{"product_id":"theism-and-ultimate-explanation-isbn-9781444350883","title":"Theism and Ultimate Explanation","description":"An expansive, yet succinct, analysis of the Philosophy of Religion – from metaphysics through theology. Organized into two sections, the text first examines truths concerning what is possible and what is necessary. These chapters lay the foundation for the book’s second part – the search for a metaphysical framework that permits the possibility of an ultimate explanation that is correct and complete.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eA cutting-edge scholarly work which engages with the traditional metaphysician’s quest for a true ultimate explanation of the most general features of the world we inhabit\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eDevelops an original view concerning the epistemology and metaphysics of modality, or truths concerning what is possible or necessary\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eApplies this framework to a re-examination of the cosmological argument for theism\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eDefends a novel version of the Leibnizian cosmological argument\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e  Preface ix  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I The Explanatory Role of Necessity 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1. Modality and Explanation 3\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelative and Absolute Necessity 3\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScientifically Established Necessities 5\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn Epistemological Worry about Modality: Causal Contact with Modal Facts 7\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModal Nihilism 10\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModal Reductionism and Defl ationism 15\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModal Anti-Realism and Quasi-Realism 27\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConclusion 30\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. Modal Knowledge 32\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConceivability As Our Guide? 32\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModality a Matter of Principle? 36\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Theoretical Roles of Modal Claims: Towards a Modal Epistemology 41\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Spheres of Possibility 60\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II The Necessary Shape of Contingency 63\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. Ultimate Explanation and Necessary Being: The Existence Stage of the Cosmological Argument 65\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNecessary Being 68\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo Objections to the Traditional Answer 73\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNecessary Being As the Explanatory Ground of Contingency? 79\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. The Identification Stage 86\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom Necessary Being to God, I: Transcendent, Not Immanent 86\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo Models of Transcendent Necessary Being: Logos and Chaos 93\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eVarieties of Chaos 93\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: The Fine-Tuning Argument 97\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom Necessary Being to God, II: Logos, Not Random Chaos 109\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5. The Scope of Contingency 111\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHow Many Universes Would Perfection Realize? 111\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePerfection and Freedom 121\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSome Applications of the Many-Universe-Creation Hypothesis 122\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNecessary Being and the Scope of Possibility 125\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNecessary Being and the Many Necessary Truths 128\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e6. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and \u003ci\u003eAnselm\u003c\/i\u003e? 130\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Unity of the Divine Nature and Its Consequences 132\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNatural Theology in the Understanding of Revealed Theology 140\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCoda 143\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes 145\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 162\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 172\u003c\/p\u003e  “This trim but highly technical volume is indisensable for scholars and graudate-level researchers in the field.  Summing Up:  Essential.  Graduate students and researchers\/faculty.”  (\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e, 1 October 2012) \u003cb\u003eTimothy O'Connor\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington. He has published widely in the areas of metaphysics, philosophy of mind and action, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of \u003ci\u003ePersons and Causes\u003c\/i\u003e (2000) and the editor of \u003ci\u003eAgents, Causes, and Events: Essays on Indeterminism and Free Will\u003c\/i\u003e (1995), \u003ci\u003ePhilosophy of Mind: Contemporary Readings\u003c\/i\u003e (2003), \u003ci\u003eDownward Causation And The Neurobiology Of Free Will\u003c\/i\u003e (2009), \u003ci\u003eEmergence in Science and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e (2010) and \u003ci\u003eA Companion to the Philosophy of Action\u003c\/i\u003e (2010).  \u003ci\u003eTheism and Ultimate Explanation\u003c\/i\u003e engages with the traditional metaphysician's quest for a true ultimate explanation of the most general features of the world we inhabit.  \u003cp\u003eThe first part of the book develops an original view concerning the epistemology and metaphysics of modality, or truths concerning what is possible or necessary. This framework is then applied to a re-examination of the cosmological argument for theism. O'Connor defends a novel version of the Leibnizian cosmological argument from contingency for the existence of a transcendent necessary being as the source and basis for the ultimate explanation of contingent beings and their interconnected histories.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"The collection is a critically important resource for scholars of the philosophy of action. The overall clarity of the entries, moreover, also makes it accessible as a resource for undergraduate and graduate students working in the area. Highly recommended.”\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Choice)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990378037477,"sku":"NP9781444350883","price":41.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781444350883.jpg?v=1761787583","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/theism-and-ultimate-explanation-isbn-9781444350883","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}