Reason and Faith

Philosophy of religion has typically been concerned only with two alternatives: that classical theism is probably true, or that naturalism is probably true. But this is a false dichotomy. It can strengthen the case against theism to point out that there are alternatives to theism that are not naturalism either. Some of the authors considered here have come to see this point. Richard Swinburne has been one of the most influential analytic philosophers of religion for several decades now, and his case for classical theism is arguably the best available. Reason and Faith contains ten essays that critically engage with Swinburne's body of work, with a large focus on Swinburne's position that (Christian) theism is probably true. The first chapter, by Jonathan L. Kvanvig, is an interesting piece on non-cognitivist approaches to faith. The following chapter by J. L. Schellenberg is quite similar; perhaps only one chapter on this issue would have sufficed. While non-cognitivist approaches to religion are very attractive, particularly as evidence tends to lead away from many religions, there are many religious cognitivists, and Swinburne is clearly one of them.

Atheism · Epistemology · Faith · Naturalism · Philosophy of religion · Theism · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Philosophy