Alvin Plantinga (Notre Dame), the greatest living Christian philosopher of religion, is retiring. Despite my disagreements with his views, he is one of my favorite philosophers of religion. His work is of the highest caliber, and his style is a model of clarity and rigor. I have learned more from his work than I can say.
On a happier note, a conference is scheduled in celebration of his retirement. Details about the conference can be found here.
P.S., Plantinga's latest reply to criticisms of his evolutionary argument against naturalism ("Content and Natural Selection", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (forthcoming)) is now available at his department website. Here is the link.
4 comments:
I really want to read his stuff someday. Out of curiousity, who would you say is the greatest unretired Christian philosopher of religion?
One thing I've always admired about you, Ex, is that you are not hateful towards those that disagree with you. In a blogosphere filled with ideologues and their polemics that is refreshing.
Hi Ron,
Thanks so much for the kind words! I have likewise always appreciated your kindness and civility.
Regarding your question: I've thought a lot about this question since you asked it, but I still have trouble answering it. Part of the problem is that it's hard to find a Christian philosopher of religion with comparable maturity, depth, and scope in their work. Plantinga and Swinburne are agenda-setting, big-picture guys who raised the standards of clarity and rigor in philosophy of religion; it' s hard to find comparable philosophers of religion in these respects. Perhaps the philosophers who come closest are Peter van Inwagen, Robert M. Adams, and Linda Zagzebski.
Best,
EA
Hey ex,
You mean you don't like C Steven Evens? He's one of my favorite. He has a new edition of his introductory to Philosophy of Religion out. I love it! Although I'm just a theist and not a Christian theist.
Hey Cole,
Thanks for the heads-up about Evans' new book -- I'll have to go look at it on Amazon.com.
Best,
EA
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