Cover Blurb
- This volume deals with proofs for the existence of God. This is probably the approach that most people think of in connection with the philosophy of religion. It will examine the very programme of proving the existence of God, and the foundationalism implied in that programme, as well as looking at attempts to prove and to disprove the existence of God.
- Offering theistic proofs is an aspect of natural theology which attempts to reach sound conclusions about the existence and nature of God based on human reasoning ability alone. Davis explains what theistic proofs are and what they try to accomplish. The question of what constitutes a good or successful argument for the existence of God will also be addressed. Coverage includes the famous ontological argument, religious realism and foundationalism.
Amazon Customer Review
- I first came across the work of Stephen T Davis a couple of years ago reading his ‘Logic and the Nature of God’ (published 1983). Whilst the target readership is clearly different (the first being the professional academic and this the interested theology/philosophy student) the improvement in readability is immense. I would recommend this book to anyone undertaking an introductory Philosophy of Religion / Philosophical Theology course. The book would probably be difficult work for someone with no theology or philosophy background although certainly not impossible. One of the big advantages of this book is that the chapters can be read as stand-alone introductions to the various theistic indicators (more commonly referred to as proofs).
- The book begins after a brief outline of what is a theistic proof with the a priori ontological argument. In addition there are chapters on the Cosmological, Design, Pascalian wager and argument(s) from religious experience as well as some other more (historically) minor arguments. In my mind this is where Davis is most useful.
- Interspersed between these chapters the important topics of ‘Theistic Proofs and Religious Realism’ and ‘Theistic Proofs and Foundationalism’ are covered. Whilst as a reference work this is fine, the arbitrary location of these chapters can make the book jump around somewhat for someone reading from cover to cover. For instance the chapter on foundationalism is placed after that on the Cosmological argument. However, the Cosmological argument is as much helped by a strong foundationalist epistemology as any other. I have no doubt that Davis would agree with this; however, the layout of the book does not make this clear. It would surely have made more sense to deal with these two topics prior to all the a posteriori arguments. However, as a first point of call (especially as preparatory reading) for Philosophy of Religion classes or research into the individual generic theistic indicators this book is an excellent resource in this area of natural theology.
ContentsIntroduction – ix
- What is a Theistic Proof? – 1
- I. Defining the concept – 1
- II. The goal of a theistic proof – 5
- III. Assumptions of theistic proofs – 8
- IV. What if a theistic proof were successful? – 9
- V. Do theistic proofs accomplish anything? – 12
- The Ontological Argument – 15
- I. Introduction – 15
- II. Anselm's argument – 21
- III. Gaunilo's criticisms of the OA – 26
- IV. Kant's criticism – 32
- V. Rowe's criticism – 35
- VI. Two brief `refutations' of the OA – 42
- Theistic Proofs and Religious Realism – 46
- I. Religious non-realism – 46
- II. Anselm on ‘conceiving' – 48
- III. D. Z. Phillips' position – 50
- IV. Anselm against Phillips – 56
- V. Conclusion – 58
- The Cosmological Argument – 60
- I. Introduction: Aquinas' versions of the CA – 60
- II. The Third Way – 64
- III. Why is infinite regress impossible in a hierarchical series? – 70
- IV. Criticisms of the CA – 73
- Theistic Proofs and Foundationalism – 78
- I. Introduction – 78
- II. Reformed epistemology – 81
- III. Analysing Plantinga's argument – 85
- IV. Criticisms of foundationalism – 90
- The Design Argument – 97
- I. Introduction – 97
- II. Paley's version of the DA – 98
- III. Hume's objections – 100
- IV. Evolution as a criticism of the DA – 106
- V. Newer versions of the DA – 107
- VI. Criticisms of newer DAs – 111
- VII. Conclusion – 115
- VIII. Swinburne and Bayes' Theorem – 116
- Religious Experience – 121
- I. Introduction – 121
- II. Religious experience as a theistic proof – 122
- III. Swinburne's argument – 128
- IV. Objections to the argument – 131
- V. Conclusion – 137
- Other Theistic Proofs – 139
- I. Ontological argument number 2 – 139
- II. A generic cosmological argument – 144
- III. The moral argument – 146
- IV. The Kalaam cosmological argument – 150
- Alternatives to Theistic Proofs – 156
- I. Introduction – 156
- II. Pascal's Wager – 156
- III. Criticisms of the Wager – 159
- IV. James' argument – 166
- V. Objections to James' argument 171
- Conclusion – 176
- I. Introduction – 176
- II. How important is the existence of God? – 176
- III. Do theistic proofs prove the existence of God? – 182
- IV. The value of theistic proofs – 188
Bibliography – 194
Index – 201
Book Comment
William B Eerdmans Publishing Co (1 Dec 1997)
"Davis (Stephen T.) - The Ontological Argument"
Source: Davis (Stephen T.) - God, Reason and Theistic Proofs
Contents
- Introduction – 15
- Anselm's argument – 21
- Gaunilo's criticisms of the OA – 26
- Kant's criticism – 32
- Rowe's criticism – 35
- Two brief ‘refutations' of the OA – 42
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)