Description
Book SynopsisThis clear, readable introduction to philosophy presents a traditional theistic view of the existence of God.
There are many fine introductions to philosophy, but few are written for students of faith by a teacher who is sensitive to the intellectual challenges they face studying in an environment that is often hostile to religious belief. Many introductory texts present short, easy-to-refute synopses of the traditional arguments for God's existence, the soul, free will, and objective moral value rooted in God's nature, usually followed by strong objections stated as if they are the last word. This formula may make philosophy easier to digest, but it gives many students the impression that there are no longer any good reasons to accept the beliefs just mentioned.
Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith is written for philosophy instructors who want their students to take a deeper look at the classic theistic arguments and who believe that many traditional vi
Trade Review
“This book is a well-written introduction to philosophy that has a systematic approach informed by the history of philosophy. There are many introductory philosophy books available, but I am not aware of one with quite this approach and spin on the issues.” —Christopher Kaczor, author of Disputes in Bioethics
“Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith is a solid, well-written, well-organized, theistic-leaning introduction to philosophy.” —Gregory Bassham, co-author of Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction
Table of ContentsTo The Instructor
To The Student
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Unit One. Three Things to Know before You Dive into Philosophy
1. How Philosophy Began
2. The Socratic Method
3. And a Little Bit of Logic
Unit Two. Philosophy of Religion
4. The Design Argument
5. Design and Evolution
6. The Cosmological Argument
Interlude 1: A Survey of Modern Cosmology
7. The Problem of Evil
Unit Three. Epistemology
8. What Can We Know?
9. C. S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason
Unit Four. Philosophy of the Human Person
10. The Mind-Body Problem
11. Do We Have Free Will?
Unit Five. Philosophical Ethics
12. Is It Reasonable to be Moral?
Interlude 2: Or Should We All Become Moral Relativists?
13. Moral Reasoning Applied to the State
14. God and Morality
