Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith: An Introduction

Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith: An Introduction

This 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 views can be rigorously defended against the strongest objections. The book is divided into four sections, focusing on philosophy of religion, an introduction to epistemology, philosophy of the human person, and philosophical ethics. The text challenges naturalism, the predominant outlook in the academic world today, while postmodernist relativism and skepticism are also examined and rejected. Students of faith―and students without faith―will deepen their worldviews by thoughtfully examining the philosophical arguments that are presented in this book. Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith will appeal to Christian teachers, analytic theists, home educators, and general readers interested in the classic arguments supporting a theistic worldview. “ 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 “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 Publicity • Long run of 4/c bound galleys to pre-pub reviewers, major book reviews, and influential monthlies. • Extensive review list to same, including religion and philosophy journals. • Major print reviews and features • Online publicity campaign • Social Media campaign (twitter, facebook, instagram, pinterest) Paul Herrick is professor of philosophy at Shoreline Community College. He is the author of multiple textbooks in formal logic, critical thinking, and philosophy, including The Many Worlds of Logic , Introduction to Logic , and Think with Socrates: An Introduction to Critical Thinking . As far back as historical records go, human beings have asked fundamental questions about life, the universe, and the human situation. I am speaking of questions like these: Why does the universe exist? Does God or a supreme being exist? Why are we here? What is truth? How do we distinguish knowledge from opinion, right from wrong? Questions like these are fundamental in the sense that the answers we give to many other questions depend on the answers we have already given to these. The “big questions,” as they are sometimes called, are important because the way we answer them forms the foundation of our worldview―our general understanding of the universe and our outlook on life. Each of us has a worldview. And whether we realize it or not, the choices we make in life all reflect, to one degree or another, the worldview we hold. The ancient myths record humanity’s first attempts to answer the big questions. Usually presented in the form of colorful stories passed down orally from generation to generation, myths can be found in the earliest documents of every ancient civilization. Here are four, from ancient Egypt, China, Africa, and Greece, respectively. A god named Khnemu, depicted as a man with a ram’s head , built an egg. When the egg hatched, the sun popped out. Khnemu then “sculpted the first man on a potter’s wheel.” This is the origin of man. - In the beginning “there was darkness everywhere, and Chaos ruled. Within the darkness there formed an egg, and inside the egg the giant Pangu came into being. For aeons, safely inside the egg, Pangu slept and grew. When he had grown to a gigantic size he stretched out his huge limbs and broke the egg. The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denser parts sank downwards, to become the earth. And so was formed earth and sky, Yin and Yang.” - In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One day Bumba, in pain from a stomach ache, vomited up the sun. The sun dried up some of the water, leaving land. Still in pain, Bumba vomited up the moon, the stars, and then some animals: the leopard, the crocodile,