars 22 new entries have now been added, and all material from the previous edition has been updated and reorganized Broad coverage spans the areas of world religions, theism, atheism,, the problem of evil, science and religion, and ethics
  •  63
    Taking Common Sense Seriously: The Philosophy of Roderick Chisholm
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 41 (3): 361-369. 1998.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  99
    The Cambridge companion to Christian philosophical theology (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2010.
    The sixteen chapters, commissioned specially for this volume, are written by an internationally recognized team of scholars and examine topics such as the Trinity, God's necessary existence, simplicity, omnipotence, omniscience, ...
  •  28
    “Like my Father before Me”: Loss and Redemption of Fatherhood in Star Wars
    with Annika Taylor Beck
    In Jason T. Eberl & Kevin S. Decker (eds.), The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy, Wiley. 2015.
    Fatherly love should be evident in caring for the health and good of one's children, seeking to safeguard them from harm and to encourage their integrity. However, in Star Wars, Darth Vader promises his son's survival only on the condition that Luke Skywalker will serve his own monstrous, tyrannical master. Utilizing a philosophy of love and goodness to show how the parent–child relationship may be lost or regained, this chapter examines the transition in Anakin's life from a natural love of oth…Read more
  • Value, dualism and materialism
    In Alexander J. B. Hampton & John Peter Kenney (eds.), Christian Platonism: A History. 2020.
  •  63
    Meaning, metaphysics, and mystics: Thaddeus Metz’s God, Soul and the Meaning of Life
    International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 82 (4-5): 361-365. 2021.
    ABSTRACT Thaddeus Metz is probably the leading expert on the meaning of life. His latest book admirably displays his intellectual agility and fairness: arguments, counter-arguments, examples and counter-examples come in wave after wave that may compel most of us to slow down the pace of reading. If you have ever had the delight of interacting with Professor Metz at a conference, you know his irrepressible energy and love for debate. In this brief essay, I challenge some of Metz’s terminology, ra…Read more
  •  722
    Thought Experiments in Philosophy of Religion
    Open Theology 3 (1): 167-173. 2017.
    We present a criterion for the use of thought experiments as a guide to possibilia that bear on important arguments in philosophy of religion. We propose that the more successful thought experiments are closer to the world in terms of phenomenological realism and the values they are intended to track. This proposal is filled out by comparing thought experiments of life after death by Peter van Inwagen and Dean Zimmerman with an idealist thought experiment. In terms of realism and values we contr…Read more
  •  22
    This first volume of "The History of Evil" covers Graeco-Roman, Indian, Near Eastern and Eastern philosophy and religion from 2000 BCE to 450 CE. The volume charts the foundations of the history of evil among the major philosophical traditions and world religions, beginning with the oldest recorded traditions: the Vedas and Upanishads, Confucianism and Daoism, and Buddhism. This cutting-edge treatment of the history of evil at its crucial and determinative inception will appeal to those with par…Read more
  •  47
    Burning Down the House?
    Philosophia Christi 9 (2): 261-269. 2007.