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| edward feser: By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed Edward Feser, Joseph Bessette, 2017-05-10 The Catholic Church has in recent decades been associated with political efforts to eliminate the death penalty. It was not always so. This timely work reviews and explains the Catholic Tradition regarding the death penalty, demonstrating that it is not inherently evil and that it can be reserved as a just form of punishment in certain cases. Drawing upon a wealth of philosophical, scriptural, theological, and social scientific arguments, the authors explain the perennial teaching of the Church that capital punishment can in principle be legitimate—not only to protect society from immediate physical danger, but also to administer retributive justice and to deter capital crimes. The authors also show how some recent statements of Church leaders in opposition to the death penalty are prudential judgments rather than dogma. They reaffirm that Catholics may, in good conscience, disagree about the application of the death penalty. Some arguments against the death penalty falsely suggest that there has been a rupture in the Church's traditional teaching and thereby inadvertently cast doubt on the reliability of the Magisterium. Yet, as the authors demonstrate, the Church's traditional teaching is a safeguard to society, because the just use of the death penalty can be used to protect the lives of the innocent, inculcate a horror of murder, and affirm the dignity of human beings as free and rational creatures who must be held responsible for their actions. By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed challenges contemporary Catholics to engage with Scripture, Tradition, natural law, and the actual social scientific evidence in order to undertake a thoughtful analysis of the current debate about the death penalty. |
| edward feser: The Last Superstition Edward Feser, 2008 The central contention of the New Atheism of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens is that the centuries-old war between science and religion is now over and that religion has lost. But as Edward Feser shows in The Last Superstition, there is not, and never has been, any war between science and religion at all. There has instead been a conflict between two entirely philosophical worldviews: the classical teleological vision of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, on which purpose or goal-directedness is as inherent a feature of the material world as mass or electric charge; and the modern mechanical vision of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, according to which physical reality is comprised of nothing more than purposeless, meaningless particles in motion. This modern mechanical view of nature has never been proved, and its hold over the contemporary intelligentsia owes more to rhetorical sleight-of-hand and political expediency than to rational argument. For as Feser demonstrates, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the traditional natural-law conception of morality are rationally unavoidable given the classical teleological philosophical world-view. Hence modern secularism crucially depends on the false insinuation that the mechanical philosophy has somehow been established by science. Moving beyond what he regards as the pointless and point-missing dispute between Intelligent Design advocates and Darwinians, Feser holds that the key to understanding the follies of the New Atheism lies not in quibbles over the evolutionary origins of this or that biological organ, but in a rethinking of the philosophical presuppositions of scientific method itself back to first principles. In particular, it involves a recovery of the forgotten truths of classical philosophy. When this is accomplished, religion can be seen to be grounded firmly in reason, not blind faith. And despite its moral and intellectual pretensions, the New Atheism is exposed as resting on very old errors, together with an appalling degree of intellectual dishonesty, philosophical shallowness, and historical, theological, and scientific ignorance.--BOOK JACKET. |
| edward feser: Aquinas Anthony Kenny, 1969 |
| edward feser: Philosophy of Mind Edward Feser, 2006-10 In this lively introduction to the philosophy of mind, important questions are tackled with clear explanations of all the theories of mind, from the classic accounts of Descartes and Aquinas to the developments in computing and cognitive science. |
| edward feser: The Cambridge Companion to Hayek Edward Feser, 2006-11-30 F. A. Hayek (1899–1992) was among the most important economists and political philosophers of the twentieth century. He is widely regarded as the principal intellectual force behind the triumph of global capitalism, an 'anti-Marx' who did more than any other recent thinker to elucidate the theoretical foundations of the free market economy. His account of the role played by market prices in transmitting economic knowledge constituted a devastating critique of the socialist ideal of central economic planning, and his famous book The Road to Serfdom was a prophetic statement of the dangers which socialism posed to a free and open society. He also made significant contributions to fields as diverse as the philosophy of law, the theory of complex systems, and cognitive science. The essays in this volume, by an international team of contributors, provide a critical introduction to all aspects of Hayek's thought. |
| edward feser: Aristotle on Method and Metaphysics E. Feser, 2013-07-12 Aristotle on Method and Metaphysics is a collection of new and cutting-edge essays by prominent Aristotle scholars and Aristotelian philosophers on themes in ontology, causation, modality, essentialism, the metaphysics of life, natural theology, and scientific and philosophical methodology. |
| edward feser: Neo-scholastic Essays Edward Feser, 2015 In a series of publications over the course of a decade, Edward Feser has argued for the defensibility and abiding relevance to issues in contemporary philosophy of Scholastic ideas and arguments, and especially of Aristotelian-Thomistic ideas and arguments. This work has been in the vein of what has come to be known as analytical Thomism, though the spirit of the project goes back at least to the Neo-Scholasticism of the period from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. Neo-Scholastic Essays collects some of Feser's academic papers from the last ten years on themes in metaphysics and philosophy of nature, natural theology, philosophy of mind, and ethics. Among the diverse topics covered are: the relationship between Aristotelian and Newtonian conceptions of motion; the varieties of teleological description and explanation; the proper interpretation of Aquinas's Five Ways; the impossibility of a materialist account of the human intellect; the philosophies of mind of Kripke, Searle, Popper, and Hayek; the metaphysics of value; the natural law understanding of the ethics of private property and taxation; a critique of political libertarianism; and the defensibility and indispensability to a proper understanding of sexual morality of the traditional perverted faculty argument.-- |
| edward feser: Aquinas Edward Feser, 2009-09 One of the most influential philosophers and theologians in history, St. Thomas Aquinas was the father of modern philosophy of religion, and is infamous for his proofs for God's existence. In this cogent introduction to the great Saint's work, Edward Feser argues that you cannot fully understand Aquinas' philosophy without his theology and vice versa. Covering his thoughts on the soul, natural law, metaphysics, and the interaction of faith and reason, this will prove indispensable for students, experts or the general reader. |
| edward feser: Locke Fraser, 1890 |
| edward feser: Understanding Local Economic Development Emil Malizia, Edward J. Feser, Henry Renski, Joshua Drucker, 2020-10-05 This book offers insights into the process and the practice of local economic development. Bridging the gap between theory and practice it demonstrates the relevance of theory to inform local strategic planning in the context of widespread disparities in regional economic performance. The book summarizes the core theories of economic development, applies each of these to professional practice, and provides detailed commentary on them. This updated second edition includes more recent contributions - regional innovation, agglomeration and dynamic theories – and presents the major ideas that inform economic development strategic planning, particularly in the United States and Canada. The text offers theoretical insights that help explain why some regions thrive while others languish and why metropolitan economies often rise and fall over time. Without theory, economic developers can only do what is politically feasible. This text, however, provides them with a logical tool for thinking about development and establishing an independent basis from which to build the local consensus needed for evidence-based action undertaken in the public interest. Offering valuable perspectives on both the process and the practice of local and regional economic development, this book will be useful for both current and future economic developers to think more profoundly and confidently about their local economy. |
| edward feser: Faith and Reason Brian Besong, Jonathan Fuqua, 2019-05-20 Too smart to believe in God? The twelve philosophers in this book are too smart not to, and their finely honed reasoning skills and advanced educations are on display as they explain their reasons for believing in Christianity and entering the Roman Catholic Church. Among the twelve converts are well-known professors and writers including Peter Kreeft, Edward Feser, J. Budziszewski, Candace Vogler, and Robert Koons. Each story is unique; yet each one details the various perceptible ways God drew these lovers of wisdom to himself and to the Church. In every case, reason played a primary role. It had to, because being a Catholic philosopher is no easy task when the majority of one's colleagues thinks that religious faith is irrational. Although the reasonableness of the Catholic faith captured the attention of these philosophers and cleared a space into which the seed of supernatural faith could be planted, in each of these essays the attentive reader will find a fully human story. The contributions are not merely collections of arguments; they are stories of grace. |
| edward feser: The Palgrave Handbook of Sexual Ethics David Boonin, 2022-02-08 The Palgrave Handbook of Sexual Ethics is a comprehensive collection of recent research on the ethics of sexual behavior, representing a wide range of perspectives. It addresses a number of traditional subjects in the area, including questions about pre-marital, extra-marital, non-heterosexual, and non-procreative sex, and about the nature and significance of sexual consent, sexual desire, and sexual activity, as well as a variety of more recent topics, including sexual racism, sexual ableism, sex robots, and the #metoo response to sexual harassment. Each chapter defends a substantive thesis about the topic it addresses and the handbook as a whole thereby provides a strong foundation for future research in this important and growing field of inquiry. |
| edward feser: Where the Conflict Really Lies Alvin Plantinga, 2011-12-09 Examines both sides of this major dilemma, arguing that the conflict between science and theistic religion is actually superficial, and that at a deeper level they are in concord with each other. |
| edward feser: Hume James A. Harris, 2015-10-06 This is the first intellectual biography of the British philosopher and historian David Hume. |
| edward feser: Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature William M. R. Simpson, Robert C. Koons, James Orr, Taylor & Francis (Londyn)., 2022 Philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, religion and philosophy, religion and science, christian theology. |
| edward feser: The AI Delusion Gary Smith, 2018-08-23 We live in an incredible period in history. The Computer Revolution may be even more life-changing than the Industrial Revolution. We can do things with computers that could never be done before, and computers can do things for us that could never be done before. But our love of computers should not cloud our thinking about their limitations. We are told that computers are smarter than humans and that data mining can identify previously unknown truths, or make discoveries that will revolutionize our lives. Our lives may well be changed, but not necessarily for the better. Computers are very good at discovering patterns, but are useless in judging whether the unearthed patterns are sensible because computers do not think the way humans think. We fear that super-intelligent machines will decide to protect themselves by enslaving or eliminating humans. But the real danger is not that computers are smarter than us, but that we think computers are smarter than us and, so, trust computers to make important decisions for us. The AI Delusion explains why we should not be intimidated into thinking that computers are infallible, that data-mining is knowledge discovery, and that black boxes should be trusted. |
| edward feser: Free Alfred R. Mele, 2014 Has science proved that free will is an illusion? Some people say yes, citing experiments in neuroscience and psychology. The answer defended here is an emphatic no. Philosopher Alfred R. Mele here describes the crucial free will experiments in clear and simple language and lays out the most important problems with the claim that science has disproved free will. |
| edward feser: Lighthouse Faith Lauren Green, 2017-03-14 Is God Just a Distant Concept? An Award-Winning Religion Correspondent is Convinced the Answer is No and Explores the Possible Relationship with Our Creator Fox News Religion Correspondent Lauren Green uses her wealth of stories, vast network of contacts, and her own extensive study of theology to take the reader on a unique journey of spiritual discovery. With few female authors writing in the field of theology, Green provides an important perspective to all who wish to move closer to not only a deeper relationship with God but an understanding of what makes that possible. Green gathers insight from some amazing guides along the way, through personal conversations with some of the leading minds in the world on the topic of Christianity. These include: Timothy Keller John Piper Alister McGrath William Lane Craig John Lennox Sir John Polkinghorne Amy Beckman Elizabeth Lev … and many more Is God simply an accessory that we carry with us? Something similar to what we might download from a music site to suit our personal tastes—a personal assistant in a way? Or is He His law, His structure, and His authoritative Word contained in the Holy Scripture, an objective reality to which you daily shape your life? If we believe or know we should believe that it’s the latter, how do we make this happen? How do we live joyfully under God’s will in a world so drenched in the will of human desire? Lighthouse Faith explores the heart of the Christian doctrine and a pathway of perceiving God as an interactive hands-on presence; a caring and loving being. The first commandment is a life-giving force loaded with information about the world in which we live. This law stands atop the other nine commandments as a beacon of light, illuminating the created order, just as a lighthouse lamp shines in a darkened space, heralding a way to safety. |
| edward feser: Are We Bodies Or Souls? Richard Swinburne, 2019 What makes us human? Richard Swinburne presents new philosophical arguments, supported by modern neuroscience, for the view that we are immaterial souls sustained in existence by our brains. |
| edward feser: Natural Rights Liberalism from Locke to Nozick Ellen Frankel Paul, Fred Dycus Miller, Jeffrey Paul, 2005 The essays in this book have also been published, without introduction and index, in the semiannual journal Social philosophy & policy, volume 22, number 1--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| edward feser: Dare We Hope - 2nd Edition Hans Urs von Balthasar, 2014-11-20 This book is perhaps one of the most misunderstood works of Catholic theology of our time. Critics contend that von Balthasar espouses universalism, the idea that all men will certainly be saved. Yet, as von Balthasar insists, damnation is a real possibility for anyone. Indeed, he explores the nature of damnation with sobering clarity. At the same time, he contends that a deep understanding of God’s merciful love and human freedom, and a careful reading of the Catholic tradition, point to the possibility—not the certainty—that, in the end, all men will accept the salvation Christ won for all. For this all-embracing salvation, von Balthasar says, we may dare hope, we must pray and with God’s help we must work. The Catholic Church’s teaching on hell has been generally neglected by theologians, with the notable exception of von Balthasar. He grounds his reflections clearly in Sacred Scripture and Catholic teaching. While the Church asserts that certain individuals are in heaven (the saints), she never declares a specific individual to be in hell. In fact, the Church hopes that in their final moments of life, even the greatest sinners would have repented of their terrible sins, and be saved. Sacred Scripture states, “God ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:4–5). |
| edward feser: Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science William M.R. Simpson, Robert C. Koons, Nicholas J. Teh, 2017-10-19 The last two decades have seen two significant trends emerging within the philosophy of science: the rapid development and focus on the philosophy of the specialised sciences, and a resurgence of Aristotelian metaphysics, much of which is concerned with the possibility of emergence, as well as the ontological status and indispensability of dispositions and powers in science. Despite these recent trends, few Aristotelian metaphysicians have engaged directly with the philosophy of the specialised sciences. Additionally, the relationship between fundamental Aristotelian concepts—such as hylomorphism, substance, and faculties—and contemporary science has yet to receive a critical and systematic treatment. Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science aims to fill this gap in the literature by bringing together essays on the relationship between Aristotelianism and science that cut across interdisciplinary boundaries. The chapters in this volume are divided into two main sections covering the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of the life sciences. Featuring original contributions from distinguished and early-career scholars, this book will be of interest to specialists in analytical metaphysics and the philosophy of science. |
| edward feser: The Tyranny of Science Paul K. Feyerabend, 2011-05-06 Paul Feyerabend is one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century and his book Against Method is an international bestseller. In this new book he masterfully weaves together the main elements of his mature philosophy into a gripping tale: the story of the rise of rationalism in Ancient Greece that eventually led to the entrenchment of a mythical ‘scientific worldview’. In this wide-ranging and accessible book Feyerabend challenges some modern myths about science, including the myth that ‘science is successful’. He argues that some very basic assumptions about science are simply false and that substantial parts of scientific ideology were created on the basis of superficial generalizations that led to absurd misconceptions about the nature of human life. Far from solving the pressing problems of our age, such as war and poverty, scientific theorizing glorifies ephemeral generalities, at the cost of confronting the real particulars that make life meaningful. Objectivity and generality are based on abstraction, and as such, they come at a high price. For abstraction drives a wedge between our thoughts and our experience, resulting in the degeneration of both. Theoreticians, as opposed to practitioners, tend to impose a tyranny on the concepts they use, abstracting away from the subjective experience that makes life meaningful. Feyerabend concludes by arguing that practical experience is a better guide to reality than any theory, by itself, ever could be, and he stresses that there is no tyranny that cannot be resisted, even if it is exerted with the best possible intentions. Provocative and iconoclastic, The Tyranny of Science is one of Feyerabend’s last books and one of his best. It will be widely read by everyone interested in the role that science has played, and continues to play, in the shaping of the modern world. |
| edward feser: Understanding Local Economic Development Emil E. Malizia, Edward J. Feser, 1999 This book reviews theories of local economic development and shows how each theory informs real-world policy and practice. The authors lay out the basic assumptions, concepts, and implications of the most important theories of economic growth and go on to explain how each theory or approach translates into a strategy for economic development. Students and practitioners alike will be able to recognize the policy implications of alternative theories of local economic development. --Book Jacket. |
| edward feser: The Best Argument against God G. Oppy, 2013-07-23 .... compares two theories—Naturalism and Theism—on a wide range of relevant data. It concludes that Naturalism should be preferred to Theism on that data. The central idea behind the argument is that, while Naturalism is simpler than Theism, there is no relevant data that Naturalism fails to explain at least as well as Theism does. |
| edward feser: The Ultimate Why Question John F. Wippel, 2011-06-08 This volume gathers studies by prominent scholars and philosophers about the question how have major figures from the history of philosophy, and some contemporary philosophers, addressed the ultimate why question: why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever? |
| edward feser: The Hiddenness Argument J. L. Schellenberg, 2015-07-02 In many places and times, and for many people, God's existence has been rather less than a clear fact. According to the hiddenness argument, this is actually a reason to suppose that it is not a fact at all. The hiddenness argument is a new argument for atheism that has come to prominence in philosophy over the past two decades. J. L. Schellenberg first developed the argument in 1993, and this book offers a short and vigorous statement of its central claims and ideas. Logically sharp but so clear that anyone can understand, the book addresses little-discussed issues such as why it took so long for hiddenness reasoning to emerge in philosophy, and how the hiddenness problem is distinct from the problem of evil. It concludes with the fascinating thought that retiring the last of the personal gods might leave us nearer the beginning of religion than the end. Though an atheist, Schellenberg writes sensitively and with a nuanced insider's grasp of the religious life. Pertinent aspects of his experience as a believer and as a nonbeliever, and of his own engagement with hiddenness issues, are included. Set in this personal context, and against an authoritative background on relevant logical, conceptual, and historical matters, The Hiddenness Argument's careful but provocative reasoning makes crystal clear just what this new argument is and why it matters. |
| edward feser: The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil Brian Davies, 2006-12-11 An important new book on how we can still believe in a God of love and confront the problem of evil in the world. Probably the most important book on the subject since John Hick's book `Evil and the God of Love`. &; Evil is a strong word that people now employ fairly rarely. Many people believe these days that God is omnipotent,omniscient and good and that what we deem to be bad or evil in the world is no reason for abandoning belief in God. It is an intellectual or theoretical problem not one where the focus is on how one might bring about some desirable goal ( a practical matter). &; Professor Davies says we should tackle this problem by attending to the basics, by asking whether there is a God and then What is God? he starts by summarizing the arguments so far (from Seneca to the present day). He then moves to what he describes as the basics (see above) and demonstrates that much of what has been written about on the topic of evil is in fact irrelevant or just plain wrong. &; Finally, though many theologians argue that evil is a mystery, Davies argues that this too is wrong and a cop out. We should rather be concerned with the problem (or mystery) of good. The real issue is ` Why is there not more good than there is`. From the discussion Aquinas emerges as a hero (as filtered through analytical philosophy) but many moderns thinkers do not emerge so well. Davies effectively picks holes int e arguments of Peter Geach, Paul Helm, Richard Swinburne and even Mary Baker Eddy. &; This is a lively book on a tricky subject, written at all times with humour and much practical example. |
| edward feser: The Atheist's Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions Alex Rosenberg, 2011-09-20 The Atheist's Guide to Reality is a book for nonbelievers who embrace the reality-driven life. |
| edward feser: Natural Law Theory Robert P. George, 1992 This volume presents twelve original essays by contemporary natural law theorists and their critics. Natural law theory is enjoying a revival of interest today in a variety of disciplines, including law, philosophy, political science, and theology and religious studies. These essays offer readers a sense of the lively contemporary debate among natural law theorists of different schools, as well as between natual law theorists and their critics. |
| edward feser: Proofs of God Matthew Levering, 2016 Leading theologian Matthew Levering presents a thoroughgoing critical survey of the proofs of God's existence for readers interested in traditional Christian responses to the problem of atheism. Beginning with Tertullian and ending with Karl Barth, Levering covers twenty-one theologians and philosophers from the early church to the modern period, examining how they answered the critics of their day. He also shows the relevance of the classical arguments to contemporary debates and challenges to Christianity. In addition to students, this book will appeal to readers of apologetics. |
| edward feser: Real Essentialism David S. Oderberg, 2007-11-13 Real Essentialism presents a comprehensive defence of neo-Aristotelian essentialism. Do objects have essences? Must they be the kinds of things they are in spite of the changes they undergo? Can we know what things are really like – can we define and classify reality? Many if not most philosophers doubt this, influenced by centuries of empiricism, and by the anti-essentialism of Wittgenstein, Quine, Popper, and other thinkers. Real Essentialism reinvigorates the tradition of realist, essentialist metaphysics, defending the reality and knowability of essence, the possibility of objective, immutable definition, and its relevance to contemporary scientific and metaphysical issues such as whether essence transcends physics and chemistry, the essence of life, the nature of biological species, and the nature of the person. |
| edward feser: Classical Theism and Buddhism Tyler Dalton McNabb, Erik Baldwin, 2022-02-10 As an atheistic religious tradition, Buddhism conventionally stands in opposition to Christianity, and any bridge between them is considered to be riddled with contradictory beliefs on God the creator, salvific power and the afterlife. But what if a Buddhist could also be a Classical Theist? Showing how the various contradictions are not as fundamental as commonly thought, Tyler Dalton McNabb and Erik Baldwin challenge existing assumptions and argue that Classical Theism is, in fact, compatible with Buddhism. They draw parallels between the metaphysical doctrines of both traditions, synthesize their ethical and soteriological commitments and demonstrate that the Theist can interpret the Buddhist's religious experiences, specifically those of emptiness, as veridical, without denying any core doctrine of Classical Theism. By establishing that a synthesis of the two traditions is plausible, this book provides a bold, fresh perspective on the philosophy of religion and reinvigorates philosophical debates between Buddhism and Christianity. |
| edward feser: The Happy Atheist PZ Myers, 2014-05-06 On his popular science blog, Pharyngula, PZ Myers has entertained millions of readers with his infectious love of evolutionary science and his equally infectious disdain for creationism, biblical literalism, intelligent design theory, and other products of godly illogic. This funny and fearless book collects and expands on some of his most popular writings, giving the religious fanaticism of our times the gleeful disrespect it deserves by skewering the apocalyptic fantasies, magical thinking, hypocrisies, and pseudoscientific theories advanced by religious fundamentalists of all stripes. Forceful and articulate, scathing and funny, The Happy Atheist is a reaffirmation of the revelatory power of humor and the truth-revealing powers of science and reason. |
| edward feser: The Creative Retrieval of Saint Thomas Aquinas William Norris Clarke, 2009 Norris Clarke has chosen the fifteen articles in this collection, five of which appear here for the first time, as the most significant of the more than seventy articles he has written over the course of a long career. Father Clarke is known for his development of a Thomistic personalism. To be a person, according to St. Thomas, is to take conscious self-possession of ones own being, to be master of oneself. But our incarnate human mode of being necessarily involves living in a body whose life unfolds across time, and whose life is therefore inevitably dispersed across time. If we wish to know in full self-consciousness who we are, we need to assimilate and integrate this dispersal, so that our lives become a coherent story. The essays collected here cover a wide range of philosophical, ethical, religious, and aesthetic topics. Through them sounds a very personal voice, one that has inspired generations of students. |
| edward feser: Taking Rites Seriously Francis Beckwith, 2015-11-18 This book is a critical look at how courts, legal scholars, and the academic culture mischaracterize and misunderstand religious beliefs. |
| edward feser: Nature and Nature's God Daniel Shields, 2023-05-26 Aquinas’ first proof for God’s existence is usually interpreted as a metaphysical argument immune to any objections coming from empirical science. Connections to Aquinas’ own historical understanding of physics and cosmology are ignored or downplayed. Nature and Nature's God proposes a natural philosophical interpretation of Aquinas’ argument more sensitive to the broader context of Aquinas’ work and yielding a more historically accurate account of the argument. Paradoxically, the book also shows that, on such an interpretation, Aquinas’ argument is not only consistent with modern science, but actually confirmed by the history of science, from classical mechanics through 19th century thermodynamics to contemporary cosmology. The first part of the book considers Aquinas’ argument in its historical context, exploring the key principles that everything in motion is moved by something else and that an infinite regress of causes is impossible. The structure of the First Way is analyzed and the argument is connected both with Aquinas’ Third Way—a new interpretation of which is also proposed—and Aquinas’ second proof from motion in the Summa contra Gentiles. To complete the account of what natural philosophy—prior to metaphysics—can demonstrate about God, a chapter on Aquinas’ teleological argument (the Fifth Way) is also included. The second part of the book tracks the history of modern science from Copernicus to today, showing how Aquinas’ argument fared at each major turn. The first chapter shows how Newton’s understanding of inertia and conservation of momentum supports the idea that motion cannot continue forever without God’s causality, and integrates a modern understanding of inertia and gravity with the principles of Thomistic natural philosophy. The second chapter considers the first and second laws of thermodynamics, showing how they too support Aquinas’ contention that motion cannot continue forever without God’s causality. This chapter also discusses statistical mechanics and contemporary cosmology, demonstrating that science continues to support Aquinas’ unmoved mover argument. The final chapter turns to modern biology as well as cosmological fine-tuning to show that modern science also continues to support Aquinas’ teleological argument. The result is not only a satisfying defense of Aquinas’ natural philosophical proofs for God’s existence, but a primer on the broader project of integrating Thomistic natural philosophy with modern science. |
| edward feser: The Comprehensive Guide to Apologetics Joseph M. Holden, 2022-01-11 A must-read for anyone who seeks to share the gospel and defend the faith!” —Josh McDowell “Crucial to the next generation of missionaries and apologetic evangelists.” —Norman L. Geisler In a postmodern, post-truth society, how can we be certain our faith is based on more than our feelings? And how do we answer the complex questions about Christianity posed by skeptics and searchers alike? The Comprehensive Guide to Apologetics challenges you to understand and defend the tenets of your faith. This informative resource covers topics spanning from the evidence for the Bible’s reliability, to the relationship between science and faith, to the comparisons between Christianity and other worldviews. The many contributors to this volume include respected apologists and Bible scholars such as… Norman L. Geisler Josh McDowell Gary R. Habermas Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Ron Rhodes Edwin M. Yamauchi John Warwick Montgomery William A. Dembski Randy Alcorn Stephen C. Meyer Randall Price Ed Hindson Essential reading for every Christian, The Comprehensive Guide to Apologetics will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to testify for your faith with compassion, intention, and Christlike wisdom. |
| edward feser: The Religious Philosophy of Roger Scruton James Bryson, 2016-01-28 In his most recent work, the contemporary philosopher Roger Scruton has turned his attention to religion. Although a religious sensibility ties together his astonishingly prodigious and dynamic output as a philosopher, poet and composer, his recent exploration of religious and theological themes from a philosophical point of view has excited a fresh response from scholars. This collection of writings addresses Scruton's challenging and subtle philosophy of religion for the first time. The volume includes contributions from those who specialize in the philosophy of religion, the history of thought and culture, aesthetics, and church history. The collection is introduced by Mark Dooley, author of two books on Scruton, and includes a response to the writings from Scruton himself in which he develops his idea of the sacred and the erotic and defends the integrity of his work as an attempt to give a sense of the Lebenswelt (or 'lifeworld'): how humans experience the world. He argues that religion emerges from that experience and transforms us from beings bound by causal necessity into persons who acknowledge freedom, obligation and right. A unique and fascinating collection of writings that sheds light on this hitherto unexplored aspect of Roger Scruton's philosophy. |
| edward feser: The Oxford Handbook of Freedom David Schmidtz, Carmen E. Pavel, 2018 We speak of being 'free' to speak our minds, free to go to college, free to move about; we can be cancer-free, debt-free, worry-free, or free from doubt. The concept of freedom (and relatedly the notion of liberty) is ubiquitous but not everyone agrees what the term means, and the philosophical analysis of freedom that has grown over the last two decades has revealed it to be a complex notion whose meaning is dependent on the context. The Oxford Handbook of Freedom will crystallize this work and craft the first wide-ranging analysis of freedom in all its dimensions: legal, cultural, religious, economic, political, and psychological. This volume includes 28 new essays by well regarded philosophers, as well some historians and political theorists, in order to reflect the breadth of the topic. This handbook covers both current scholarship as well as historical trends, with an overall eye to how current ideas on freedom developed. The volume is divided into six sections: conceptual frames (framing the overall debates about freedom), historical frames (freedom in key historical periods, from the ancients onward), institutional frames (freedom and the law), cultural frames (mutual expectations on our 'right' to be free), economic frames (freedom and the market), and lastly psychological frames (free will in philosophy and psychology). |
Edward Feser
6 days ago · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of …
Edward Feser: The metaphysical presuppositions of formal logic
Jul 12, 2021 · Feser: "For when we formulate the propositions of physical theory using predicate logic, we need to quantify over not only present events but also past and future events. And if …
Edward Feser: Make-believe matter - Blogger
Sep 5, 2021 · To add to what Feser said: the forms of physical substances, while not being matter (in the Aristotelian sense of the term), are themselves dependent on matter to exist. They can …
Edward Feser: The road from atheism - Blogger
Jul 17, 2012 · 'As to Feser, Aquinas and Aristotle, I agree that if you accept their functional definitions of things, you can arrive at a category of thing called "soul," but I disagree that in …
Edward Feser: The metaphysics of the will - Blogger
Jul 9, 2019 · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of …
Edward Feser: Capital punishment and the law of nations - Blogger
May 17, 2023 · For those following at home, the reason Ed focuses on the death penalty is due *primarily* to the theological implications of the discussion for the Church's teaching authority. …
Edward Feser: Immortal Souls now available
Oct 8, 2024 · “Feser defends the Aristotelian and Thomistic system, effectively bringing it into dialogue with recent debates and drawing on some of the best of both analytic (Kripke, Searle, …
Edward Feser: Full interview on Pints with Aquinas
Dec 5, 2024 · If you want the full version of the argument, Feser spells it out in great detail in Five Proofs for the Existence of God. It's 30-something points long I think, though I can't find my …
Edward Feser: Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025)
May 22, 2025 · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the …
Edward Feser: Pope Francis and capital punishment - Blogger
Aug 4, 2018 · There are criteria, just as there is a reality to these things. Pay attention to the Fathers, to the great saints Dr. Feser references, learn the Tradition. I am a convert, luckily …
Edward Feser
6 days ago · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of …
Edward Feser: The metaphysical presuppositions of formal logic
Jul 12, 2021 · Feser: "For when we formulate the propositions of physical theory using predicate logic, we need to quantify over not only present events but also past and future events. And if …
Edward Feser: Make-believe matter - Blogger
Sep 5, 2021 · To add to what Feser said: the forms of physical substances, while not being matter (in the Aristotelian sense of the term), are themselves dependent on matter to exist. They can …
Edward Feser: The road from atheism - Blogger
Jul 17, 2012 · 'As to Feser, Aquinas and Aristotle, I agree that if you accept their functional definitions of things, you can arrive at a category of thing called "soul," but I disagree that in …
Edward Feser: The metaphysics of the will - Blogger
Jul 9, 2019 · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of …
Edward Feser: Capital punishment and the law of nations - Blogger
May 17, 2023 · For those following at home, the reason Ed focuses on the death penalty is due *primarily* to the theological implications of the discussion for the Church's teaching authority. …
Edward Feser: Immortal Souls now available
Oct 8, 2024 · “Feser defends the Aristotelian and Thomistic system, effectively bringing it into dialogue with recent debates and drawing on some of the best of both analytic (Kripke, Searle, …
Edward Feser: Full interview on Pints with Aquinas
Dec 5, 2024 · If you want the full version of the argument, Feser spells it out in great detail in Five Proofs for the Existence of God. It's 30-something points long I think, though I can't find my …
Edward Feser: Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025)
May 22, 2025 · Edward Feser I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the …
Edward Feser: Pope Francis and capital punishment - Blogger
Aug 4, 2018 · There are criteria, just as there is a reality to these things. Pay attention to the Fathers, to the great saints Dr. Feser references, learn the Tradition. I am a convert, luckily …
