- This pseudo-Paper is intended as the mechanism to record time spent on the Note 'Religion1' during my Thesis research, as from 2011.
- For the actual time recorded, click on "Paper Statistics" above.
Write-up2 (as at 17/02/2021 01:17:46): Religion
Plug Note3- This Note isn’t intended to relate directly to my studies in the Philosophy of Religion, which has its own quarterly Status Report4, nor to my past life as a Christian, which has a set of pages5 on my website.
- Rather this Note has to do with the – historical and contemporary – ways in which religious questions and commitments have influenced philosophers in their discussions of personal identity.
- I disagree fundamentally with philosophers such as Alvin Plantinga that belief in God is “epistemologically basic”, but claim that philosophy asks questions that are prior to any others except, possibly, metaphilosophical questions6.
- But – it seems to me – Christians allow their prior beliefs to constrain what results of their philosophical endeavours are acceptable. Worse; having decided on pre-philosophical grounds what to believe, they use the techniques of philosophical argument to bolster these beliefs. They don’t follow an argument where it goes, but argue in a casuistical basis.
- Also, despite there being little agreement on Christian doctrine amongst the various denominations and sects, philosophers seem to just happen to find the arguments they’ve dreamt up for their own sectarian beliefs the most convincing.
- This even applies to “damnable doctrines” like Hell, which seems to be discussed academically and unselfconsciously on the pages of Faith and Thought, as well as to comfortable ones like Heaven. There has been some concern amongst Christian materialist philosophers as to whether heaven is a “place we can get to”. I’m not aware of the same concern for Hell, and just what metaphysics of the human person is needed to allow eternal conscious torment.
- Locke7’s thoughts on personal identity were initially motivated by worries about the metaphysics of Resurrection8, theodicy and other forensic9 concerns.
- I’ve noted elsewhere contemporary Christian Materialist10 Philosophers11 and their thoughts on the topic of personal identity.
- I’ve not yet made much of a study of Jewish views where these diverge from Christian views on the topic of personal identity and the future state.
- No doubt Muslim philosophers have similar concerns and motivations, but I have not investigated them (yet).
- I have, however, had a brief look at Hindu and Buddhist12 thought on the topic of Reincarnation13 and Karma, which are over-represented in the “items read” in the reading list below.
- For a Page of Links14 to this Note, Click here. This is a massive list of mostly irrelevant items. I can’t really prepare an adequate reading-list at this stage, but will add items, and text, to this Note as ideas crop up in my wider reading. I have, however, added quite a few works on the philosophy of religion, from which I intend to extract the relevant sections in due course.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read15, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Blum (Jason) - Bad things happen for a reason, and other idiocies of theodicy", 2017
- "Law (Stephen) - Belief in supernatural beings is totally natural – and false", 2015
- General:
- "Edwards (Paul) - Reincarnation, Karma, and Competing Doctrines of Survival", 2002
- "Edwards (Paul) - The Law of Karma", 2002
- "Perry (John) - A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality", 1978
- "Peterson (Michael), Hasker (William), Reichenbach (Bruce) & Basinger (David) - Reason and Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion", 1991
- "Rivers (Julian) - The Exile of the Mind: Christian Service in the Secular University", 2015
- "Thomas (Janice L.) - Mind and Person in the Philosophy of Religion", 2000
- "Tobia (Kevin Patrick) - Does Religious Belief Infect Philosophical Analysis?", 2016
- "Todman (Theo) - Gay Marriage", Write-Up Note16, Footnote17
- "Vardy (Peter) - What is Truth? Beyond Postmodernism and Fundamentalism", 1999
- "Vardy (Peter) & Arliss (Julie) - Evil in Eastern traditions", 2004
- "Vardy (Peter) & Arliss (Julie) - The Thinker's Guide to Evil", 2004
- "Vardy (Peter) & Arliss (Julie) - The Thinker's Guide to God", 2003
- "Wiles (Maurice) - Providence and Personal Life", 1986
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Cabrera (Miguel A. Badia) - Hume's Reflection On Religion", 2001
- "Cottingham (John) - The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value", 2006
- "Craig (William Lane) - Divine Timelessness and Personhood"
- "Craig (William Lane) - God, Time, and Eternity", 2001
- "Craig (William Lane) & Sinnott-Armstrong (Walter) - God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist", 2003
- "Craig (William Lane) & Smith (Quentin) - Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology", 1995
- "Davies (Brian) - An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion", 1993
- "Davies (Brian) - Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology", 2000
- "Davies (Brian) - Philosophy of Religion: A Guide to the Subject", 2003
- "Deng (Natalja) - Metaphysics, science, and religion: a response to Hud Hudson"
- "Deng (Natalja) - Religion for Naturalists", 2015
- "Deng (Natalja) - Religion for Naturalists and the Meaning of Belief"
- "Dennett (Daniel) - Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon", 2007
- "Di Muzio (Gianluca) - Reincarnation and infinite punishment in hell", 2013
- "Flew (Antony) & MacIntyre (Alasdair), Eds. - New Essays in Philosophical Theology", 1955
- "Geisler (Norman) & Corduan (Winfried) - Philosophy of Religion", 2003
- "Goetz (Stewart) - Belief in God Is Not Properly Basic", 1983
- "Harris (James F.) - Analytic Philosophy of Religion", 2002
- "Hasker (William) - How Christian Can Philosophy Be?", 2016
- "Hood (Bruce) - Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - The Brain Science of Belief", 2009
- "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - Does Faith Entail Belief", 2016
- "Howard-Snyder (Daniel), Ed. - The Evidential Argument from Evil", 1996
- "Hume (David), Tweyman (Stanley), Ed. - Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", 1991
- "Johnson (Raynor) - Preexistence, Reincarnation and Karma", 1997
- "Johnston (Mark) - Saving God: Religion after Idolatry", 2011
- "Kenny (Anthony) - Reason and Religion - Essays in philosophical Theology", 1987
- "Koslowski (Peter), Ed. - The Origin and the Overcoming of Evil and Suffering in the World Religions", 2001
- "Kvanvig (Jonathan L.), Ed. - Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion: Volume 1", 2008
- "Lamont (John) - The Justice and Goodness of Hell"
- "LePoidevin (Robin) - Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion", 2001
- "Lewis (Hywel David) - The Person of Christ", 1978
- "Mackie (J.L.) - The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God", 1982
- "Martin (L. Michael), Ed. - The Cambridge Companion to Atheism", 2007
- "Mawson (Tim J.) - The Divine Attributes", 1980
- "Merricks (Trenton) - The Word Made Flesh: Dualism, Physicalism, and the Incarnation", 2007
- "Michaud (Derek) - Review of 'Personal Identity and Resurrection: How do we Survive our Death?' Edited by Georg Gasser", 2013
- "Midgley (Mary) - Evolution as a Religion - Strange Hopes and Stranger Fears", 1995
- "Moreland (J.P.) & Craig (William Lane) - Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview", 2003
- "Murphy (Nancey) - Non-Reductive Physicalism: Philosophical Issues", 1998
- "Murray (Michael J.) & Rea (Michael) - An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion", 2008
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Death and Immortality: Postscript and Appendix (Karma and the Problem of Suffering)", 1987
- "Peterson (Michael) & VanArragon (Raymond) - Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Religion", 2004
- "Peterson (Michael), Hasker (William), Reichenbach (Bruce) & Basinger (David) - Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings", 2007
- "Plantinga (Alvin) - On Taking Belief in God as Basic"
- "Plantinga (Alvin) - Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism", 2012
- "Plantinga (Alvin) & Dennett (Daniel) - Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?", 2011
- "Polkinghorne (John) - Science and Christian Belief: Theological Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker", 1994, Footnote18
- "Price (H.H.) - Essays in the Philosophy of Religion: Based on the Sarum Lectures 1971", 1972
- "Puccetti (Roland) - Divine Persons", 1968
- "Quinn (Philip L.) & Taliaferro (Charles) - A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion", 1999
- "Rosner (Brian S.) - Known by God: A Biblical Theology of Personal Identity", 2017
- "Rowe (William L.) & Wainwright (William), Eds. - Philosophy of Religion", 1998
- "Seymour (Charles) - A Craigian Theodicy of Hell", 2000
- "Seymour (Charles) - A Theodicy of Hell", 2000, Footnote19
- "Smythe (Ingrid Hansen) - Objections to Karma and Rebirth: An Introduction", 2015
- "Stewart-Williams (Steve) - Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew", 2010
- "Stump (Eleonore) & Murray (Michael J.) - Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions", 1999
- "Van Inwagen (Peter) & Zimmerman (Dean) - Persons: Human and Divine", 2007
- "Ward (Keith) - The Big Questions in Science and Religion", 2008
- "Yeffeth (Glenn), Ed. - Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix", 2003
- This is mostly a place-holder20.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2: - This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (17/02/2021 01:17:46).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Footnote 5: Footnote 6: - Which are also philosophical, so part of philosophy itself.
Footnote 11: - The Note on Christian Materialism also references other contemporary philosophers with Christian affiliation, and their thoughts on personal identity.
Footnote 17: - This is a Note – that needs sorting out a bit – that demonstrates the impact of religious doctrines on narrative identity.
- I’ve added it here partly because I’d forgotten all about it.
Footnote 18: Footnote 19:
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2021