The Question of Methodological Naturalism

The Question of Methodological Naturalism
Author: Jason N. Blum
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Naturalism
ISBN: 9789004346628

The Question of Methodological Naturalism offers ten essays on the role of naturalism in religious studies, ranging from sophisticated intellectual histories and philosophical analyses to trenchant denunciations and ringing endorsements. All have profound implications for the study of religions.

The Question of Methodological Naturalism

The Question of Methodological Naturalism
Author: Jason N. Blum
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004372431

The traditions and institutions that we call religions abound with references to the supernatural: ancestral spirits, karma, the afterlife, miracles, revelation, deities, etc. How are students of religion to approach the behaviors, doctrines, and beliefs that refer to such phenomena, which by their very nature are supposed to defy the methods of empirical research and the theories of historical scholarship? That is the question of methodological naturalism. The Question of Methodological Naturalism offers ten thoughtful engagements with that perennial question for the academic study of religion. Contributors include established senior scholars and newer voices propounding a range of perspectives, resulting in both surprising points of convergence and irreconcilable differences in how our shared discipline should be conceptualized and practiced.

Naturalism and Its Alternatives in Scientific Methodologies

Naturalism and Its Alternatives in Scientific Methodologies
Author: Jonathan Bartlett
Publisher:
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2017-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781944918071

While many books have covered the problems with naturalism and materialism in the sciences and academia, this is the first book to deal seriously with the question of what would replace it. How might scientific inquiry be different if it was no longer founded upon naturalism? This book is a collection of papers which aim to answer such questions.

Understanding Naturalism

Understanding Naturalism
Author: Jack Ritchie
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2014-12-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317493575

Many contemporary Anglo-American philosophers describe themselves as naturalists. But what do they mean by that term? Popular naturalist slogans like, "there is no first philosophy" or "philosophy is continuous with the natural sciences" are far from illuminating. "Understanding Naturalism" provides a clear and readable survey of the main strands in recent naturalist thought. The origin and development of naturalist ideas in epistemology, metaphysics and semantics is explained through the works of Quine, Goldman, Kuhn, Chalmers, Papineau, Millikan and others. The most common objections to the naturalist project - that it involves a change of subject and fails to engage with "real" philosophical problems, that it is self-refuting, and that naturalism cannot deal with normative notions like truth, justification and meaning - are all discussed. "Understanding Naturalism" distinguishes two strands of naturalist thinking - the constructive and the deflationary - and explains how this distinction can invigorate naturalism and the future of philosophical research.

Where the Conflict Really Lies

Where the Conflict Really Lies
Author: Alvin Plantinga
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2011-08-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199812101

In this long-awaited book, pre-eminent analytical philosopher Alvin Plantinga argues that the conflict between science and theistic religion is actually superficial, and that at a deeper level they are in concord.

World Without Design

World Without Design
Author: Michael Cannon Rea
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2002
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199247609

"Philosophical naturalism has dominated the Western academy for well over a century. According to Michael Rea, however, there is an important sense in which naturalism's status as orthodoxy is without rational foundation, and the costs of embracing it are surprisingly high. The goal of World without Design is to defend these two claims, with special attention to the second." "The first part of the book aims to provide a fair and historically informed characterization of naturalism. The second part argues for the striking thesis that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds. Rea concludes by examining two alternative research programs: intuitionism and supernaturalism, and argues for the conclusion that, under certain circumstances, intuitionism is self-defeating."

Herder's Naturalist Aesthetics

Herder's Naturalist Aesthetics
Author: Rachel Zuckert
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2019-04-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108483070

Provides an overview of Johann Gottfried Herder's aesthetics, interpreted as a naturalist theory with transformative historical significance for European philosophy.

The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism

The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism
Author: Kelly James Clark
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 548
Release: 2016-02-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1118657608

The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism provides a systematic introduction to philosophical naturalism and its relation to other schools of thought. Features contributions from an international array of established and emerging scholars from across the humanities Explores the historical development of naturalism and its ascension to the dominant orthodoxy in the Western academy Juxtaposes theoretical criticisms with impassioned defenses, encapsulating contemporary debates on naturalism Includes discussions of metaphysics, realism, feminism, science, knowledge, truth, mathematics, free will, and ethics viewed through a naturalist lens

Nietzsche's Naturalism

Nietzsche's Naturalism
Author: Christian Emden
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2014-05-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107059631

This book examines Nietzsche's philosophical naturalism both historically and philosophically, establishing a link between his discussions of nature and normativity.

Naturalism

Naturalism
Author: William Lane Craig
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2002-01-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 113456452X

Naturalism provides a rigorous analysis and critique of the major varieties of contemporary philosophical naturalism. The authors advocate the thesis that contemporary naturalism should be abandoned, in light of the serious objections raised against it. Contributors draw on a wide range of topics including: epistemology, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind and agency, and natural theology.