PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION: A contemporary introduction

PREFACE 403

acceptability 150–1; problem of 125;
Rowean argument 161–4; simple
argument 132–3; sophisticated
argument 133–5; unimaginably
pointful argument 135, 136–7
existence: according to Aquinas 194–5;
because of God 89–90; explanation
of 88; logically necessary 200–2
experience: conceptual 226; direct/
indirect distinction 217–18;
explaining away 225–6; as if 219–23;
ineffable 224–5; kind of 221–2;
logically consumed 222; necessary
qualifications 223–4; reliability of
218–19; religious 227; sensory/
religious distinction 226–7; subject/
content 277–82; what sort 216–17
experiential evidence: against God’s
existence 233–4; appeals to 267–8;
application of principle 231–4;
compromised 220, 232; confuted
221, 232; contradicted 220–1, 232;
counterbalancing 219–20; direct
216–18; logically or in fact
consumed 222–3, 232; principle of
218–27; principles 276–82
explanation 311–12
explanatory power 356–8
extrinsic worth 154–5

faith 7, 343, 362
false claims xiii, 56
falsificationism 353; ways of being
falsified 355–6
fatalism 306–8
Fifth Way argument 204–8
fire-fearers vs water-fearers 56
First Way argument 188–91
foreknowledge 362
formal logical necessity 362
freedom 7, 317–18, 322, 336–7;
constraints 318
future tense truths 337–8

generalizations 96
God 54, 55, 59, 362; and Actually
Pointless Evil Claim 143–50; and
consistency issue 128–31;
dependence on 86–7; as divine 47;
evidential issue 131–8; and existence
of evil 125–6, 127–8; existence of 6,

174–6, 177–81, 184, 233–4; as finite

126; imaginably but not

contextually pointful argument

135–6; as independent 101; as

ineffable 224–5; as infinite 29–30;

monotheistic views 5, 6, 7, 85–96;

moral goodness of 304–5;

ontological argument 175–7, 178–

80; power of 126–7; purely

conceptual proof of 174; questions

concerning 3; simple argument 132–

3; sophisticated argument 133–5;

strong/weak providence 85;

unimaginably pointful argument

135, 136–7

Gospels 25

Gotama Buddha 48

hedonitic content 40

highest being 85

Hinayana (Small Vehicle) see

Theravada Buddhism

Hinduism 4, 24, 26, 27, 90–1

human concepts 70–1

Hume, David 207, 293–4,

idealism 242, 362

identity 31; common themes 58–61;

content/function 57–8; high

standards for 58; low standards for

57–8; numerical vs qualitative 244–

5; personal 246; symmetry/

transitivity of 244; as transitive 226

ignorance 30, 33

impermanence 5

in fact inevitability 315

inclusive strategy 182, 183

inductive argument 207

inefficiency issues 153–4

infinite series 190–1

informal logical necessity 362

interactionism 362

intrinsic worth 154–5; exchangeable

158–60; unexchangeable 158, 160–1

introspection 278–80, 289–93, 296–7

invalid argument 362

irreflexive relations 184–5, 186, 187

Islam 4, 362

Jaina Sutras 43–5, 53, 54