Wolterstorff's Recent Books
Nicholas Wolterstorff was among the original movers and shakers in Reformed Epistemology, alongside Alvin Plantinga and William Alston. The following two volumes collect Wolterstorff's most important past work in philosophy of religion, as well as a number of new essays representing his latest work:
Inquiring about God: Selected Essays, Volume I (ed. Terence Cuneo). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2009.
Blurb: Inquiring about God is the first of two volumes of Nicholas Wolterstorff's collected papers. This volume collects Wolterstorff's essays on the philosophy of religion written over the last thirty-five years. The essays, which span a range of topics including Kant's philosophy of religion, the medieval (or classical) conception of God, and the problem of evil, are unified by the conviction that some of the central claims made by the classical theistic tradition, such as the claims that God is timeless, simple, and impassible, should be rejected. Still, Wolterstorff contends, rejecting the classical conception of God does not imply that theists should accept the Kantian view according to which God cannot be known. Of interest to both philosophers and theologians, Inquiring about God should give the reader a lively sense of the creative and powerful work done in contemporary philosophical theology by one of its foremost practitioners.
Practices of Belief: Selected Essays, Volume II (ed. Terence Cuneo). Cambridge: Cambdridge University Press. 2009.
Blurb: Practices of Belief, the second volume of Nicholas Wolterstorff's collected papers, brings together his essays on epistemology from 1983 to 2008. It includes not only the essays which first presented 'Reformed epistemology' to the philosophical world, but also Wolterstorff's latest work on the topic of entitled (or responsible) belief and its intersection with religious belief. The volume presents five new essays and a retrospective essay that chronicles the changes in the course of philosophy over the last fifty years. Of interest to epistemologists, philosophers of religion, and theologians, Practices of Belief should engage a wide audience of those interested in the topic of whether religious belief can be responsibly formed and maintained in the contemporary world.
Inquiring about God: Selected Essays, Volume I (ed. Terence Cuneo). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2009.
Blurb: Inquiring about God is the first of two volumes of Nicholas Wolterstorff's collected papers. This volume collects Wolterstorff's essays on the philosophy of religion written over the last thirty-five years. The essays, which span a range of topics including Kant's philosophy of religion, the medieval (or classical) conception of God, and the problem of evil, are unified by the conviction that some of the central claims made by the classical theistic tradition, such as the claims that God is timeless, simple, and impassible, should be rejected. Still, Wolterstorff contends, rejecting the classical conception of God does not imply that theists should accept the Kantian view according to which God cannot be known. Of interest to both philosophers and theologians, Inquiring about God should give the reader a lively sense of the creative and powerful work done in contemporary philosophical theology by one of its foremost practitioners.
Practices of Belief: Selected Essays, Volume II (ed. Terence Cuneo). Cambridge: Cambdridge University Press. 2009.
Blurb: Practices of Belief, the second volume of Nicholas Wolterstorff's collected papers, brings together his essays on epistemology from 1983 to 2008. It includes not only the essays which first presented 'Reformed epistemology' to the philosophical world, but also Wolterstorff's latest work on the topic of entitled (or responsible) belief and its intersection with religious belief. The volume presents five new essays and a retrospective essay that chronicles the changes in the course of philosophy over the last fifty years. Of interest to epistemologists, philosophers of religion, and theologians, Practices of Belief should engage a wide audience of those interested in the topic of whether religious belief can be responsibly formed and maintained in the contemporary world.
Two Forthcoming Books to Watch for From OUP
Perszyk, Ken (ed.). Molinism: The Contemporary Debate. Molinism provides an important account of divine providence that has held out hope for many a philosopher of religion in solving such issues as the problem of freedom and foreknowledge, the logical problem of evil (think Plantinga's molinist free will defense), etc. But molinism seems to be losing ground these days (witness, for example, the current prominence of "Open Future" views of God's foreknowledge). This volume assesses the current state of the debate, and the prospects for molinism.
Clark, Kelly James and Van Arragon, Raymond (eds.) Evidence and Religious Belief. Here's the blurb:
A fundamental question in philosophy of religion is whether religious belief must be based on evidence in order to be properly held. In recent years two prominent positions on this issue have been staked out: evidentialism, which claims that proper religious belief requires evidence; and Reformed epistemology, which claims that it does not. Evidence and Religious Belief contains eleven chapters by prominent philosophers which push the discussion in new directions. The volume has three parts. The first part explores the demand for evidence: some chapters object to it while others seek to restate it or find space for compromise between Reformed epistemology and evidentialism. The second part explores ways in which beliefs are related to evidence; that is, ways in which the evidence for or against religious belief that is available to a person can depend on that person's background beliefs and other circumstances. The third part contains chapters that discuss actual evidence for and against religious belief. Evidence for belief in God includes the so-called common consent of the human race and the way that such belief makes sense of the moral life; evidence against it includes profound puzzles about divine freedom which suggest that it is impossible for a being to be morally perfect.
Clark, Kelly James and Van Arragon, Raymond (eds.) Evidence and Religious Belief. Here's the blurb:
A fundamental question in philosophy of religion is whether religious belief must be based on evidence in order to be properly held. In recent years two prominent positions on this issue have been staked out: evidentialism, which claims that proper religious belief requires evidence; and Reformed epistemology, which claims that it does not. Evidence and Religious Belief contains eleven chapters by prominent philosophers which push the discussion in new directions. The volume has three parts. The first part explores the demand for evidence: some chapters object to it while others seek to restate it or find space for compromise between Reformed epistemology and evidentialism. The second part explores ways in which beliefs are related to evidence; that is, ways in which the evidence for or against religious belief that is available to a person can depend on that person's background beliefs and other circumstances. The third part contains chapters that discuss actual evidence for and against religious belief. Evidence for belief in God includes the so-called common consent of the human race and the way that such belief makes sense of the moral life; evidence against it includes profound puzzles about divine freedom which suggest that it is impossible for a being to be morally perfect.
Hume Quote
“Look round the universe. What an immense profusion of beings, animated and organized, sensible and active! You admire this prodigious variety and fecundity. But inspect a little more narrowly these living existences, the only things worth regarding. How hostile and destructive to each other! How insufficient all of them for their own happiness! How contemptible or odious to the spectator! The whole presents nothing but the idea of a blind nature, impregnated by a great vivifying principle, and pouring forth from her lap, without discernment or parental care, her maimed and abortive children.”
-Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
-Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Dennis Whitcomb's New Argument for Atheism
Dennis Whitcomb (Western Washington University) has recently offered a new argument for atheism in his paper, "Grounding and Omniscience", which will appear in a forthcoming volume of Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion. The penultimate draft can be found here.[1] As he summarizes the argument of the paper:
"This paper argues that omniscience is impossible and therefore that the traditional “perfect being theological” God does not exist. The argument appeals to grounding, that is to say the “in virtue of” relation."
The paper won him The Younger Scholar Prize in Philosophical Theology in 2010.
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[1] Note: Whitcomb mentioned on his webpage that he'll expand the paper a bit before it appears in print.
"This paper argues that omniscience is impossible and therefore that the traditional “perfect being theological” God does not exist. The argument appeals to grounding, that is to say the “in virtue of” relation."
The paper won him The Younger Scholar Prize in Philosophical Theology in 2010.
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[1] Note: Whitcomb mentioned on his webpage that he'll expand the paper a bit before it appears in print.
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