P hilosophy of R eligion
P hilosophy of R eligion
The Purpose of Life
Free Will
A Theistic Perspective Stewart Goetz
Sourcehood and its Alternatives Kevin Timpe
“A very stimulating and readable defense of a theistic hedonistic understanding of happiness as the purpose of life; it should be of interest to philosophers of religion and value theorists at every level, from the undergraduate upwards.” T. J. Mawson, Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK What does philosophy have to say on the question of the meaning of life? This is one of the founding questions of philosophy and has been the cause for debate among philosophers from antiquity through to the Middle Ages and modern period. It may surprise some readers that there has, in fact, been a good deal of agreement on the answer to this question: the meaning of life is happiness. The Purpose of Life is a serious but engaging exploration and defense of this answer. In working through the ramifications of this answer, Stewart Goetz provides a survey of the debates surrounding life’s meaning, from both theists and atheists alike.
Contemporary debates on free will are numerous and multifaceted. According to compatibilists, it is possible for an agent to be determined in all her choices and actions and still be free. Incompatibilists, on the other hand, think that the existence of free will is incompatible with the truth of determinism. There are also two dominant conceptions of the nature of free will. According to the first, it is primarily a function of being able to do otherwise than one in fact does. The second approach focuses on issues of sourcehood, holding that free will is primarily a function of an agent being the source of her actions in a particular way. This book guides the student through all these debates, demarcating the different conceptions of free will, exploring the relationships between them, and examining how they relate to the debate between compatibilists and incompatibilists.
STEWART GOETZ is Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in Philosophy and Religion at Ursinus College, PA, USA.
KEVIN TIMPE is Professor of Philosophy at Northwest Nazarene University, USA, and former Templeton Research Fellow at St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford, UK.
UK September 2012 • US July 2012 192 pages PB 9781441180827 • £14.99 / $24.95 HB 9781441190352 • £45.00 / $80.00 Individual eBook 9781441144225 • £14.99 / $19.99 Library eBook 9781441157058 • £45.00 / $80.00
UK November 2012 • US January 2013 208 pages PB 9781441146427 • £18.99 / $32.95 HB 9781441189936 • £60.00 / $110.00 Individual eBook 9781441197351 • £18.99 / $23.99 Library eBook 9781441171740 • £60.00 / $110.00
Contemplating Religious Forms of Life: Wittgenstein and D.Z. Phillips
Excursions with Kierkegaard
Mikel Burley “Contemplating Religious Forms of Life is a pleasure to read. It is articulate, fair, and shows impressive familiarity with the relevant literature. Mikel Burley clearly brings out the value of D. Z. Phillips’ influential Wittgensteinian approach to the philosophy of religion without ever denying or ignoring its weaknesses. This is a sympathetic and reliable guide to an enormous and controversial body of work.” Duncan Richter, Professor of Philosophy, Virginia Military Institute, USA In Contemplating Religious Forms of Life, Mikel Burley elucidates and critically examines the work of Wittgenstein and D.Z. Phillips in relation to various aspects of religion, including ritual, mystical experience, faith and reason, realism and non-realism, conceptions of eternal life, and the use of literature as a resource for the contemplation of religious and non-religious beliefs. MIKEL BURLEY is Lecturer in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. His previous publications include two books on Indian philosophy, and articles on, among other things, philosophy of religion, ethics, literature, and reincarnation.
Others, Goods, Death, Final Faith Edward F. Mooney Noted Kierkegaard scholar Edward Mooney guides the reader through the major themes of the Danish philosopher’s life and thought. Each chapter frames a striking issue, usually encapsulated in a short passage from Kierkegaard, and pursues it directly and deeply. The chapters of this book follow and re-animate Kierkegaard’s brilliant and humorous discussions of death and authenticity, of the maternal and paternal in faith and self-transformations, of self-deception and obsessive judgmentalism, of love and the search for stable centres, and of subjectivity as refinement of responsiveness to others, the world, and all we can value. EDWARD F. MOONEY is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Syracuse University, USA. UK January 2013 • US November 2012 208 pages PB 9781441190345 • £17.99 / $29.95 HB 9781441146328 • £55.00 / $100.00 Individual eBook 9781441106032 • £17.99 / $23.95 Library eBook 9781441128829 • £55.00 / $100.00
UK September 2012 • US July 2012 208 pages PB 9781441103253 • £16.99 / $27.95 HB 9781441125347 • £50.00 / $90.00 Individual eBook 9781441192103 • £16.99 / $22.99 Library eBook 9781441136213 • £50.00 / $90.00
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