Religion, Reality, and a Good Life

Religion, Reality, and a Good Life PDF Author: Eberhard Herrmann
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161483752
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
"Do we have access to reality as it is conceptualized by us? Against metaphysical realism and postmodern relativism Eberhard Herrmann develops a pragmatic realism. It stresses reality as conceptualized reality while at the same time not ruling out objectivity. Contents include: The Nature of the Enquiry, The Philosophical Problem Formulated, Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy, Reasons for and Against Metaphysical Realism, Critique of Semantic Realism, Pragmatic Realism: Realism from an Internal Perspective, Religious Metaphysical Realism, Religious Metaphysical Anti-Realism, Religious Statements as Purported Assertions, Christian Theism, The Character of Religious Utterances, Pragmatic Realism, The Function of Religion, Two Material Definitions of Truth, Perspectives on Views of Life, The Role of the Emotions in Our Conception of Reality, Emotions and the Conceptualization of Values."

Religion, Reality, and a Good Life

Religion, Reality, and a Good Life PDF Author: Eberhard Herrmann
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161483752
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Do we have access to reality as it is conceptualized by us? Against metaphysical realism and postmodern relativism Eberhard Herrmann develops a pragmatic realism. It stresses reality as conceptualized reality while at the same time not ruling out objectivity. Contents include: The Nature of the Enquiry, The Philosophical Problem Formulated, Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy, Reasons for and Against Metaphysical Realism, Critique of Semantic Realism, Pragmatic Realism: Realism from an Internal Perspective, Religious Metaphysical Realism, Religious Metaphysical Anti-Realism, Religious Statements as Purported Assertions, Christian Theism, The Character of Religious Utterances, Pragmatic Realism, The Function of Religion, Two Material Definitions of Truth, Perspectives on Views of Life, The Role of the Emotions in Our Conception of Reality, Emotions and the Conceptualization of Values."

Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life

Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life PDF Author: Stephen Minister
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253029481
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Collected critical essays analyzing Kierkegaard’s work in regards to theology and social-moral thought. Kierkegaard’s God and the Good Life focuses on faith and love, two central topics in Kierkegaard’s writings, to grapple with complex questions at the intersection of religion and ethics. Here, leading scholars reflect on Kierkegaard’s understanding of God, the religious life, and what it means to exist ethically. The contributors then shift to psychology, hope, knowledge, and the emotions as they offer critical and constructive readings for contemporary philosophical debates in the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and epistemology. Together, they show how Kierkegaard continues to be an important resource for understandings of religious existence, public discourse, social life, and how to live virtuously. “All in all, the editors of this volume have put together a thoughtful and sometimes provocative collection of essays by a number of Kierkegaard scholars and philosophers for the reader’s consideration. . . . The volume undoubtedly makes a contribution to contemporary philosophical debates in the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and epistemology, especially with regard to the importance of faith and love for leading a good and meaningful human life.” —International Journal for Philosophy of Religion “Invites the reader to think anew about what Kierkegaard was saying and what we can learn from him in the context of our time, particularly what it means to become a Christian in terms of the moral task of love and living a life worthy of a human being.” —Sylvia Walsh, translator of Kierkegaard’s Discourses at the Communion on Fridays

Flourishing

Flourishing PDF Author: Miroslav Volf
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300190557
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
More than almost anything else, globalization and the great world religions are shaping our lives, affecting everything from the public policies of political leaders and the economic decisions of industry bosses and employees, to university curricula, all the way to the inner longings of our hearts. Integral to both globalization and religions are compelling, overlapping, and sometimes competing visions of what it means to live well. In this perceptive, deeply personal, and beautifully written book, a leading theologian sheds light on how religions and globalization have historically interacted and argues for what their relationship ought to be. Recounting how these twinned forces have intersected in his own life, he shows how world religions, despite their malfunctions, remain one of our most potent sources of moral motivation and contain within them profoundly evocative accounts of human flourishing. Globalization should be judged by how well it serves us for living out our authentic humanity as envisioned within these traditions. Through renewal and reform, religions might, in turn, shape globalization so that can be about more than bread alone.

How to Live a Good Life

How to Live a Good Life PDF Author: Massimo Pigliucci
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0525566155
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A collection of essays by fifteen philosophers presenting a thoughtful, introductory guide to choosing a philosophy for living an examined and meaningful life. Socrates famously said "the unexamined life is not worth living," but what does it mean to truly live philosophically? This thought-provoking, wide-ranging collection brings together essays by fifteen leading philosophers reflecting on what it means to live according to a philosophy of life. From Eastern philosophies (Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism) and classical Western philosophies (such as Aristotelianism and Stoicism), to the four major religions, as well as contemporary philosophies (such as existentialism and effective altruism), each contributor offers a lively, personal account of how they find meaning in the practice of their chosen philosophical tradition. Together, the pieces in How to Live a Good Life provide not only a beginner's guide to choosing a life philosophy but also a timely portrait of what it means to live an examined life in the twenty-first century. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL

Why We Need Religion

Why We Need Religion PDF Author: Stephen T. Asma
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190469692
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
How we feel is as vital to our survival as how we think. This claim, based on the premise that emotions are largely adaptive, serves as the organizing theme of Why We Need Religion. This book is a novel pathway in a well-trodden field of religious studies and philosophy of religion. Stephen Asma argues that, like art, religion has direct access to our emotional lives in ways that science does not. Yes, science can give us emotional feelings of wonder and the sublime--we can feel the sacred depths of nature--but there are many forms of human suffering and vulnerability that are beyond the reach of help from science. Different emotional stresses require different kinds of rescue. Unlike secular authors who praise religion's ethical and civilizing function, Asma argues that its core value lies in its emotionally therapeutic power. No theorist of religion has failed to notice the importance of emotions in spiritual and ritual life, but truly systematic research has only recently delivered concrete data on the neurology, psychology, and anthropology of the emotional systems. This very recent "affective turn" has begun to map out a powerful territory of embodied cognition. Why We Need Religion incorporates new data from these affective sciences into the philosophy of religion. It goes on to describe the way in which religion manages those systems--rage, play, lust, care, grief, and so on. Finally, it argues that religion is still the best cultural apparatus for doing this adaptive work. In short, the book is a Darwinian defense of religious emotions and the cultural systems that manage them.

Nietzsche's Philosophy of Religion

Nietzsche's Philosophy of Religion PDF Author: Julian Young
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107320879
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
In his first book, The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche observes that Greek tragedy gathered people together as a community in the sight of their gods, and argues that modernity can be rescued from 'nihilism' only through the revival of such a festival. This is commonly thought to be a view which did not survive the termination of Nietzsche's early Wagnerianism, but Julian Young argues, on the basis of an examination of all of Nietzsche's published works, that his religious communitarianism in fact persists through all his writings. What follows, it is argued, is that the mature Nietzsche is neither an 'atheist', an 'individualist', nor an 'immoralist': he is a German philosopher belonging to a German tradition of conservative communitarianism - though to claim him as a proto-Nazi is radically mistaken. This important reassessment will be of interest to all Nietzsche scholars and to a wide range of readers in German philosophy.

The Good Life Method

The Good Life Method PDF Author: Meghan Sullivan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984880314
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Two Philosophers Ask and Answer the Big Questions About the Search for Faith and Happiness For seekers of all stripes, philosophy is timeless self-care. Notre Dame philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko have reinvigorated this tradition in their wildly popular and influential undergraduate course “God and the Good Life,” in which they wrestle with the big questions about how to live and what makes life meaningful. Now they invite us into the classroom to work through issues like what justifies our beliefs, whether we should practice a religion and what sacrifices we should make for others—as well as to investigate what figures such as Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Iris Murdoch, and W. E. B. Du Bois have to say about how to live well. Sullivan and Blaschko do the timeless work of philosophy using real-world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more. In so doing, they push us to escape our own caves, ask stronger questions, explain our deepest goals, and wrestle with suffering, the nature of death, and the existence of God. Philosophers know that our “good life plan” is one that we as individuals need to be constantly and actively writing to achieve some meaningful control and sense of purpose even if the world keeps throwing surprises our way. For at least the past 2,500 years, philosophers have taught that goal-seeking is an essential part of what it is to be human—and crucially that we could find our own good life by asking better questions of ourselves and of one another. This virtue ethics approach resonates profoundly in our own moment. The Good Life Method is a winning guide to tackling the big questions of being human with the wisdom of the ages.

Spirituality and the Good Life

Spirituality and the Good Life PDF Author: David McPherson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107133009
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
A philosophical exploration of the relationships between spirituality, well-being, religion, and philosophy, examining specific spiritual practices and spiritually informed virtues.

God Is Not Great

God Is Not Great PDF Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551991764
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

Stoic Theology

Stoic Theology PDF Author: P. A. Meijer
Publisher: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
ISBN: 9059722027
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The ancient Stoics constructed an elaborate set of proofs for the existence of the Greek gods which proved highly influential for later theological and philosophical proofs. P. A. Meijer s Stoic Theology, the first book on the subject in almost thirty years, analyzes these proofs from a fresh perspective. This valuable resource features a thorough examination of pre-Christian theological argumentation as well as new insights on the relationship between God and the deities in ancient Greek thought, in a book sure to interest scholars of philosophy and religion."