The Rationality of Theism

Rating:
Summary: An Important Collection of Essays
Review: As the description indicates, this book is a collection of thirteen essays which, in one way or another, defend the thesis that a personal God exists. I disagree with the notion that these essays are "brand new" in that much of the material in several of the essays (e.g., Craig on the Kalam cosmological argument, Moreland on the argument from consciousness, and Collins on the teleological argument) has been published elsewhere, whether in books or academic philosophy journals. Thus, I think the description overly hypes the book somewhat. Moreover, given that an essay on aparticular topic will, pretty much necessarily, not approach the depth and rigor that a book-length treatment of a given topic would, there is a danger that a person who reads only these essays will be left with a more or less truncated picture of what a robust defense of theism on any particular front looks like. Again, the back cover statement that the book, "[aims] to offer comprehensive theistic replies to the traditional arguments against the existence of God..." seems a bit overblown. Nonetheless, this books makes an important contribution to the analytic philosophy of religion in at least two ways. First, it gives the reader a feel for what kinds of arguments for theism are currently being presented. Second, it benefits the non-expert in that it brings together under one cover a collection of material that would otherwise only be found by those already familiar with the relevant literature. Both of these are very good things, I think.
In my opinion, the strongest and/or most unique contributions in this book were the essays by Geivett on religious epistemology, Davis on ontological arguments, and Moser on the hiddenness of God. Space (and my own lack of time) precludes a discussion of these essays in any depth, but a careful reading and re-reading will richly repay the reader. Most of the other articles are pretty much standard fare for what one would already expect from the authors, but again, if one is unfamiliar with these issues in the first place, this shouldn't be a reason to not read the book. My main concern is that the retail price on both editions of this book is rather cost-prohibitive and will likely discourage all but the most interested (or wealthy) reader...that is, unless your library owns or can get you a copy. Also, I thought that Copan's essay on the moral argument could have been tighter. It seems to me that he relied too much on quotes from philosophers that he agrees with, and his sometimes inflammatory language ([e.g., to the naturalist who wants to be a moral realist:] "you have made your bed of parsimony; now sleep in it!) detracts from what are otherwise important criticisms of naturalist attempts to ground moral reality in the material world, the critic who argues that the Euthyphro dilemma is inescapable, and the like. All in all, The Rationality of Theism is an important piece of work in what is becoming an ever-increasing flood of erudite and forcefully argued philosophical works in favor of the view that a personal God exists. Any thoughtful person who is not already an expert in the field would do well to read it, even if one decides to check it out of a library instead of buying it.

Rating:
Summary: An Important Collection of Essays
Review: As the description indicates, this book is a collection of thirteen essays which, in one way or another, defend the thesis that a personal God exists. I disagree with the notion that these essays are "brand new" in that much of the material in several of the essays (e.g., Craig on the Kalam cosmological argument, Moreland on the argument from consciousness, and Collins on the teleological argument) has been published elsewhere, whether in books or academic philosophy journals. Thus, I think the description overly hypes the book somewhat. Moreover, given that an essay on aparticular topic will, pretty much necessarily, not approach the depth and rigor that a book-length treatment of a given topic would, there is a danger that a person who reads only these essays will be left with a more or less truncated picture of what a robust defense of theism on any particular front looks like. Again, the back cover statement that the book, "[aims] to offer comprehensive theistic replies to the traditional arguments against the existence of God..." seems a bit overblown. Nonetheless, this books makes an important contribution to the analytic philosophy of religion in at least two ways. First, it gives the reader a feel for what kinds of arguments for theism are currently being presented. Second, it benefits the non-expert in that it brings together under one cover a collection of material that would otherwise only be found by those already familiar with the relevant literature. Both of these are very good things, I think.
In my opinion, the strongest and/or most unique contributions in this book were the essays by Geivett on religious epistemology, Davis on ontological arguments, and Moser on the hiddenness of God. Space (and my own lack of time) precludes a discussion of these essays in any depth, but a careful reading and re-reading will richly repay the reader. Most of the other articles are pretty much standard fare for what one would already expect from the authors, but again, if one is unfamiliar with these issues in the first place, this shouldn't be a reason to not read the book. My main concern is that the retail price on both editions of this book is rather cost-prohibitive and will likely discourage all but the most interested (or wealthy) reader...that is, unless your library owns or can get you a copy. Also, I thought that Copan's essay on the moral argument could have been tighter. It seems to me that he relied too much on quotes from philosophers that he agrees with, and his sometimes inflammatory language ([e.g., to the naturalist who wants to be a moral realist:] "you have made your bed of parsimony; now sleep in it!) detracts from what are otherwise important criticisms of naturalist attempts to ground moral reality in the material world, the critic who argues that the Euthyphro dilemma is inescapable, and the like. All in all, The Rationality of Theism is an important piece of work in what is becoming an ever-increasing flood of erudite and forcefully argued philosophical works in favor of the view that a personal God exists. Any thoughtful person who is not already an expert in the field would do well to read it, even if one decides to check it out of a library instead of buying it.