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1365Omnipotence AgainFaith and Philosophy 17 (1): 26-47. 2000.One of the cornerstones of western theology is the doctrine of divine omnipotence. God is traditionally conceived of as an omnipotent or all-powerful being. However, satisfactory analyses of omnipotence are notoriously elusive. In this paper, I first consider some simple attempts to analyze omnipotence, showing how each fails. I then consider two more sophisticated accounts of omnipotence. The first of these is presented by Edward Wierenga; the second by Thomas Flint and Alfred Freddoso. I argue…Read more
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43The Psychopath Challenge to Divine Command Theory: Reply to FlannaganSophia 63 (1): 35-42. 2024.Erik Wielenberg has presented an objection to divine command theory (DCT) alleging that DCT has the troubling implication that psychopaths have no moral obligations. Matthew Flannagan has replied to Wielenberg’s argument. Here, I defend the view that, despite Flannagan’s reply, the psychopath objection presents a serious problem for the versions of DCT defended by its most prominent contemporary advocates — Robert Adams, C. Stephen Evans, and William Lane Craig.
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Evil and atheistic moral realismIn W. Paul Franks (ed.), Explaining Evil: Four Views, Bloomsbury Academic. 2019.
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70Craig’s God Cannot Create a Temporal UniversePhilosophia Christi 23 (2): 329-340. 2021.William Lane Craig’s inuential kalam cosmological argument concludes that the universe has a cause of its beginning. Craig provides some supplementary reasoning to suggest that the first cause is God—a God that exists timelessly without the universe and temporally with the universe. I argue that Craig’s hypothesis about the nature of the first cause is impossible. In particular, it cannot be the case that God timelessly wills to create the universe and the universe begins to exist.
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44In 2018, William Lane Craig and Erik J. Wielenberg participated in a debate at North Carolina State University, addressing the question: "God and Morality: What is the best account of objective moral values and duties?" Craig argued that theism provides a sound foundation for objective morality whereas atheism does not. Wielenberg countered that morality can be objective even if there is no God. This book includes the full debate, as well as endnotes with extended discussions that were not inclu…Read more
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124Divine Commands Are Unnecessary for Moral ObligationJournal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 21 (1). 2022.Divine command theory is experiencing something of a renaissance, inspired in large part by Robert Adams’s 1999 masterpiece Finite and Infinite Goods. I argue here that divine commands are not always necessary for actions to be morally obligatory. I make the case that the DCT-ist’s own commitments put pressure on her to concede the existence of some moral obligations that in no way depend on divine commands. Focusing on Robert Adams’s theistic framework for ethics, I argue that Adams’s views abo…Read more
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78Reply to Craig, Murphy, McNabb, and JohnsonPhilosophia Christi 20 (2): 365-375. 2018.In Robust Ethics, I defend a nontheistic version of moral realism according to which moral properties are sui generis, not reducible to other kinds of properties (e.g., natural properties or supernatural properties) and objective morality requires no foundation external to itself. I seek to provide a plausible account of the metaphysics and epistemology of the robust brand of moral realism I favor that draws on both analytic philosophy and contemporary empirical moral psychology. In this paper, …Read more
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56Debunking Arguments in Ethics, written by Hanno SauerInternational Journal for the Study of Skepticism 10 (2): 178-183. 2020.
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229Divine Command Theory and PsychopathyReligious Studies. forthcoming.I advance a novel challenge for Divine Command Theory based on the existence of psychopaths. The challenge, in a nutshell, is that Divine Command Theory has the implausible implication that psychopaths have no moral obligations and hence their evil acts, no matter how evil, are morally permissible. After explaining this argument, I respond to three objections to it and then critically examine the prospect that Divine Command Theorists might bite the bullet and accept that psychopaths can do no w…Read more
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93The Moral Argument for God’s Existence; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Godless MoralityThe Philosophers' Magazine 86 93-98. 2019.
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Egoism and Eudaimonia-Maximization in the Nicomachean EthicsIn David Sedley (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Xxvi: Summer 2004, Oxford University Press. 2004.
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33Metz’s Case Against SupernaturalismEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 8 (2): 27--34. 2016.
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1Value and Virtue in a Godless UniverseInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 59 (3): 179-182. 2005.
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29The Nature of Moral VirtueDissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2000.The dissertation is centered around the Moral Virtuosity Project . The central task of the dissertation is to examine what other philosophers have had to say on this topic and ultimately to successfully complete this project. ;Chapter One is concerned exclusively with Aristotle's attempt to complete the Moral Virtuosity Project. I defend the view that Aristotle holds that each moral virtue is a disposition toward proper practical reasoning, action, and emotion within a certain sphere. I critical…Read more
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7Egoism and eudaimonia-maximization in the Nicomachean ethicsOxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 26 277-95. 2004.
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28New waves in philosophy of religion (edited book)Palgrave-Macmillan. 2008.List of Contributors vi Introduction vii 1 A New Definition of ”Omnipotence’ in Terms of Sets 1 Daniel J. Hill 2 Can God Choose a World at Random? 22 Klaas J. Kraay 3 Why is There Anything at All? 36 T. J. Mawson 4 Programs, Bugs, DNA and a Design Argument 55 Alexander R. Pruss 5 The ”Why Design?’ Question 68 Neil A. Manson 6 Divine Command Theory and the Semantics of Quantified Modal Logic 91 David Efird 7 Divine Desire Theory and Obligation 105 Christian B. Miller 8 The Puzzle of Prayers of Th…Read more
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29Loyal Rue. Nature is Enough: Religious Naturalism and the Meaning of LifePhilosophy, Theology and the Sciences 1 (1): 134. 2014.
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105Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative RealismOxford University Press. 2014.Erik J. Wielenberg draws on recent work in analytic philosophy and empirical moral psychology to defend non-theistic robust normative realism, according to which there are objective ethical features of the universe that do not depend on God for their existence. He goes on to develop an empirically-grounded account of human moral knowledge.
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64Many are culled but few are chosenReligious Studies 36 (1): 81-93. 2000.In his recent book "Divine Providence: The Molinist Account," Thomas Flint suggests that necessarily, a world is culled iff it is chosen. I argue that there is good reason to think that this thesis is false. I further argue that the thesis is inconsistent with certain other claims that many theists will want to endorse and hence that many theists will want to reject Flint's claim. I next consider Flint's reasons for endorsing the thesis and argue that his reasons are not good ones. I then examin…Read more
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15God and the reach of reason: C.S. Lewis, David Hume, and Bertrand RussellCambridge University Press. 2008.C. S. Lewis is one of the most beloved Christian apologists of the twentieth century; David Hume and Bertrand Russell are among Christianity’s most important critics. This book puts these three intellectual giants in conversation with one another on various important questions: the existence of God, suffering, morality, reason, joy, miracles, and faith. Alongside irreconcilable differences, surprising areas of agreement emerge. Curious readers will find penetrating insights in the reasoned dialo…Read more
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546Difference-Making and Easy Knowledge: Reply to Comesaña and SartorioLogos and Episteme 6 (1): 141-146. 2015.Juan Comesaña and Carolina Sartorio have recently proposed a diagnosis of what goes wrong in apparently illegitimate cases of ‘bootstrapping’ one’s way toexcessively easy knowledge. They argue that in such cases the bootstrapper bases at least one of her beliefs on evidence that does not evidentially support the proposition believed. I explicate the principle that underlies Comesaña and Sartorio’s diagnosis of such cases and show that their account of what goes wrong in such cases is mistaken.
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128The new paradox of the stone revisitedFaith and Philosophy 18 (2): 261-268. 2001.Alfred Mele and M.P. Smith have presented a puzzle about omnipotence which they call “the new paradox of the stone.” They have also proposed a solution to this puzzle. I briefly present their puzzle and their proposed solution and argue that their proposed solution is unsatisfactory. I further argue that if their suggested solution to the original paradox of the stone succeeds, a similar solution also solves the new paradox of the stone
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835On the evolutionary debunking of moralityEthics 120 (3): 441-464. 2010.Evolutionary debunkers of morality hold this thesis: If S’s moral belief that P can be given an evolutionary explanation, then S’s moral belief that P is not knowledge. In this paper, I debunk a variety of arguments for this thesis. I first sketch a possible evolutionary explanation for some human moral beliefs. Next, I explain how, given a reliabilist approach to warrant, my account implies that humans possess moral knowledge. Finally, I examine the debunking arguments of Michael Ruse, Shar…Read more
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90Homosexual Sex and the One-Flesh UnionRoczniki Filozoficzne 63 (3): 107-117. 2015.I critically examine Alexander Pruss’s conception of the one-body union described in Genesis 2:24. Pruss appeals to his conception of the one-body union to advance two arguments for the conclusion that homosexual sex is morally wrong. I propose an alternative conception of the one- body union that implies that heterosexual and homosexual couples alike can participate in the one-body union; I take that implication of my account to be a significant advantage over Pruss’s account.
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114Atheism and MoralityIn Stephen Bullivant & Michael Ruse (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Atheism, Oxford University Press Uk. pp. 89. 2013.This essay addresses two popular worries about morality in an atheistic context. The first is a psychological or sociological one: the worry that unbelief makes one more disposed to act immorally than one would be if one had theistic beliefs and, consequently, widespread atheism produces societal dysfunction. This essay argues that the relationship between atheism and human moral beliefs and behaviour is complex, and that highly secularized societies can also be deeply moral societies. The secon…Read more
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34Saving CharacterEthical Theory and Moral Practice 9 (4): 461-491. 2006.In his recent book Lack of Character, John Doris argues that people typically lack character (understood in a particular way). Such a claim, if correct, would have devastating implications for moral philosophy and for various human moral projects (e.g. character development). I seek to defend character against Doris's challenging attack. To accomplish this, I draw on Socrates, Aristotle, and Kant to identify some of the central components of virtuous character. Next, I examine in detail some of …Read more
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448Mark Murphy. God and Moral Law: On the Theistic Explanation of Morality. Oxford University Press, 2011European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 6 (1): 199--203. 2014.
Greencastle, Indiana, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Mind |