This is a reading list for the Oxford philosophy finals paper “Philosophy of Religion”. Students may wish to also consult the philosophy faculty’s reading list available through WebLearn.
Useful texts and anthologies:
- Stump&Murray: Stump, E., & Murray, M. J. (1999). Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions. Wiley-Blackwell
- Mackie, J. L. (. L. (1982). The miracle of theism : arguments for and against the existence of God. Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Smart, J. J. C., & Haldane, J. (1996). Atheism and Theism. Wiley-Blackwell
- Plantinga, A. (1974). God, Freedom, and Evil. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
- Wainwright, W. J. (2008). The Oxford handbook of philosophy of religion. New York ; Oxford: Oxford University Press http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195331356.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195331356
A. The traditional arguments for the existence of God
1. The ontological argument
- (*) Oppy, G. (2007). Ontological Arguments and Belief in God. Cambridge University Press, chapter 1
- (*) Plantinga, A. (1974). God, Freedom, and Evil. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, pp. 85-112
- (*) Leftow, B. (2008). The ontological argument. In W. J. Wainwright (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of philosophy of religion. New York ; Oxford: Oxford University Press http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195331356.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195331356-e-5
- rest of Oppy, G. (2007). Ontological Arguments and Belief in God. Cambridge University Press
Essay question: Does Gaunilo’s “greatest island” argument show that Anselm’s ontological argument must be unsound? If not, why not? If so, at what step exactly does Anselm’s argument go wrong?
2. The cosmological argument
On the cosmological argument itself:
On supertasks:
Essay question: Either a. Is there any tenable version of the cosmological argument? If so, what is it? If not, why not? or b. Is an unbounded infinite series of events possible? What does this show about the cosmological argument?
3. The teleological argument
- Manson: Manson, N. A. (2003). God and design : the teleological argument and modern science. London: Routledge
- (*) Hume, D. (1779). Dialogues concerning natural religion. Various editions available, parts II, III, and V
- (*) Sober, E. (2003). The design argument. In N. A. Manson (Ed.), God and design : the teleological argument and modern science (pp. 27–54). London: Routledge
- (*) Leslie, J. (1982). Anthropic Principle, World Ensemble, Design. American Philosophical Quarterly, 19(2), 141–151 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20013951
- (*) Hacking, I. (1987). The Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy: The Argument from Design. The Anthropic Principle Applied to Wheeler Universes. Mind, New Series, 96(383), 331–340 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2254310
- Stanford encyclopedia on Teleological Arguments
Essay question: Either a. Was Hume right in regarding the teleological argument as an argument by analogy, and a poor one at that? or Does cosmological fine-tuning provide any evidence of the existence of God?
B. The concept of God
4. Omnipotence
- (*) Mavrodes, G. I. (1963). Some Puzzles Concerning Omnipotence. The Philosophical Review, 72(2), 221–223 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2183106
- (*) Savage, C. W. (1967). The Paradox of the Stone. The Philosophical Review, 76(1), 74–79 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2182966
- (*) Pike, N. (1969). Omnipotence and God’s Ability to Sin. American Philosophical Quarterly, 6(3), 208–216 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20009309
- (*) Hoffman, J. (1979). Can God Do Evil? The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 17(2), 213–220 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-6962.1979.tb00238.x/abstract
- Swinburne, R. (1973). Omnipotence. American Philosophical Quarterly, 10(3), 231–237 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20009498
Essay question: Either a. Can an omnipotent being create a stone too heavy for that being to lift? or Is God capable of evil acts?
5. Omniscience
Essay question: Can an omniscient being foresee the actions of free creatures?
C. Other stuff
6. The argument from evil
- (*) Mackie, J. L. (1955). Evil and Omnipotence. Mind, New Series, 64(254), 200–212 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2251467
- (*) Plantinga, A. (1974). God, Freedom, and Evil. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing pp. 7-64
- (*) Rowe, William L. (1979). The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism. American Philosophical Quarterly, 16(4), 335–341 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20009775
- Wykstra, S. J. (1984). The humean obstacle to evidential arguments from suffering: On avoiding the evils of “appearance”. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 16(2), 73–93 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00136567
- Rowe, William L (1984). Evil and the theistic hypothesis: A response to Wykstra. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 16(2), 95–100
Essay question: Is the argument from evil better understood as a “logical”, or an “evidential” argument? Does either version pose a threat to popular forms of theism?
7. Must God create the best?
Essay question: Could an omnibenevolent creator choose to create a world that is less morally good that another world that that being might have created?
8. Scientific explanations of religious belief
- (*) Barrett, J. (2009). Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology. In J. Schloss & M. Murray (Eds.), The Believing Primate. Oxford University Press http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557028.001.0001/acprof-9780199557028
- (*) Murray, M. J. (2009). Scientific Explanations of Religion and the Justification of Religious Belief. In J. Schloss & M. Murray (Eds.), The Believing Primate. Oxford University Press http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557028.001.0001/acprof-9780199557028
- (*) Leech, D., & Visala, A. (2011). Naturalistic Explanation for Religious Belief. Philosophy Compass, 6(8), 552–563 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2011.00414.x/abstract
- Kahane, G. (2011). Evolutionary Debunking Arguments. Noûs, 45(1), 103–125 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0068.2010.00770.x/abstract
- Jong, J. (2013). Explaining Religion (Away?). Sophia, 52(3), 521–533 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11841-012-0338-9
Essay question: Can scientific explanations of religious belief in any sense “debunk” theism?
Updated: 24 Nov 2014 23:11
