Metz's Forthcoming Book on Meaning in Life

Readers of this blog may be interested in Thaddeus Metz's forthcoming book, Meaning in Life. Here's the blurb:

What makes a person's life meaningful? Thaddeus Metz offers a new answer to an ancient question which has recently returned to the philosophical agenda. He proceeds by examining what, if anything, all the conditions that make a life meaningful have in common. The outcome of this process is a philosophical theory of meaning in life. He starts by evaluating existing theories in terms of the classic triad of the good, the true, and the beautiful. He considers whether meaning in life might be about such principles as fulfilling God's purpose, obtaining reward in an afterlife for having been virtuous, being attracted to what merits attraction, leaving the world a better place, connecting to organic unity, or transcending oneself by connecting to what is extensive. He argues that no extant principle satisfactorily accounts for the three-fold significance of morality, enquiry, and creativity, and that the most promising theory is a fresh one according to which meaning in life is a matter of intelligence contoured toward fundamental conditions of human existence.

And here's the table of contents:

Preface
1. Introduction: The Meaning of life
Part 1: Meaning as One Part of a Good Life 
2. The Concept of Meaning
3. The Bearer of Meaning
4. The Value of Meaning
Part 2: Supernaturalist Theories of Meaning in Life 
5. Purpose Theory I: Questioning Motivations
6. Purpose Theory II: Advancing Objections
7. Non-Purposive Supernaturalism
8. Rejecting Supernaturalism
Part 3: Naturalist Theories of Meaning in Life 
9. Subjectivism
10. Objectivism I: Being Attracted, Meriting Attraction, and Promoting Consequences
11. Objectivism II: Non-Consequentialism
12. Objectivism III: The Fundamentality Theory
13. Conclusion: the fine game of nil
Epilogue
Works Cited
Index

Further information can be found here.

Rob Lovering's New Book

Rob Lovering has a new book out: God and Evidence: Problems for Theistic Philosophers (Continuum, 2013). Here's the blurb:

God and Evidence presents a new set of compelling problems for theistic philosophers. The problems pertain to three types of theistic philosopher, which Lovering defines here as 'theistic inferentialists,' 'theistic non-inferentialists,' and 'theistic fideists.' Theistic inferentialists believe that God exists, that there is inferential probabilifying evidence of God's existence, and that this evidence is discoverable not simply in principle but in practice. Theistic non-inferentialists believe that God exists, that there is non-inferential probabilifying evidence of God's existence, and that this evidence is discoverable not simply in principle but in practice. Theistic fideists believe that God exists, that there is no discoverable probabilifying evidence (inferential or non-inferential) of God's existence, and that it is nevertheless acceptable-morally if not otherwise-to have faith that God exists. Lovering argues that each type of theistic philosopher faces a problem unique to his type and that they all share two particular problems. Some of these problems take us down an entirely new discursive path; others down a new discursive path branching off from an old one.

Further information about the book can be found here.

Post Series on Hedrick's New Critique of the Kalam Argument

Earlier, we noted Landon Hedrick's important new critique of the kalam cosmological argument. John Danaher is currently writing up a nice series of posts on the article. The first one can be found here.

An Apparent Blow to Alston's and Plantinga's Parity Theses

Here.

Review of McCann's Creation and the Sovereignty of God

Garrett Pendergraft (Pepperdine) reviews the book for NDPR.

Rizzieri's Important Forthcoming Book on Pragmatic Encroachment and Religious Belief

On other occasions, we've noted Aaron Rizzieri's pioneering application of the hot  epistemological topic of pragmatic encroachment to issues in philosophy of religion. I'm happy to announce that Rizzieri has now produced a monograph on these matters: Pragmatic Encroachment, Religious Belief and Practice (Palgrave MacMillan, forthcoming).

Here's the blurb:

Pragmatic Encroachment, Religious Belief and Practice engages several recent and important discussions in the mainstream epistemological literature surrounding 'pragmatic encroachment'. It has been argued that what is at stake for a person in regards to acting as if a proposition is true can raise the levels of epistemic support required to know that proposition. Do the high stakes involved in accepting or rejecting religious beliefs raise the standards for knowledge that 'God exists', 'Jesus rose from the Dead' and other propositions? Professor Rizzieri also examines whether or not knowledge and justification norms of belief and action undermine the pragmatic grounds for religious belief suggested by William James. Rizzieri argues that such norms favor an attitude of hope, as opposed to belief, under conditions of uncertainty. Finally, Rizzieri argues the connections between knowledge and rational action undermine radically externalist accounts of religious knowledge and proposes an alternative account of the justification of religious beliefs. 

And here's the table of contents:

Series Editor's Preface

Introduction

1. Breaking with Orthodoxy: Encroachment and the Bank Cases

2. High Stakes and Religiously Significant Propositions

3. An Encroachment Argument for Internalism

4. Reformed Epistemology in Light of Encroachment

5. The Justification of Action Guiding Beliefs: A Positive Account

6. James and the Justification Norm of Belief and Action

Bibliography

Index

I look forward to reading it.

Announcement: Baylor-Georgetown-Notre Dame Philosophy of Religion Conference 2013

October 3rd - October 5th. Details here.